Oh Boy! another expert!

[Keith Graydon]

I just saw this On YAHOO!

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

Soooooo. What did it say??? Some of us only have limited internet access.

[Brendan P]

Yea,now all we need to do is take the idea to China!!

[gcode]

By PETER SVENSSON, AP Technology Writer

 

It's the Internet Revolution meets the Industrial Revolution: a new program that lets people design 3-D objects like car parts and door knobs in metal or plastic then order them online.

 

 

 

 

New PC? No Problem!

Get old files onto a new PC. Plus, how to buy a new computer, and ditch your old one.

 

 

 

 

Programs for computer-aided design, or CAD, have been around for decades, but eMachineShop.com appears to be the first service that checks whether a design can be made, tells the customer how much it will cost. If the customer wants the item the design goes to a "real world" machine shop for manufacturing.

 

 

The key to this enterprise is free design software provided by eMachineShop that aims to be simple enough for hobbyists and other non-engineers.

 

 

Prices won't be competitive with Wal-Mart, but Wal-Mart won't make ten copper door knobs, then sandblast them for you. EmachineShop charges $143 for that.

 

 

The company was created by Jim Lewis, a programmer and self-professed "tinkerer." One previous credit: "the world's hardest sliding block puzzle."

 

 

Lewis' software company, Micrologic, designed eMachineShop and contracts with machine shops all over the world to do the manufacturing.

 

 

Even though the Midland Park, N.J., company, which has 19 employees, doesn't advertise, it has handled more than 1,000 orders for things like door signs, motorcycle seats, robot frames, car engine covers, guitar plates and camera parts.

 

 

The most expensive item it's sold since it began beta testing last year is a $4,011 aluminum, 26-inch diameter part for a high-powered laboratory magnet.

 

 

The customers range from large companies that make prototypes to hobbyists including Dennis J. Vegh of Mesa, Ariz., who had the company make metal parts for an airplane he's building after a 1929 design.

 

 

"I had to have the pieces made because they do not exist anywhere," Vegh said.

 

 

He found the software quick and easy to use. The quality of the finishing has varied a bit between orders, but has been acceptable, he said.

 

 

"Being able to sit at you home computer, draw up some parts, submit them and 30 days later they are on your doorstep, all without human contact, is mind-blowing," Vegh says.

 

 

Lewis, the company founder, estimates that with conventional methods, it takes about 40 hours to design a part, get a quote, straighten out manufacturing problems with the machine shop and put the order in.

 

 

Taylan Altan, professor at the College of Engineering at Ohio State University, agrees, saying the process can easily drag out to two weeks.

 

 

"One of the biggest problems we have today in American design and manufacturing is that designers know very little about manufacturing," he says.

 

 

As a result, designers draw parts that are hard to make and require several rounds of modification before they can be put in production, a problem eMachineShop aims to avoid by building the knowledge of a machinist into the design software.

 

 

For instance, if you're designing a part made of sheet metal, it won't allow you to include a bend too close to an edge — the machinist needs enough surface to hold on to when bending.

 

 

 

 

Lewis is also working on Pad2Pad, an application that makes electronics. Manufacturers of printed circuit boards, like PCBExpress.com, are already online but Lewis aims to take the concept one step further by also attaching components like resistors, capacitors and chips to the boards.

 

Pad2Pad is taking orders, but is "a couple of years behind eMachineShop" in its development, Lewis says. One problem is stocking the components customers want.

 

Lewis also wants into branch into what is perhaps the least sexy segment of manufacturing: making cardboard boxes for packaging.

 

"My dream is essentially to become the Amazon in the manufacturing segment," Lewis says.

 

___

 

On the Web:

 

http://www.emachineshop.com

 

http://www.pad2pad.com

 

http://www.pcbexpress.com

[Thad]

gcode beat me to it.

 

Thad

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

quote:

---

..."One of the biggest problems we have today in American design and manufacturing is that designers know very little about manufacturing,"...

---

WOW!!! Is there anybody that's not an Engineer/Designer that does not know this?

 

Thanks for putting it up here.

[Keith Graydon]

quote:

---

Soooooo. What did it say???

---

Well,

1. Download their drawing software, Work out your part. and complete the spec list. pcs, finish, amterial. etc...

2. send to them for quote.

3. be thrilled with quote, quadruple order

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look at their site at Emachineshop.com

[Keith Graydon]

quote:

---

"I had to have the pieces made because they do not exist anywhere," Vegh said.

---

 

quote:

---

Lewis, the company founder, estimates that with conventional methods, it takes about 40 hours to design a part, get a quote, straighten out manufacturing problems with the machine shop and put the order in.

 

 

Taylan Altan, professor at the College of Engineering at Ohio State University, agrees, saying the process can easily drag out to two weeks.

---

NOT where I work

[Brendan P]

Don't laugh....

I actually downloaded the drawing software and played with it a bit....

Now I know why it if Free !!

[Teh Bear without Brains kinda idiot]

~~~~~~~~~~~

Don't laugh....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Actually I am laughing ,looked at injection molds

recommendations -we never had such parts !

Looked over CNC milling -also very funny !

 

But if he makes good living from this ....

[Storkman]

Why not make it so it will write the code too. then we'll see how many shops will accept those jobs. Crash!

[Storkman]

The download is an awesome 5.68mb. Must be full of features.

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

quote:

---

...The download is an awesome 5.68mb. Must be full of features...

---

ROFL!!!!!! Oh, yeah. I could never submit any of our stuff. They'd reject it right off the bat.

[Rick McAllister]

Great for door knobs!

[Gary]

What sucks is the general public will beleive all of this and people will make this guy rich. My father in law emailed this lick to me a couple of days ago and thought it was the cats a$$. I didn't have time to see what it was but now i gotta laugh. Good idea though the common public thinks were all mechanics anyways and has no idea what a MACHINE shop does so this guy will get lots of goofy **** to make i'm sure.

Hell its probally some 20 year old pimple face kids that are just farming the work to us anyways.

[Rick Damiani]

If you haven't downloaded the software yet, have a look at it. It's surprisingly fuctional for such a small program, though it does need internet access to download price lists. Is it likely to put folks like James out of busness? Not a chance in hell. For simple 2D and 2.5D stuff, though, it's not half bad. Ifn I ran a job shop, I'd take a serious look at becoming a vendor.

[crazy^millman]

Well dont know if I agree with that. I think I will do everything in my power t okeep in under my roof so I can keep my guys employed it it were me. Guy is in business great but no way I would send any work out of my door if I had a choice. Just my 2 cents.

[Rick Damiani]

I ain't talking abut sending your own work out. I'm talking about taking thier client's work in. eMachenshop is a broker, not a machene shop.