Buildlog.Net Blog

D.I.Y. Selective Laser Sintering

There is a  great Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) project being blogged at ReRap Builders by Peter Jansen.  Sintering is basically fusing powder by heating it just under the melting point.  SLS is 3D printing using a laser to selectivly heat the material.  It is done like most 3d printing, a thin layer at a time.  The nice thing about this method is that the surrounding powder supports the part as is is being built.

The current design is completely laser cut out of hardboard, even the gears.  The target price for a complete assembly is around $200.  The project is open source and design files are available on Thingaverse.

I recently had these nozzles made using SLS at Shapeways. The detail is amazing and while the part is only about 0.04 inch thick in most places, it is quite strong.

Sketchup Model Slicer

This is a handy Plug in for Google Sketchup.  It  slices a solid model so it can be cut on a laser cutter or router.  It is called SketchUp SliceModeler.  You can get it here.  It costs  EUR 10.

Here is a tutorial for using it.

Laser Cut Stacks Of Money

Check out these laser cut stacks of money by tattoo artist Scott Campbell.  See more of his amazing art www.scottcampbelltattoo.com

It is an interesting effect.  If gives a real 3D look to it.  It appears that the cutout areas vary with depth.