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RP samples for educational purposes?

Hello,

My name is KJ and I am involved in a pre-engineering program at my high school. This program allows students to learn and experience engineering processes and various engineering careers. I have a project to do on stereolithography and other rapid prototyping processes. I was wondering if, by any chance, you would be able to send me any information or samples on stereolithography to help with my presentation.

Anything would be appreciated, especially brochures or samples.

Thank you for your time. If you are able to send anything please use my teacher, Mr. B’s contact information below.

Thank you again,
KJ

Dear Mr. B and KJ:

Here are some suggestions for getting example parts: We're a web publishing company and as such don't really have anything lying around, nor do we have any equipment or other explanatory types of brochures, except those for our database products. The patent database brochure does list a lot of applications for the technology, though. That might be worth downloading. It's in pdf format and you can do that from this page:

http://home.att.net/~castleisland/pr_pat.htm

Your best bet for getting some samples is to 1) talk to service bureaus in your area and 2) get in touch with some manufacturers. Both of these groups have a vested interest in helping students learn (and eventually becoming customers). Below my signature, I've selected a group of nearby SB's and provided some contact info and an indication of the technologies they provide. It would be best to give these folks a personal call rather than using email. You're not likely to get a response from email.

There are numerous flavors of rapid prototyping besides stereolithography, of course. You can learn about those starting in these sections of our site:

http://home.att.net/~castleisland/rp_int.htm

http://home.att.net/~castleisland/faq/faq_c0.htm

In addition to stereolithography (SLA), you might want to get samples of other important processes such as three dimensional printing (3DP) and fused deposition modeling (FDM). For each of these, you can try the public relations people at the manufacturers. I've listed their contact info, as well. By seeing the differences in appearance and general qualities among different methods, you'll quickly get a feel for what might be the best solution for particular applications.

Please let me know how you make out!

Thanks for your letter and I send best regards.

Ed Grenda
Castle Island Co.
The Worldwide Guide to Rapid Prototyping