Perhaps still outside the realm of homebuilt stuff, but all technology will eventually become cheaper:
EOS Laser Sintering Technology - Engineering TV
At first I thought it couldn't possibly produce high strength parts, but they have done small jet engine turbine wheels, so it does work.
The amazing thing is it completely eliminates some of the problems with castings; you do not need to worry about undercuts or draft angles and you need absolutely no tooling Neither do you need to program complex tool paths like on a conventional CNC machining centre - everything goes straight from CAD model to part.
About an hour per inch of thickness for plastics, a little more for metals, but if you need some kind of horribly complex part, this seems a great solution.
EOS Laser Sintering Technology - Engineering TV
At first I thought it couldn't possibly produce high strength parts, but they have done small jet engine turbine wheels, so it does work.
The amazing thing is it completely eliminates some of the problems with castings; you do not need to worry about undercuts or draft angles and you need absolutely no tooling Neither do you need to program complex tool paths like on a conventional CNC machining centre - everything goes straight from CAD model to part.
About an hour per inch of thickness for plastics, a little more for metals, but if you need some kind of horribly complex part, this seems a great solution.
