3D printers

Liberalbrehon

Hi
3D printers are already here, that use plastic,paper and other materials to produce tools, prostheses. I was wondering if we could come up with a list of different things these amazing tools could offer/produce. Maybe there is a business or two in it to produce items for export?
new wifes/gf's/boyfriends/husbands etc do not count.

BoB_BoT

well the potential is really unlimited, primary use I've seen is rapid prototyping.

Humm not sure what you could produce using them though, again, ideas / prototypes that would take days to build by hand, but cant' see them being useful as generally they're not fully functional, just physical outputs of the on screen design.

Turbulent Bill

I don't think there's an export business in 3D printing (unless you're manufacturing the printers or software) - the printers are available worldwide, and the value is in the content being printed.

The one obvious application I can think of is scaled models of buildings, particularly houses. Most non-technical people have trouble interpreting 2D plans, and models are generally only made by skilled modelmakers for large buildings (expensive). A 3D printer in an estate agent or architect's office could churn out a nice model very quickly and cheaply.

The big problems would be gettting the content in an appropriate format, and the fact that nobody's buying houses!

Blisterman

I suppose the value is in the customisation. Compared to moulding the traditional way, 3D printing is expensive and slow. So it's really only good for one offs.
One idea I can think of is customisable action figures. Scan in people's faces and 3D print the head, attach it to a standard body. Not sure how many people would actually be interested in that. I remember there was a company in the Jervis Centre, which did something similar with glass blocks.

Liberalbrehon

yeap 3D busts might be a novelty present for xmas but you would have to get orders in early. however basing a bust on a 2D picture is technically not perfect but doable