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Re:3D Printing of a Steel Bridge in Amsterdam by IshKebab on Friday June 12, 2015 @05:47PM (#9708765)
Well this particular use seems a bit weird. But in general 3D printers are extremely useful, mainly as time savers. Yes you can machine most shapes that you'd want, and you'd probably end up with a nicer result. But it's far more difficult, expensive and time consuming.

1. You have to manually do all the work, or at least set up tool paths which is a pain (and good software for this is even rarer than good solid modelling software).

2. You can't do as complicated shapes. I'm not talking fractals, I mean can you mill a plastic latch as easily as I can 3D print one? No way.

3. It just takes longer. Once I've done my CAD with 3D printing the work is basically done. With machining it's only just beginning.

4. If I make a mistake in my model and have to make a change, it is extremely quick to just do the modifications and reprint it.

5. If I want more than one of them I just click print again.

You're right that good 3D printers are still quite expensive (FDM ones aren't really worth it, but there are SLA printers for a few grand now). However good milling machines cost a similar amount, and CNC milling machines cost more.

The image problem with 3D printers is because all the cool and actually useful uses are one-off and in companies so they don't get talked about as much trinkets and jewellery. For example I made a mount at work that attaches a stepper motor to a linear slide. Can't release it to the world though.

Re:3D Printing of a Steel Bridge in Amsterdam by krschultz on Friday June 12, 2015 @08:23PM (#9709350)
Counter points to all of that:

1. All of the software that creates printing paths is a derivative of the work done to turn solid models into milling machine tool paths. That software has existed for well over 30 years, and the proprietary stuff is excellent.

2. This is the big advantage of 3D printing. Arbitrarily complex shapes don't increase the cost. That said, you can do some insane things with a 5-11 axis machining center.

3. It's impossible to say as a general rule which one takes longer. If you have a shape that is relatively close to the full volume of the stock, then mills will be faster than 3D printing. If you are spending a lot of time cutting down stock to get close to the final shape, then 3D printing might be faster. Either way I would expect finishing steps.

4. Either way you are starting from scratch, this goes back to #3. No one really wants to do rework unless you are building very expensive industrial parts in low quantities, and at that scale you are unquestionably milling.

5. CNC mills are exactly the same. Actually most of the ones in a factory take the raw feedstock in and spit out finished parts, no human intervention required. 3D printers generally don't do this yet.

I get the impression you haven't worked with advanced CNC machining centers. I've worked with $50,000 mills (and $500,000 mills). I've also worked with $50,000 3D printers. The $50,000 mill beats the pants off the $50,000 3D printer every day of the week.

At the hobbyist level and a budget of $2,000 things are different, but serious industrial production is definitely better done on CNC milling machines. If you are comparing manual mills to CNC 3D printers, that is pretty apples to oranges. That would be like comparing a CNC mill to a guy holding a hot glue gun.

Source: I've been a mechanical engineer designing manufacturing systems for medical devices & nuclear submarines.

Re:3D Printing of a Steel Bridge in Amsterdam by frik on Saturday June 13, 2015 @12:52AM (#9709921)
I am pretty sure 3D metallic sinter machines will replace many (not all) CNC mills/turns (incl 5 axis) machines in the industry in a few years. Some car manufacturers of expensive sport cars already use them to create whole parts of the cars engine and its exhaust system. It allows them to print them complex metallic parts including moving gears all in one step without any assembly or finishing step at all - something that would require multiple parts and many human work hours using CNC mills/turns.

Source: I have background in these field as well.

Re:3D Printing of a Steel Bridge in Amsterdam by jlarocco on Friday June 12, 2015 @11:16PM (#9709751)
3D printing will be awesome for small shops and DIY stuff around the house, but large manufacturers have already solved the problems you've listed. CATIA and NX are great for creating tooling paths, change management, etc.