Instant Plugs
 

well ya have to have two things to pull it off

one is a 3D printer (out of most people's price range)
two is this new AMAZON phone about to come out
shhhhhhhh it's a secret :think:
it has 4 camera lenses on the screen
that snaps a perfect 3d image of your "subject"
which could be a PLUG......
so now you have a template to make whatever you photographed.
Obviously the choice of Materials Used in the 3D printer
is a factor...to be reckoned with later...

read more here... http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/23/tech/m...html?hpt=hp_t2

can it print with wood?

not yet
 

...eventually .....i would say yes...

might even print a paint like water proof surface
as a final coat....

i know this is all Blasphemy but technology is
constantly evolving.

it is now said that ....OUR KNOWLEDGE
is doubling every 2 years,,, :confused:

There is no such thing as perfect from a camera or even a high priced laser 3d scanner. The results usually have many many flaws.

Also, the printers are so slow at this time it would cost you $200 for a plug. They are great for creating very difficult to machine parts, jigs etc.
They have a long way to go. Would be great to have one to make plugs for molds though.

aw- shoot
 

Well Maybe we could just use
the new Amazon Camera
to make the Clammer Action Figure :uhuh:

I know this is a wooden plug building forum but here are a few Seapups that I printed on my 3d printer. 1 1/2, 1 3/4 & 2 oz. Material: ABS. Very tough. Interior is honeycombed not hollow as are most injection molded plastic plugs. Color is all the way through. They were 3d modeled in Solidworks and printed on a Makerbot 3d printer. They take about 2 hrs and twenty minutes to print and come out complete with wire through hole, hook and weight c'bores and eye sockets ready to finish.

Wow...Didn't know anyone was actually doing this yet. Very cool. I assume they are tough (dumb question, but I've never seen a printed product before...or maybe I have, commercially?)

Dude! That is Brilliant!

Would love to learn more about your process.

3d printing is what many feel to be the next industrial revolution. There are several different types of printers and processes. The Makerbot (about $2000)that we have extrudes plastic wire on a spool (@$30 kg ) through a nozzle in thin layers in two dimensions while the build table drops down creating the third dimension. You first need a 3 dimensional model created by drawing software (I use Solidworks). The file is exported as a file that can be used by the printer software. The model is sliced into very thin layers and each layer which is a cross section of the part is then printed similar to an inkjet printer. The plastic cools upon contact an solidifies. There are other types of printers that use similar but different processes and materials. The main difference is cost and quality or resolution of the part. One is or has been sent up to the ISS so that they can make parts in space as they are needed. I believe the one up there makes parts out of metal powder fused by a laser and cost a couple of million bucks. It is kind of like the old Star Trek replicator in a way except for the time required. Check out YouTube...3D printing a wrench. Its crazy stuff. I have even heard that Detroit will be able to print full size models of cars cutting down on development time drastically. Its probably just a matter of time until actual cars will be printed as new materials are developed.
As far as the practicality of making plugs for production it is cheaper and faster to injection mold plastic plugs. I would guess a plug would cost about 50 cents, plus the cost of the inserts (hook hangers, thru wires, etc.) I am sure, however that plugmakers are using this process for development purposes prior to spending big bucks on hard tooling. You can get out all the wrinkles before spending the money tooling it up with permanent tooling.
One neat thing about plugs made with the printing process is the interior of the plug is honeycombed and not hollow like an injection molded plug. You can bounce it off a rock or feed it to a bluefish and not have to worry about it cracking and filling up with water.

similar in density
 

to a molded striper swiper

heavier tho but good when bass are out of Range

but you have to dance -em on top
or fast retrieve em to keep em on top
~
SAW a plug lure design yesterday that got me thinkin :think:
again about this process....
that being.....
it was two plugs combined like two bait fish
staying extremely close to one another
like a mini school of fish
(one following the other)

Here is a ss darter knockoff that I am tinkering with. It has a ball bearing weight chamber with moveable weights for better castability similar to the magdarter.

that is awesome!

Curious if you've swam them in saltwater. I know the bonding agent on those printers is pretty close to super glue...and super glue degrades after a time in saltwater.

I have swum the seapups. They act like the originals though I haven't caught yet. The fish are a bit late in my immediate area. The darter was just printed over the weekend and I haven't wired it yet.The printer I use uses ABS, PLA and HDPE. The PLA is supposedly biodegradable but the ABS I made the plugs out of is pure plastic with no binders. The are a lot of different printers out there that use various materials that I am not that familiar with.

we machine ABS and HDPE a lot for oceanographic industry so it will last fine.
The opposite of machining these machines. Build up from nothing instead of a block or round of stock and machining away the excess. Eventually it will be the future, long after I am gone from the trade. I have seen a larger one make some pretty neat, fully functional stuff. I have handled a wrench made by a larger unit out of plastic and it is fully functional. Pretty cool. Imagine what the highly secret government suppliers have that we don't know about.

I have been reading on Ray kurzweil's newsletter about nanoscale technologies that are building things on an atomic scale :uhuh:

things so small - we cannot even see them....with our human eyes

this is way beyond the technology faked in star trek

Scientists now have a 3d printer capable of printing things made out of carbon nano tubes infinitesimally small ... combine that with coatings of graphene (think 100% electrical conductivity) and the possibilities are absolutely endless.

Don't know if you watch the tv show "elementary" a spin off
of Sherlock Holmes hanging out with Dr. Watson played by the
quite sexy Lucy Lou ... but they had mechanical mosquito's
that were very intimidating ....
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c6...ob1/Skeeto.jpg

Man, this is so cool. I'm sure this will become the future of home plug building as those printers decrease in price...and we'll have Amazon drones delivering the spools of plastic.

Best part: No sealers to worry about. ;)
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again going back to star trek
 

remember the replicants?
tiny nano bots that could assemble into
what ever programmed shape they possessed

we are actually at that stage now..i kid you not !!

you tell them to assemble themselves into a darter
they assemble into a darter.... that simple
a few years away granted....

our "knowledge base" doubles now every two years

and perhaps not as good as wood more than likely :devil2:

I see more and more of these machines now, and many are enthusiasts who have them at home. Between these and inexpensive cutting lasers this will be the way we make stuff.

What I see is an inexpensive and quick method to create new prototypes that can be used to make a plug for a mold, then pour hard plastics as I have been doing for a while now.

Very excited about this as I see the demand for wood plugs fading. The lifespan, costs, ruggedness, inconsistency and availability are making themselves a dinosaur. Just as the popularity of the inexpensive home work shop created all these in the 70's/80's, the new home workshop is being born and it is digital. Adapt or die.

Nice work. This is the early stages but trust me this will be as common as the home lathe in no time. New software for developing plugs will emerge, this will allow you to perfect them

i have a few swimbaits for freshwater that were made with the 3D printers, guys out in cali are making swimbaits with these things and selling em for $75-250, depending on size and design.

the machines have come so far and the materials have dropped so much in price its starting to make sense.

the one i have an really like is a 3 piece bait, scanned from a real trout then modified with the program, super durable and they guy can pump the pieces out.

the material isnt as brittle as a lot of the resins and you get a consistent product

think for stuff like swimbaits where the market allows for $200 and up baits its a no brainer.

heres a pic of one of the 3d printed baits I own, trout body, bass paint :)

I wonder what Arnold Spofford would think?
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Wanna see some mind blowing 3d printing of "objects"
this is a film on jet engine "new technologies... quite impressive alone

but halfway in they show the 3d printing process
and discuss all the implications of it's advantages ect.

http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2014/...hpt=hp_c4#mars