Rapid prototyping is a useful R&D aid. If you have spent many hours making a part by hand, but wish afterwards you had designed it slightly differently, it can be a bit soul destroying to have to start again. Examples of this are turbine blade development, and camshaft development.

Details of the prototype CNC machines involved in each case are provided, one being the Compucutter, configured as a turbine blading mill, and 2D turning lathe for the compressor. The second a cam lobe grinder. The digitising engine, for use with each system is also detailed. The design philosophy for the machines is to combine as many ready-machined components as you can buy easily, cheaply, and locally in the form of imported tools. A Chinese pillar drill and 6-inch cross vice forms the basis of the blading mill. A pillar drill and bench grinder are made into the cam grinder. This way machines can reflect exactly the purpose for which we have built them without having to appear "general purpose".

The rapid prototyping systems are production aids for YOUR designs, the digitisers do not produce design data from mathematical equations, but rather from your visualisation of the new prototype shape (super-scaled pattern cut from 1mm alum alloy with tin snips) and based on your previous dynamometer testing of related shapes.