PANAMA CITY BEACH — Scientists and engineers at Naval Support Activity Panama City searching the edges of what’s possible for anything that might give service members an advantage have a new tool that allows them to quickly and efficiently turn their concepts into reality.
It’s a $200,000 3-D printer capable of creating “literally anything,” said Chuck Self, a government service civilian who works in the Prototype Fabrication Lab and operates the new machine. The lab has had an older model 3-D printer for about eight years, said spokesman Jeff Prater, but it can’t do what this new one can.
“They’re going to take that scientist’s idea and bring it to life,” Prater said.
3-D printers apply layer after hair-thin layer of material — in this case plastic, but other machines can use other materials, including metals — until they create a three-dimensional object. Each layer is undetectable to the naked eye, but after about an hour the progress is noticeable. It’s called additive fabrication, Prater said.
The biggest difference between the old machine and the new one is that it can build entire mechanisms, not just pieces that can be assembled into mechanisms. It’s a relatively new process, Self said.
“For so long that’s never been possible for engineers,” Self said. “It’s always been produce this part, produce this part, assemble them and see if they work.”
A crescent wrench or pipe wrench that relies on a screw to adjust to fit what it needs to grip can be built in one piece by layering wax instead of plastic where the design calls for an opening. The wrench is then heated to the point where the wax melts away and leaves space for the screw to turn. No assembly required.
Using wax instead of plastic allows the machine to create an assembly with moving parts such as ball bearings. Theoretically, it could build a replacement engine for a car, or at least a plastic model of one.
“Mostly what we’re here for is for an engineer’s design … prototype designs, for them to do fit checks, theory testing, things like that,” Self said.
A part or mechanism that might have a month to create can be built overnight with the machine, which allows engineers to tinker with designs sooner and complete projects faster, Self said. It’s primarily used to create prototypes quickly, but the machine can build finished products as well, and it does, Self said as he displayed a waterproof circuit board housing.
“So they come up with that next great idea, and the next step would be to realize that idea,” Prater said.