» MAKE: NOISE — Discuss this article

Showing messages 1 through 1 of 1.

• I Bit Too Rosy
  You must be logged in to reply.
  
  
  This article should have been more objective regarding the actual capabilities of the CupCake CNC. While it does a good job of pointing out the major differences between this machine and commercial offerings it does not discuss the fundamental shortcomings of the CupCake and similar machines. One of them is the quality of the objects it outputs. The article does state that it uses a 0.3mm filament but it fails to show a close-up shot to reveal the coarseness and irregularity of the samples pictured in the article. The second and maybe more important shortcoming is repeatability. Running a print is a hit or miss proposition. A part can start fine and degenerate halfway through because the open loop motion control is drifting or because the filament’s properties changed. That is why the anecdote of making a perfect first time print of a whistle downloaded from the web is as utopian as the staged photos accompanying this article.
  The article trivializes the software tool chain involved in modeling and programming a part. This special section on Desktop Manufacturing lacks an article dedicated to that topic.
  I understand that this article is meant to inspire. Hopefully it will spur many readers to join the desktop manufacturing revolution. I just wish it did not sound so much like a promotional piece for MakerBot Industries.
  

  Posted by cerignac on January 31, 2010 at 13:48:18 Pacific Time