My wonderful wife’s surgery went well yesterday. Preliminary results were encouraging. The rest of the picture will, hopefully, be just as good when we receive those results in a few days. She should be discharged today.
From both of us, thanks to everyone who offered good wishes and encouragement. Special thanks to David Banner (not his real name) for sharing his time and expertise with me as well as sending good thoughts.
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Stories like this one from Hemmings will become more commonplace. The piece is about the only Jaguar XK-120 with a body by Pininfarina that was restored with the help of 3D printing and will now be offered for sale at the Bonhams auction at Amelia Island in March. From the piece a picture of the car:
I have written about the use of 3D printing in the restoration of older cars where parts are simply not available. I do not, and cannot, understand the objection to using this technology, but some “purists” think that’s “cheating.” If parts for a 1930 Duesenberg Model J are simply unavailable I don’t see how using 3D printing to create parts is wrong. Do the “purists” think the car should be forever left unrestored?
Breaking my arm patting myself on the back on a tangent…investments in 3D printing companies have been successful for our family portfolio although we have been completely out of the space for years. One investment more than tripled in value in the 17 months we owned the stock. I am a big believer in the axiom that bulls make money, bears make money, but hogs get slaughtered.
When 3D printing becomes faster in execution I think a real revolution in production will occur. I also think that 3D hardware and software will continue to become less expensive, perhaps to the chagrin of companies that provide them, but to the good for people who may want to use the technology.
I would like to read your thoughts on this topic.
#KeepYourFingersCrossed
#3DPrinting
#somanycarsjustonelife
#disaffectedmusings
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Disaffected Musings 
Good to hear the wife unit is doing well, Hoping for continued improvement.
Anyone who doesn’t see the value of 3-D printing for unavailable parts, probably also believes the earth is flat and the last GOOD auto made was a Model T Ford. These folks should not be listened to about ANYTHING.
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“Anyone who doesn’t see the value of 3-D printing for unavailable parts, probably also believes the earth is flat and the last GOOD auto made was a Model T Ford. These folks should not be listened to about ANYTHING.”
Gee, DDM, why don’t you tell us how you really feel? Yes, sarcasm. Of course, I agree. I think that for all but the rarest of cars, if the owner wants a new drivetrain or 3D-printed parts then that’s his/her business. My car, my money…
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Glad to hear the good news about your wife, my friend.
There are those purists who believe that carpentry with “modern” tools is also somehow sacrilegious. I am thinking of that longtime series on PBS, The Woodwright’s Shop.
If new old stock isn’t available, and there are no reasonable sources of used parts, a recreation of a needed part is certainly a better alternative than leaving the project to rust away.
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Thanks, JS.
People can have their opinions, but do not have the right to try to impose those beliefs on the rest of the world.
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Glad to hear the surgery went well. Sorry I am behind on my reading and the late response.
I know that some people are simply rigid in their feelings about what is acceptable, and I guess we all have the lines we won’t cross. And sometimes, it seems really silly where those lines are. I had a friend with an early 1950s GM car, and he was replacing the window felts. He could not find anyone who sold the actual nail-type fastener for the parts he was replacing. He refused to purchase what most of us felt were perfectly acceptable replacements at the hardware store, because if I recall, they were galvanized, and ‘the factory did not use galvanized nails’. Keep in mind, we’re talking about nails that are INSIDE the door, no one would even see the heads of these nails, they’d be covered up by the door panels.
The upshot was he actually did not drive the car for I think 2 summers, because without the nails he wouldn’t reassemble the doors panels, and he wouldn’t show/cruise the car with an incomplete interior.
As for your comment above about imposing beliefs, it’s funny actually… this friend of mine could impose his beliefs on others… he served as a concours Rolls Royce judge at one time! It’s probably where the rigidity developed… but as a judge he absolutely could impose such meticulous standards on others.
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Many thanks, Mark.
I don’t know your friend with the early 1950s GM car, but that situation sounds like the definition of cutting off your nose to spite your face.
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