On Sun, 24 Dec 2006 13:24:04 +0100, crankorgan <
john@...> wrote:
> Stefan,
> Lets see him produce plans without the window channel. The
> window channel was my epiphany! He mounted the motor and bearing
> plates on the channel the same way! The Z axis Gas pipe etc. I guess
> if I stole your car and repainted it, that would be ok with you?
> John
No, but if you built one just like it i wouldn't mind at all! I'd ask you
why the gas sometimes sticks when starting the engine, when you are done.
I had not looked at your machines before, but the way the slides are made
is the obvious solution, with a plate across the top and two blocks
underneath. The parts i have for my machine (if i ever have time to build
it) use the same arrangement, only i had to use two channels in parallel
because i could not find one wide enough/right shape. But the plastic
sliders are virually identical. I looked through all the aluminum i could
get, and if our DIY stores had those same window channels, i would have
gotten them too, for sure.
I haven't looked at the end mount plates in detail, but it just looks like
a plastic plate with the motor or a bearing on it, and mounted to the
channel. There aren't so many options to do this.
I don't doubt he got the gas pipe z-axis (and other stuff) from you, and
he freely admits he did. I would not use that (because i'd rather use a
gantry style), but i would not hesitate to use pipes in a similar manner
for other things. Just because you sell plans for a machine with gas pipes
like this doesn't mean nobody can build anything like it any more. People
have done it before, and will do so again.
I really don't want to quarrel with you over this, but maybe you should
think about it. If he had bought plans from you (or somehow illegally
gotten hold of them), and then published them, he would violate your
copyright and you would have all grounds to be angry. But to me it looks
like he just looked around at homebuilt machines that are out there, liked
some of what he saw, and built a machin by himself. I don't see bad form
in that, people have copied what others did for millions of years. For a
lark, if you are in a situation where you know someone is looking at you
(say in the tube or a restorant or something), scratch your nose or ear in
an inconspicuous manner. 9 out of 10 times the person looking in your
direction will have the sudden need to scratch his nose or ear too. What i
want to say is it is in human/animal nature to see a good idea, and do the
same. Unless you have patented your way to scratch your nose....
Anyway, as i said, i don't want to quarrel with you. But talking about
"stealing" when someone builds something similar to what others have
built, that's not right. Items intended for the same purpose will always
end up looking similar, even if different peole make them in complete
isolation. If the isolation is less complete they will of course look much
more similar. Look at cars, or toothbrushes, or angle-grinders. Most of
them follow more or less the same general idea.
ST