Reproduction of museum objects

Paul Messier commented on the reproduction of museum objects and
rapid prototyping (Conservation DistList Instance: 12:24, September
3, 1998)

I did some work in evaluating the applications of rapid prototyping
some years ago when it was a relatively new technology and had not
yet been applied to artifacts (see: "Evaluation of Rapid Prototyping
Technologies for use in the Production of Art and Artifact Copies",
Materials Research Society Meeting Postprints, MRS, 1992, San
Francisco, CA. pp. 1079-1087.)  You will find a general description
of the process there.  I have since been in contact with a number of
companies developing the process and there have been some major
changes.  However, scanning continues to be a challenge, especially
for large objects.  Accuracy of dimensions is impressive but
reproduction of surface textures without artifacts from the process
remains a problem as does cost of scanning and cost of production.
It's a wonderful technology but has a long way to go before it can
produce the accurate copy (an accurate surface free of artifacts)
for a reasonable cost.

Jerry Podany
Head of Antiquities Conservation
J. Paul Getty Museum

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 12:26
                Distributed: Tuesday, September 15, 1998
                       Message Id: cdl-12-26-002
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