So far, however, the rapid-prototyping machine simply produces an accurately shaped mould from which the plate is cast.

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Using a legitimate club head or even a photograph as a model, rapid-prototyping technology can spit out CAD files and create a master for a driver or iron head quickly and inexpensively.

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Rapid-prototyping machines have, for example, shortened the casting process for facial and cranial plates used in reconstructive surgery, says Robin Richards at the department of medical physics at University College, London.

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Existing 3-D printers, also called rapid prototyping machines, build structures layer by layer.

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