EmachineShop: Program Lets People Design 3-D Objects
August 19, 2004 | Levent OZLER
It's the Internet Revolution meets the Industrial Revolution: a new program that lets people design 3-D objects like car parts and door knobs in metal or plastic then order them online.
Programs for computer-aided design, or CAD, have been around for decades, but eMachineShop appears to be the first service that checks whether a design can be made, tells the customer how much it will cost and, if the customer wants the item, forwards the design to a "real world" machine shop for manufacturing.
The key to this enterprise is free design software provided by eMachineShop that aims to be simple enough for hobbyists and other non-engineers.
Prices won't be competitive with Wal-Mart, but Wal-Mart won't make ten copper door knobs, then sandblast them for you. EmachineShop charges $143 for that.
The company was created by Jim Lewis, a programmer and self-professed "tinkerer." One previous credit: "the world's hardest sliding block puzzle."
Lewis' software company, Micrologic, designed eMachineShop and contracts with machine shops all over the world to do the manufacturing.
more: emachineshop.com/ (922)
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