| Lunar Manufacturing |
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| Some websites I liked. These gentlemen build their own foundries, lathes, tools, etc. Send them to the Moon and give them some metal to work with and they could build all sorts of manufacturing devices. Human beings are still the most sophisticated and versatile of all robots... My Homemade Metal Lathe Project http://www.backyardmetalcasting.com/lathe1.html Backyard Metal Casting.com http://www.backyardmetalcasting.com/ My Metal Spinning Lathe: A Home Workshop Guide http://aardvark.co.nz/pjet/spinning1.shtml Brian’s Metal Casting Project http://metalcast.boorman.us/ Fun With Molten Metal http://www.incolor.com/bill_r/fun_with_molten_metal.htm This company makes table top machine tools, even CNC machines: http://www.sherline.com/ |
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| Lunar Manufacturing Challenges The lunar vacuum will make extracting some metals like magnesium and calcium easier. It will make possible the use of metal vapor deposition. However, the vacuum of the Moon and temperature extremes will make many more conventional processes nearly impossible. Metal parts in contact will vacuum weld. Could we oxidize metal parts intentionally to prevent this when it is undesirable? Could we coat threads with teflon to prevent vacuum welding of bolt in parts? How do we keep slabs of molten metal from sublimating away in the vacuum? Do we cast into sealed molds or do we cover with a layer of slag? Will billets in extruders vacuum weld? Will metal plates in rolling mills vacuum weld? Will vacuum welding affect metal milling? . We can solve these problems. Make the inner lining of the extruder a hard ceramic. Forget about cold extrusion or rolling. Make the rollers ceramic and heat the metal going into it until it is soft enuff not to crack the ceramic rollers. Don't mill in the vacuum. Work in pressurized chambers. Use laser milling machines. Even if we solve these problems by using special materials machines exposed to the temperature extremes of lunar day and night will expand, contract, jam up and even crack. The only way to avoid this problem is to locate the machines in inflatable chambers with concrete floors. The chambers would be covered with regolith for thermal insulation. Eventually we will build metal chambers with lunar derived materials and bury them under regolith. Machines as well as humans, livestock and crops need protection from the harsh lunar environment. The difference is that machines don't need to return to Earth and they don't need life support systems. |