while i am not sure you can use such a technique to directly make 3d parts, there is a interesting idea that ive read about.. i think its been built to prototype stage.. anyhow this is how it works:

1. a laser printer prints a cross section of a 3d model on a sheet of acrylic film

2. the film is advanced over a thin pool of UV curing polymer.

3. a bright light exposes the thin layer of polymer through the acrylic mask

4. the pool of polymer gets filled to just higher than before, and another mask is printed and moves over the pool

5. the light exposes the parts and it is again flooded with a thin layer of polymer.


this idea is being explored commercially somewhere, by some inventor type.. to me it wastes alot of acrylic sheeting... it is also similar to another interesting rapid prototype method..

1. a 3d model is cut into slices.

2. a plotter holding adhesive backed paper, and holding a xacto, cuts the cross sections.

3. a bored person peels the slices and adheres them to one another.

4. finish like a wooden model...

this has the advantages of creating geometry no 3d milling machine could... the disadvantages are numerous and obvious, but the main one is that it will never work for many forms, and the models must then be finished with more traditional model-making techniques. plus its time intensive.


i still think using hacked inkjet hardware and software along with a z-corp style power binder would work.. the other option is to design and build a atomizer or simialr inkjet head.. this is also possible. especially because you could almost certainly get someone here with an accurate cnc mill to cut the small parts free or cheaply.. the parts would machine very quickly because it would mostly be small channels and nozzles in a tiny piece of brass or something.

all right, good luck..

robert