[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

We have a small 3D printer here at our shop. We have found several uses for it in the restoration world. Making moulds to cast rubber parts on orphan or obsolete vehicles being restored is one scenario. Making dies for pressing sheetmetal to fabricate Model-A sheetmetal repair panels in correct shapes is another. (-picture below of some we just made) Someone recently posted about prototyping a turn signal switch in which they used a 3D printer to do some testing.

While the technology of 3D printing is really coming on, where the talent is IMHO is that the young man is drawing up the parts. For example, when you are casting aluminum parts, it has a shrinkage rate of about 3/16th of an inch per foot, so the kid must draw the core in oversized dimensions to be able to account for the shrinkage as the molten metal cools. THAT takes talent if you are reproducing the part accurately in aesthetics and specification. On the flip side, if the item is to be machined out of billet, then the part must be drawn in actual size so the two drawings are not really interchangeable.

.
.