Jay Leno Replaces Rare Car Parts Using 3D Printer

How impressive, you ask?

Leno creates his own spare parts for rare, old cars using a 3D printer. He described the process for Popular Mechanics, but here’s the gist of how it works: Leno scans the old part using a NextEngine 3D Scanner, which takes about 20 minutes at a resolution of 160,000 dots per inch.

This creates a 3D model, which he can then print in plastic with a Dimension 3D Printer in roughly three hours. At that point, he can use the plastic model to create a mold that can be used to build the car piece in metal.

Pretty nifty, right? He should put that much time and effort into his monologue.

Jay Leno’s 3D Printer Replaces Rusty Old Parts (Popular Mechanics via Gizmodo)