The RP Digest
Rapid Prototyping Articles Available on the Web

Additive or subtractive? Which rapid prototyping process is right for your job? Author: Jim Destefani. Manufacturing Engineering, April 2005. Service bureau Vista Technologies LLC provides both additive and subtractive methods and the article is mostly an interview with the company discussing how they decide.

Following the Path of 3DP. Author: John Hirschtick. Desktop Engineering, March, 2005. The history and development of RP, with emphasis on three dimensional printing and how it interacts with modern 3D CAD software and designers. The author is a founder of SolidWorks and on the board of Z Corporation.

3D Printers Lead Growth of Rapid Prototyping. Author: Lilli Manolis Sherman. Plastics Technology, August, 2004. "Bringing rapid prototyping capabilities in-house is becoming a reality for many plastics manufacturers, thanks to more affordable, faster, and easy-to-use 3D printers." The article discusses offerings from Stratasys, Z Corp. and other vendors, and also provides some market growth figures.

The next step in rapid prototyping. Author: Paul Dvorak. Machine Design, August 21, 2003. A discussion of recent improvements in materials, finishes and the ability of some technologies to make several assembled operational parts at one time. FDM, Objet's Eden machine and the Z-Cast process are particularly emphasized.

If You Behave Yourself, I'll Print You a Toy. Author: Peter Wayner. New York Times, May 29, 2003. [Now requires free registration.] A non-technical survey of RP - and speculation about where it's going.

Rapid Prototyping: No Longer Just for Design Engineers. Author: Robert S. Seeley. Job Shop Technology, May, 2003. Extensive survey article.

Rapid Prototyping Branches Out. Author: Peter K. Sheerin. Cadalyst Magazine, May, 2003. A discussion of the new generation of prototyping equipment that are less expensive and more office-friendly, and the increased use of 3D design tools outside of engineering in such fields as architecture.

Technology Update: Rapid Prototyping/Tooling: Full Speed Ahead. Author: Richard Babyak. Appliance Design, March, 2003. An extensive update and survey article. Companies discussed include CAM-LEM, Objet, Speed Part AB (now Sintermask Technologies), POM Group, Solidica and Ford's Sprayforming process.

Desktop rapid prototyping cuts costs and improves designs. Authors: Mark Huxley and Steven Weisberg. CADALYST, Aug., 2002. Survey article mainly covering lower cost 3D printing technology.

Evolution Continues. Author: Richard Babyak. Appliance Design, April 2002. This is an extensive article describing the numerous choices of RP available, and their benefits and limitations. The article also offers advice about selecting and working with a service bureau.

A User View of Rapid Prototyping. CAD Spaghetti Newsletter, Feb., 2002. The Business Advantage Group, a UK marketing and management consultancy practice specializing in the technical computing sector, recently surveyed 262 mechanical engineering companies in the UK about their attitudes concerning RP. After hundreds of introductory articles, thousands of technical papers describing scores of ways of accomplishing additive fabrication, it's clear that the task of educating the wider technical community is far from complete. The majority of sites that feel they don't need RP haven't investigated it and aren't planning to do so. [The WWGRP was asked to comment on and interpret some of the results of the survey.]

Making Better Toys and Jumbo Jets by Sharing the Rough Draft. Author: Scott Kirsner. New York Times November 5, 2001. [Now requires free registration.] This is a good, general non-technical introduction to RP, reverse engineering and related technologies. It describes how Burger King collaborates world wide using the technology to design and manfacture toys used as premiums in its restaurants and describes other design problems, as well. Free registration is required to read the complete article.

Imagining Faster. Author: Scott Kirsner. Darwin, August 2001. This is a similar article to that by the same author of the 11/01 NYT article above. The emphasis here is slightly more technical with a little more information about the technology and particular systems producers.

The solid future of rapid prototyping. From The Economist, print edition March 22, 2001. [Now only available as paid premium content.] A good overall introduction to the field and its prospects written for the non-specialist, but with enough information to be of interest to people already familiar with RP.

Pioneering Prototypes. Author: Audrey Doyle. From Computer Graphics World, Sept., 2000. A wide-ranging discussion focused on design and manufacturing. Related articles discuss medicine, jewelry and the arts.

Behold, the 3-D Fax! Author: Brad Lemley. From Discover, February, 2000. Prognosticates that in the future an RP machine in the home could be the best appliance ever. [Article is no longer available in Discover's archive. This link is to a copy at FindArticles.com.]