SCAngler Posted January 29, 2014 Report Share Posted January 29, 2014 I can help anyone out with printing as well...Pm me if you want more details. As far as companies go google rapid prototyping for the closest company near you, if your on the east coast check out laser reproductions. Just down the road from me and I use them at work daily, awesome at what they do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ram3139 Posted January 29, 2014 Report Share Posted January 29, 2014 There are a bunch, maybe some local depending on where you are. I've used shapeways.com a couple times. They are geared towards the hobby/craft market and were easy to deal with. Just upload your file, they do a basic design check, then print and ship. The high detail plastic gives pretty good resolution, so you don't need to sand too much to get a smooth master. The biggest hurdle is learning the 3d software to make what you want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted January 29, 2014 Report Share Posted January 29, 2014 Thanks for the link. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCAngler Posted January 29, 2014 Report Share Posted January 29, 2014 ^^ my company has a store on shapeways. Great site easy to use, yet alittle pricey. But you pay for ease of use. Also, I agree with the CAD level of difficulty. Not an easy thing to do, I do this for a living as well as for fun at home. Let me know if anyone needs help with creating this data. I actually like doing CAD and i wouldn't mind answering questions pertaining to it. I'm alittle too busy to do extra CAD work but never hurts to ask. Also, if you have an idea/sketch/image/prototype you can go to a design firm and have them quote how much it would cost to create the CAD for you. Not cheap, I do this for a living, but a simple CAD model will cost ~$1000-$3000....minimum On shapeways you can hire designers for a reasonable price and they can create the CAD model as well. But their abilities might be limited as it's not easy to model a fish when you've only been modeling consumer products. Just my two cents.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Candy Bait Company Posted January 30, 2014 Report Share Posted January 30, 2014 Check http://www.3dhubs.com/ and you may find a printer local to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dink Master Posted February 1, 2014 Report Share Posted February 1, 2014 3D Printer World Expo video http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/video?id=9415468 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted February 2, 2014 Report Share Posted February 2, 2014 I want one!!!!!! P.S. I also want to win the Lottery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gone2long Posted February 2, 2014 Report Share Posted February 2, 2014 I bought my Iwata Eclipse trigger stix from shapeway's still waiting but it hasn't been that long yet. I'll post with the results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmac13 Posted June 18, 2014 Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 Just curious what free 3d software you guys recommend ? Thanks for the help ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobP Posted June 18, 2014 Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 I don't want to rain on the parade but it seems to me that the time and expense of this kind of prototyping are prohibitive and the results questionable. Say you spend the hours on writing the model program and then pay to have it printed. What do you end up with and what can you do with it? Use it to make a mold for a poured lure? I understand if you're a technology geek and the process is its own reward but I'm way less sure what practical application this has to making fishing lures. Signed, Old Fuddy Duddy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted June 18, 2014 Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 I don't want to rain on the parade but it seems to me that the time and expense of this kind of prototyping are prohibitive and the results questionable. Say you spend the hours on writing the model program and then pay to have it printed. What do you end up with and what can you do with it? Use it to make a mold for a poured lure? I understand if you're a technology geek and the process is its own reward but I'm way less sure what practical application this has to making fishing lures. Signed, Old Fuddy Duddy I have to agree. For me, at least, the fun is in the building. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted June 18, 2014 Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 I have to agree with "Old Fuddy Duddy". If writing the program takes anywhere near as long as what Dave posted (and that's not including the amount of time to actually print the lure) then I'm not convinced it will speed up anything. At least not in prototyping baits. Even I can build a concept bait in less than 20 hours. After you build a few hundred baits you get a feeling for where the ballast should go and how much to use. And if it doesn't work as you expected you don't have to start completely from scratch with carving a new bait. When building "first run" baits if they don't perform to my liking I can drill our ballast and move it around if necessary. All you have to do is epoxy the holes drilled in the lead, drill a new hole and move some ballast to the new location. Once you have pretty much dialed everything in you can carve a new one and copy everything to the new blank. Then you test this one to see if anything needs to be tweaked. This might be a backwoods way of doing things, but it keeps me from spending so much time carving, shaping and sanding blanks. Now if your using the 3D printer for printing mold making masters that might be feasible. I don't build baits this way so I digress. Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffond Posted June 18, 2014 Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 Just to throw my two cents out there.... their is a company that has a youtube channel that uses a 3D scanner to makes baits already I did a really fast search but couldn't find it... they made some really wicked looking baits actually scanning real fish and crawfish and other things of the sort I will look more in the morning and see if I can find them and repost with a link unless someone else beats me to the punch... I think in the next couple of years 3D printers will make buying unpainted baits almost a thing of the past... especially for simple design lures like rattle traps and smooth low curved diver style baits... and to top that all off there are plenty of companys out there working on 3D printers that use things other then plastic. Just think of 3D printer that prints in closed cell foam... or an epoxy type substance or perhaps just simple wood and glue format that is easily sandable... its out there it will just take a small amount of time to get out to everyone. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlowFISH Posted June 19, 2014 Report Share Posted June 19, 2014 OK I'll bite!!!!! Before i say why CAD/Printing has real value in bait making - I'll state I believe there is NO "better/best/etc" way to make anything in this hobby - it's all what works for each individual builder - what they enjoy - and what they may have at their disposal or be good at. Why choose the path to CAD up a model and print instead of hand making one.... a couple good reasons. 1. For some their talent is using a computer. I for one can 3D model anything I dream up far quicker than hand carve/use shop machine to do it... and I have pretty damn good shop skills. But I have over 15 years of CAD experience thru work - so my case may be different than someone starting from scratch - but if your skill is using a computer and you enjoy it - do it. 2. Repeatability should be VERY consistent. Once you have a bait built and tested - you should be able to pump out multiples very quickly as all should be/near exact shape/weight/etc. This is also really helpful if you want to make subtle changes - you can pretty much eliminate variables that are harder to control by hand when you make multiples or revisions to a design. 3. For some - they just may not have the tools/space or a basement/garage to make baits. When I started - I lived in an apartment... no way I was going to be allow to bust out power tools in my living room!!! But spend hours to make a CAD model - I could do that all day long - then have it printed... that made the wife pretty happy that it didn't "happen" in the apartment!!! LOL!!! 4. Making scaled versions is VERY fast - ie. design a crank/mold/etc you like - want it 25% bigger - usually you can just scale a model very easily then go back in and adjust locations you may need to. Once you have the first one built - your second or third size takes maybe 10% of the time sometimes much less if you plan to scale it from the start and build your model accordingly. 5. When I'm making molds for soft plastics in CAD - I love that I can overlay multiple hooks in the model to see where a EWG 4/0 will puncture the bait vs a 3/0. If making a hard bait - I can calculate the bait weight in CAD and it's volume to understand how it may float as well as understand it's center of gravity before i even print/cut the first bait. Those are just some of the reasons off the top of my head. But again - if you're a "hand" guy and that's your thing - so be it nothing wrong there - just a different way of getting to the same result - a custom bait. J. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted June 19, 2014 Report Share Posted June 19, 2014 I am an expert on CAD, having done it for a living since 1983. So, naturally I am happy to sit by a tube and press a few keys and produce results for my hobby and take great satisfaction. Dave 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
