Comments by "" (@tomk3732) on "The Genius of 3D Printed Rockets" video.

This is standard stuff in metal 3d printing - just here a lot of it is done with an actual welder. The 3D printed parts are also made larger so they can be heat treated and end up with dimensions that frequently are finish machined to proper size.
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@vitruvianman7170 Spot on - even a single mistake and you have a huge issue. They should X ray the whole tank and look for any issues. This is going into space so standard earth tank over pressure test should not be enough. When 3D printing you usually have post print heat treatment process - I doubt these guys will do that. Also imagine the cost of such tank vs. normal stuff. To me it all feels a bit like a scam.
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There is no future in 3D printing or welding rockets - at least not what was presented on the video. It makes rockets 10x more expensive to make in addition to being heavier and prone to failures. The comments on this video prove how detached todays population is from reality and from actually making things or working with metal etc. Any machinist / welder with a bit experience would point to giant flaws. Any structural engineer, even fresh from college would shake his head with disbelief.
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@cldus7442 Problem here is that the tech is not solving any "problem". I.e. it introduces very expensive and elaborate method of making things that is on top of that inferior. For example, sintered metal method of making parts is expensive, you have to design parts so that they can shrink during curing process BUT it solves a problem - it allows you to 3D metal print parts that have intricate details hard to machine or even... impossible to machine. Here we have 3D welding competing with a method to produce something that is not only super easy to make, but also super cheap & superior. Note that filling in metal with automated welding has been around for some time (decades?) but it is used in industry wisely - for example you rebuild a used up part of a shaft to then re-machine to size & put on a bearing. I refilled with metal used parts of an anvil and vice + similar other projects. Automated welding has been around for more then 20 years as well. But all these make financial sense. Not this.
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@cldus7442 Well if it did reduce the turnout it would make sense - but it does not. Also it does not 3D print a rocket it 3D welds a rocket using commercially available welding robot. Finally it is of little use off world as well as you need to send lots and lots of welding wire, have the ability to make a lot of shielding gas and finally you need tons and tons of energy plus elaborate machinery to finish the product. I.e. it needs more machinery then current processes. I.e. it produces inferior product at not only huge cost but also you need more capital invested. 3D metal printing could be used for some complex parts in a rocket - but 99% of a rocket booster is rather... simple. Most of it is just sheet metal. You have storage tanks for gas which are also made of sheet metal (AFIK as they cannot be made of extruded steel as it would be too big to make). Even most of the engine parts are simple construction - here main problem is alloy composition. Similar stuff to RAM jet engine that is uber simple to make (as long as you can survive heat and pressure) - it just only works at high speeds and getting to these is hard. I.e. to make a rocket off world it would be much simple to send a lot of sheet metal, welding robot, painting system, inspection system for welds and some support items. This plus a way to fuel it up.
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@cldus7442 I would rather invest in 3D metal printers for which we don't have much alternative - for what they are doing we have ultra cheap ways of making things already.
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@cldus7442 I suggest you watch videos by Dan Gilbert. In it he shows his metal 3D printer and explains when and where it is to be used. He is what most pp think Elon Musk is. I.e. the guy could build iron man today if he wanted to. This will explain to you in detail the whole process & also you can learn a lot more from his videos. Look for metal 3D printing.
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The whole thing feels like a giant scam. But looks cool.
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@agitatorjr I would call their investors to tell them they are wasting money. SpaceX is under Elon, I do not like the guy but he is not an idiot & knows what 3D printing is used for - which is to make complex shapes that are expensive or impossible to machine normally. Not rocket walls which are trivial to make.
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These guys are going in the opposite direction - how to make rockets 10x more expensive.
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You can acutally make a welder printer like this in your garage. It will be similar to gantry milling machine - google it. Say 1500 for a welder - MIG. 1500 for motors 1000 for hardware and maybe another 1000 for steel. You can use CNC linux. You would need to get the algorithm of cooling of these guys, expand CNC software with it AND you can build your statue. Unless its small you are talking about epic $$$ for wire through and lots and lots of gas. May I suggest you just do a sculpture and just cast it - not high tech but way cheaper. And better results.
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Problem is not just 10% extra weight and roughness of the outside body. Problem is low strength due to possible inclusions as well as astronomical cost / time vs standard construction. So these guys end up with rocket costing 10x as much as traditional one which is also heavier & more accident prone.
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At around 10x the price they better return intact!
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Why you would not simply use normal tank, at 10x lesser cost, lower weight and better safety? 3D print stuff like everyone else - when it is cheaper. Do I simply smell investor fraud?
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What a waste of resources and time and money!!! 3D metal printing process is to create complex elements that cannot easily be machined or cannot be traditionally machined period. It is much slower and much more expensive to build things such as rocket body! That rocket body is neither complex nor hard to machine from ready elements! This had to be uber PR / investment gimmick. The miller welding robot connected to CNC controller goes in circles. No complex shapes. One can do this in their garage - some of my friends have home made plasma CNC - this is similar but with less practical use.
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Read more about 3D printing and its uses, post processing etc. and this thing will look like a scam more and more.
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Human hairs are huge. Enormous. Even drilling operation is much more precise then human hair. Human hair precision is for people that learn machining for very first time. Human hair is a whopping 0.07mm or about 3 thou in US. Almost any home shop machinist can measure to 0.01mm at least some things. Thus exactness of a human hair is very crude. You can feel with your finger roughness of about 0.01mm and you can detect with your eye gaps of same size.
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LOL, NASA build for a long time b/c they are government sponsored. All private companies could build better stronger rocket bodies then these guys in 1/10 of the time.
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At least they admitted it. Watch for this to maybe make it once to space and be abandoned and someone milking millions out of investors.
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