3D Printers for Lure Making

[vonkarl]

Hi Larry,

I was wondering if you had looked into using a 3D printer, such as those from 3D Systems (DDD) or Stratasys (SSYS), as a method to make lures and/or molds? Given how much the prices have come down for those printers, especially from 3D Systems, it seems like a technology that may provide some very interesting methods for individuals to create new prototypes that might otherwise have been too difficult.

Any thoughts...have you looked into the possibilities?


Karl

[aka anglinarcher]

Of course I am not Larry, but..

I know that Mike, Alumlite Mike, the goop man Mike, has a 3D printer and has helped Larry out before. If I remember correctly, Mike has commented that the "resolution" is not quite up to par yet and that you still have sanding to do, etc., but .............. Personally I think the day is coming.

[Mike - Alumilite]

3D printers ... the ones that produce quality parts are still a fortune ... hundreds of thousands of dollars but the parts are beautiful. The inexpensive ones ... are not nearly up to par as far as the resolution. The absolute best bet I can recommend for anyone looking to test the waters is to contact your local community college, university, and even some bigger high schools and discuss the opportunity to print parts. Typically what we've found is many schools at every level love to have real world projects come through in which to have students work on. The cost is typically a fraction of what it is in the private sector but often (especially at the high school level) they will be the lower quality resolution.

It is possible to find high quality printed pieces with excellent resolution for less than a couple hundred dollars for a typical lure. The hardest part for most people is actually creating the file.

Mike