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Printer Transportation Science Technology

3D-Printed Aircraft Tool Sets Guinness World Record (networkworld.com) 50

coondoggie quotes a report from Network World: A 17.5 foot long, 5.5 foot wide and 1.5 foot tall the 3D printed aircraft design tool has earned the title of largest solid 3D printed item by Guinness World Records. The 1,650 lb. apparatus known as a trim-and-drill tool is comparable in length to a large sport utility vehicle and will ultimately be tested for use in building the Boeing 777X passenger jet. Basically the tool will be used to secure the jet's composite wing skin for drilling and machining before assembly, according to researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ONRL) who developed the tool. "The existing, more expensive metallic tooling option we currently use comes from a supplier and typically takes three months to manufacture using conventional techniques," said Leo Christodoulou, Boeing's director of structures and materials in a statement. "Additively manufactured tools, such as the 777X wing trim tool, will save energy, time, labor and production cost and are part of our overall strategy to apply 3D printing technology in key production areas."
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3D-Printed Aircraft Tool Sets Guinness World Record

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  • by fredgiblet ( 1063752 ) on Wednesday August 31, 2016 @08:41PM (#52806029)
    ...when I can 3D print an entire plane for myself.
    • by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Wednesday August 31, 2016 @08:56PM (#52806075)
      Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • by Anonymous Coward

      I hope you've invested in longevity treatments as well.

  • For the worlds largest tool

    and its much bigger than Anthony's Wiener

    • by TimSSG ( 1068536 )
      The category is world's largest tool; not world's smallest! So, Anthony might still be in the running. Tim S.

      For the worlds largest tool

      and its much bigger than Anthony's Wiener

  • is a better click bait title
    • world's largest tool is a better click bait title

      The editors were worried that people would think it was a story about Donald Trump.

  • It's a jig. It holds things in place, like a glorified clamp. It may be big, but it's not very interesting.

    • Well, apart from being really really big which is in and of itself interesting.

      Also, jigs are an *incredibly* important part of manufacturing. And this shows that new tech can cut a serious amount of time and cost off the tooling.

      • Yeah, check out the process for making a propeller from a wooden mold sometime. It's slow and expensive, and still done today. 3d printing could cut both the time and the cost of making the mold substantially.

  • Honestly, I have no clue what those values mean.

    For the curious among you:
    According to google, it is 5.33m long * 1.68m wide* 45.7cm tall. It weights approximately 748.4 kg.
    • Do they not have feet in your part of the world?
      • by dbIII ( 701233 )

        Do they not have feet in your part of the world?

        Pseudopods are a better metric.

      • Do they not have feet in your part of the world?

        Most of the feet in the world are much smaller than a foot, which is size 15 or 16 in the USA which is way way way up in the upper percentile — most shoe stores only carry up to about a size 13. My feet hit size 15 while I was still 15 myself, but they luckily stopped at 16 while I was 17.

  • Why is the category for the largest *SOLID* 3D printed object? You really can't 3D print anything with a liquid or a gas... Is there some 40 foot 3D printed chocolate bar or pancake somewhere?
  • I picture a couple Irish dudes coming over... drunk as hell on Guinness Stout and some Smythwicks... "yep, sure is big all right (burrrrp) now where's the nearest pub"

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