[Arm-netbook] On (potentially not) 3D printing laptop case parts

[Forest Crossman]

Hi, all,

The recent update on Crowd Supply (regarding the difficulty in
mass-producing parts with 3D printers) reminded me of some RepRap/RepStrap
innovations from a few years back:

   - https://web.archive.org/web/20150318000301/http://justindunh
   am.net/making-cast-resin-3d-printer-parts/
   <https://web.archive.org/web/20150318000301/http://justindunham.net/making-cast-resin-3d-printer-parts/>
   - http://reprap.org/wiki/Clonedel
   - http://reprap.org/wiki/Moldmaking_Tutorial

This was before cheap, mass-produced 3D printers became widely available,
so many people were bootstrapping their RepRaps by purchasing 3D-printed
parts from others. At some point, someone realized that it was a lot faster
to 3D print a set of parts, make molds from them, and then use those molds
to make additional part sets, than it was to separately print each set of
parts.

I'm not sure how complicated the parts of the laptop case are, but if the
parts could be re-designed to be optimized for resin casting, it might cut
down on the production time. Of course, I've never done any resin casting
before so I don't know how feasible this would be in practice. Also, I have
no idea how fast modern 3D printers can run now, so the speed advantage
might not even exist any more.

Anyways, I just though I'd mention this on the off chance it might help
speed things along.

Keep up the good work!

-- 
Forest Crossman
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