Guerrilla guide to CNC machining, mold making, and resin casting (2015)
Semi-related: As an average consumer I'm disappointed that nearly a decade of the "makerspace" has seemingly failed to produce any sort of meaningful Renaissance in small-scale US manufacturing.<p>I've purchased the odd 3D printed or resin cast tchotchke from small operations a few times at this point. But it's still disappointing that if you need professional quality products, you still either need to pay out the nose to have it fabbed or ship it in from China.<p>It seems to me the industry is very good at serving hobbyists and prototypers. But I think there is a huge market being missed out on easy-to-use, introductory products for mold tooling, plastic injection, and general manufacturing automation.<p>As cool as 3d printers can be, I don't think owning one scales up into a professional endeavour very well. However, developing a pretty good mold for a phone case would.