Fabrication / Engineering / 3D Printing

Machining, Welding, Fabrication, 3d Printing (FDM), Engineering

I have been a fabricator since before my time in the USAF, but when I joined the service I was placed in Aircraft Metals Technology. That career consists of Engineering, Design, Fabrication, Repair, Mechanical Troubleshooting, a lot of mathematics, and a lot of thinking. I have worked on aerospace equipment, airframes, support equipment, weapons systems, and just about anything else inbetween that was military related.

I continue to stay up on fabrication and engineering by applying it to a host of things. I still enjoy repairing or building items both at home and occasionally at work where there is a need. With modern advances of platics, composits, and computers, 3D printing can now be done at home with a small investment of money. I continually use my 3D Printer for multiple projects including repair parts, rasperry pi cases, and sometimes just printing random stuff like a miniture lighthouse.

I currently use Fusion 360 for all of my projects, but I have experience with MasterCAM, FeatureCAM, and a host of other propritary CAM software suites. While 3D printing seems cool, the machines that I have operated from 4-5 axis CNC Mills to waterjets, 3D Printing can be a bit boring. I think that the technology definately provides newer avenues to manufacturing, but its still a long way off for mass production of items and strength of materials for items that need to endure tough environments.