Quick Question: What do you know about 3D Printing?

[ChrisFL]

I know all about it, but this is more of a survey question, to see who is familiar with it so far.

Have you heard of 3D Printing? Do you know what it is? How it works? (without cheating by going to Google! )


I'm very excited about the potential, but noticed a lot of my friends had never heard of it, hence this quick survey.

Thanks in advance!

[nd5056]

You mean you want to build a gun that no metal detector could see?

Anyway, 3D printing and taking off big time, but is it there yet as far as $$$, material quality and finish??? Depends on what you want to "make" with it.

A believe next year someone wants to "print" the whole house...

.

[ChrisFL]

Originally Posted by nd5056

You mean you want to build a gun that no metal detector could see?

I think its sad that is the first thing some people think about, but oh well.

[cmwade77]

3D Printing allows you to litterally print a part or product using plastic or other mediums (they even have printers that will now make the products using nothing but standard paper).

It is actually becoming very inexpensive (for what you get), but just like with regular printers, the less you spend on the printer it's self, the more the consumables will cost (at least if you use the name brand consumables). There are now even instructions on how to make your own consumables.

That being said, there is a very wide range on the costs, it can vary from $100 up to $10,000 for the printer, sometimes even more, depending on your needs.

Overall the potential for this system to reduce costs of making new products by being able to quickly print a prototype of a new product and look at it and see if it works as expected is exciting.

But in the long run I fear that this technology could cost manufacturing jobs once it's perfected. Imagine a world where you go online and order a product, then instead of having it shipped to you, you simply print it out. Yes the person who designed the product makes money, as well as the company/companies that make the consumables. But there would be far fewer people involved in that.

But there is another exciting area that 3D Printing is being used and that is in the medical field. They are now even printing 3D Stem Cells, which takes the controversy out of this, as they are no longer taking stem cells from fertilized eggs. If you want to read more, you can see here:
http://blog.3dprintingmodel.com/2013...he-first-time/

So as you can see, there are some issues with 3D printing that we will need to work around, but overall there are many great things that can be done with it right now and a lot of potential.

[Katy Belle]

My 7th grader has a tech ed class and his teacher just got a 3D printer in there. The only thing he has printed for the class so far is a spiral column thingy.

We've seen Jeff Dunham use one to make a ventriloquist dummy head.

My DH has been reading about them for a while. He knows a lot, I know a little.

[hopemax]

I first heard about it during the promotional period for Skyfall (James Bond). They used it to replicate the Aston Martin that they destroyed. I've also seen the Big Bang Theory episode, recently aired. Howard and Raj bought one to make action figures of themselves and a whistle.

I told DH, we've all got our "Star Trek data pads" and now we're not that far off from having replicators (at least for things made of plastic, not food stuffs like they would show on ST....tea...earl gray...hot). I see they are working on food printing, but it's $$$.

[nd5056]

Finally had time to find the 3d Printer buyer's guide .

It put some light on the type of the 3D Printer based on the intended use. the cheapest and the fastest are those to make prototypes with, the part may be rough in finish.

[mombrontrent]

Funny you ask because up until recently I had never heard of it. About a month ago Dh had on a 15-20 min internet video all about it so now I feel I know more about it then I ever wantd to.

[Meriweather]

DH's friend has one and he has played with it.
He printed me some Mickey head coasters.........and a bowl. But they were expensive and took quite a while to be finished.

[tOSU]

Big Bang Theory used one a few weeks ago to make figurines of themselves.

We just ordered one for doing prototypes at work.

[diznygirl]

I read somewhere that a company is working on using 3D printing to build a moonbase. They would use materials found on the moon, so all you would need is the printer and some astronauts.

[TheAviator]

Yep and have used it to make parts with. I am an inventor on the side and trying to develop some products. Its fantastic and has made rapid prototyping so much cheaper and easier.

Question for you do you know what the largest size part you can have made with them? The ones I did you were limited to pretty small parts.

I think it was invented or some of the technology anyway, for deep space travel. Idea is if the spaceship breaks a part, it will make any part needed on the ship, thus all you need are raw materials better than having a full part store on the space ship. (Although I am not 100% sure this is true, something I heard on TV)

[nd5056]

Originally Posted by TheAviator

Question for you do you know what the largest size part you can have made with them? The ones I did you were limited to pretty small parts.
)

Now you can go BIG!

Architect to build home using 3-D printer

[ChrisFL]

Originally Posted by TheAviator

Question for you do you know what the largest size part you can have made with them? The ones I did you were limited to pretty small parts.

I don't own one yet, but I'm very close to purchasing a Rostock Max, which prints at 11" Diameter by over 13 3/4" height.

Its a Delta printer, different kind of printer setup, its VERY tall, so keep that in mind, but that size is great.

[TheAviator]

Originally Posted by nd5056

Now you can go BIG!

Architect to build home using 3-D printer

Thats good to see, should bring the prices down the bigger they get. Although I was just wondering how big they were in the general sense, as in just larger normal sized parts. Like something that could be at least a few feet X few feet