Rumor Central

February 26, 2010

Was chatting with Scott of Dominion Milling Center the other day, and he passed on some news he had heard from the powers that be at 3M.  It seems 3M has finally recognized that they are significantly behind 3Shape’s design software, so they are apparently working on a way to allow those of us with Lava scanners to download Lava scans into 3Shape.  Scott pointed out that through simple observation of file size and “counting triangles” he has determined that the average Lava scan has 4-5x as much data as a 3Shape scan.  More data means higher accuracy, which can’t be bad, right?

My immediate thought is what does this do for 3M?  If I use the Lava scanner, and then design the restoration in 3Shape and output that file to my Origin Pro 5000 mill, what does that do for 3M?  Is there going to be some type of “lock” that prevents me from milling anything scanned on the Lava scanner on another mill?  Or a dongle fee?

I’m pretty happy with the results I’m getting using the 3Shape scanner – I don’t see a clinically significant difference in the output of the Origin mill and what I receive from my Lava Milling Center – I’d call it a dead heat.  Don’t know where this is headed, but hope to get some answers this weekend in Chicago.

BTW – the new AeroTrains are now operational at Dulles.  Not sure what the big deal is – the train dropped us off a good 300 yards from the gates (a long enough walk that they installed a moving sidewalk).  What’s up with that?  If you’re going to build a train system, why not have it load/unload next to the gates?

(I used to like to travel – now I guess I’m just old.  Bring back the days when I didn’t have to disrobe, nor worry about the size of my toothpaste tube…)

© 2010, Jeff Saylors. All rights reserved.