3D Printing

Username567

You don't hear too much about 3D printing considering how amazing the technology is, I read on the BBC website there are plans to 3D print buildings on the moon.

It seems to be a technology which has been largely off the radar.

summerskin

How fascinating.

davet82

i bet the cartridges are really fcukin expensive for that yoke...

Tabnabs

http://www.ohgizmo.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/success-kid-590x438.jpg

SEPT 23 1989

Wake me up when they are 3D printing a few hoverboards

CreepingDeath

davet82 wrote: »

i bet the cartridges are really fcukin expensive for that yoke...

£52.30 Sterling for one colour.... RepRap Open Source DIY 3D Printer

Anyone

Damnit....I knew I should have kept those magazines.

davet82

CreepingDeath wrote: »

£52.30 Sterling for one colour.... RepRap Open Source DIY 3D Printer

WTF? Do you have a delorean by any chance?

Capt'n Midnight

It's not off the radar.

Once costs drop enough it will explode everywhere. The potential cost savings are enormous.



BBC culture show has a program on that included 3D printing, sugru and hacking
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006t6c5

One comment made was that when people repair stuff with sugru then manufacturers can get the feedback and improve the product. I can imagine the same would be true of 3D printing, if a type of part keeps getting broken it can be redesigned.

The attitude of charging an arm and a leg for parts needs to end :mad:
Also it's a PITA waiting for back orders.


As one telecoms engineer said of VoIP when it first appeared, any phone company that isn't terrified doesn't understand the technology.

3D printing means you can make many spare parts easily. For metal parts you'd use a "lost wax" process , possibly scaling up by a few % to cater for shrinkage.

I can see a time when parts departments won't hold as many spares as in the past, it'll be publish on demand.



Like laser cutting the costs are dropping all the time. IIRC it's about €15K for a commercial printer (HP?) so it would be interesting to see at what point it becomes cheaper than having €15K of unused stock in the backroom. Also in these days of gombeen landlords who use upward only rent reviews there would be savings on storage space.



Imagine a world where there are vending machines in 24 hour shops / garages. You could use the interwebulizer to get a spare part design from the manufacturer, send it to a nearby machine which then texts's when the item is ready for collection. (you can already send an email and have the object posted to you.)

CreepingDeath

davet82 wrote: »

WTF? Do you have a delorean by any chance?

Yep, I'm back from the future to stop the 3D printers from self replicating and taking over the world.

* See "Replicators" in Stargate.

Pilotdude5

It will surely cost loads of jobs won't it? Transport, manufacturing, design etc...

seamus

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

I can see a time when parts departments won't hold as many spares as in the past, it'll be publish on demand.

Only problem is that when you go to BMW looking for a spare part which would have cost €150 to have it in your hand, they'll charge you €140 for the blueprint and tell you you're getting a bargain.

Though there's no reason why someone couldn't design the part for you and provide the blueprints for nothing. That's not theft by any definition.

It will surely cost loads of jobs won't it? Transport, manufacturing, design etc...

Swings and roundabouts. It'll stimulate a ****load of jobs that don't even exist at the moment.

1ZRed

3D printing is unreal!

Gives a new dimension to sending cock shots :pac:

kjl

Are you on something OP,

3d printing is used all the time. check out shapeways.com

Wossack

Im totally gonna download a car

johnmcdnl

You wouldn't download a car ehhh

^^ beaten to it

CreepingDeath

Pilotdude5 wrote: »

It will surely cost loads of jobs won't it? Transport, manufacturing, design etc...

No, it's really aimed at custom designs with limited production runs.
And at the moment it only prints out plastic moulds.
So it's not printing out other materials required to make a circuit board and electronics components, wiring etc.

If you wanted to produce production runs of thousands of items, eg. plastic protective cases for phones, it's cheaper and faster to use something like injection moulding.

That said... I did notice a web site allow you to upload a 3D design and they'll print it as a keyring for you...

http://www.sculpteo.com/en/workshops/create/keyring/?uuid=RZmTN1XKtP3o5tW9uDKYT

They've other 3D printing designs too Gallery

who_me

1ZRed wrote: »

3D printing is unreal!

Gives a new dimension to sending cock shots :pac:

Oh yeah. The office Christmas party just got a whole lot more interesting.

davet82

davet82

i'd say the toy industry is shítting itself

MadsL

TIL: What sugru is, looks awesome.

Capt'n Midnight

davet82 wrote: »

i bet the cartridges are really fcukin expensive for that yoke...

you can make your own, melt down broken lego pieces and stuff , use wax

smash

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

you can make your own, melt down broken lego pieces and stuff , use wax

I don't think I'd want to live in a wax building!

Pacly

I remember seeing on tv a few months ago a little girl who had some illness was using a contraption made from 3d printing to move her arms. The parents just order new parts if one wears out, and get a bigger one made as she grows.

BASHIR

Pacly wrote: »

I remember seeing on tv a few months ago a little girl who had some illness was using a contraption made from 3d printing to move her arms. The parents just order new parts if one wears out, and get a bigger one made as she grows.

They are amazing. I also seen one which was also used with 3d scanning to reconstruct a mans jaw after it had deteriorated through cancer.

Im fortunate enough to get to use one at work if I want to show bosses or clients new designs. Makes my job much easier.

They are costly though, like certain materials cost almost 50 cent a gram. Not sure how much the Metal sintering costs but I assume they are huge.

They are also very time consuming considering I printed a part about the size of a regular keyboard and it took 31hrs. Wonder how long a house would take :eek:

Run_to_da_hills

Funny thing is they are trying to ban the sale of 7+capacity magazine clips for rifles in the US and already downloadable 3D printer programmes are already available.

http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/145664-3d-printed-30-round-ar-magazine-brings-us-ever-closer-to-a-fully-3d-printed-gun

BASHIR

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Funny thing is they are trying to ban the sale of 7+capacity magazine clips for rifles in the US and already downloadable 3D printer programmes are already available.

http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/145664-3d-printed-30-round-ar-magazine-brings-us-ever-closer-to-a-fully-3d-printed-gun

True but nothing stopping a person from buying a printer and some 3d design package and making whatever they want. You can pick up 3d prinders now from as little as 1000 £

Dyr

3D printing was cool and exciting last autumn but now it's on AH, so meh. 3D print me a shark jumping device.

TheUsual

If I print myself by accident, will it try and kill me and replace me ?

CruelCoin

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

It's not off the radar.

Once costs drop enough it will explode everywhere. The potential cost savings are enormous.

Imagine going into the local mechanics for a replacement bumper for your car or something.

Rather than wait weeks for a spare part to be shipped, they could just download the schematic and print one off for you there and then.

I can't wait for this to go mainstream.

Hoop66

TheUsual wrote: »

If I print myself by accident, will it try and kill me and replace me ?

I would.

Lyaiera

Imagine printing yourself a Kindle or general e-book reader. :pac:

Blisterman

There's a 3d printing shop in the shopping centre near me, where you can bring in your 3d files and they'll print them for you.

A good sign that this is on the way to mainstream adoption. The potential is huge. It's no exaggeration to say that it's as big a revolution as mass production was 100 years ago.

Instead of a single product made a million times over, it could pretty soon be as cheap and easy to make a million products each customised to the individual buyer.

Tar.Aldarion

yes replicators here we come!
http://www.bitrebels.com/wp-content/themes/distinctive/img_resize/timthumb.php?src=http://www.bitrebels.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/picard-replicator-star-trek.jpg&h=220&w=212&zc=1

Now how about those holodecks...


It's also cool that 3d printers can print 3d printers

Run_to_da_hills

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

you can make your own, melt down broken lego pieces and stuff , use wax

I did some basic training in CNC machine programming in tech, a similar process except making objects out of a solid block instead of building something from scratch. A fully automated CNC machining center the time would have cost 40K up.

I am sure any injected molded product such as lego, motorcycle farings etc that use ABS thermosetting plastic could be recycled and extruded into 3D printer spools. Most quality plastic parts have a recycle code on the back stating the material. The expensive part of 3D printing would be those wanting specific colours.

http://www.reprapcentral.com/vmchk.html

seamus

It is of course worth remembering that this is exceptionally new technology in its infancy. Think about computers back in the 1960s and 70s, few of them would have the processing power to do "mundane" tasks today like sending an email or displaying a simple webpage.

For a good number of years yet, traditional production line manufacturing will still reign supreme and 3D printers will be used by universities and specialist engineering companies to do things which can't be done using traditional methods. It'll be at least 20 years before they become cheap and simple enough to use at home.

smash

seamus wrote: »

It'll be at least 20 years before they become cheap and simple enough to use at home.

Hardly... Only 6/7 years ago flat screen TV's that were only HD Ready weren't attainable for a lot of people. Look at them now...

PogMoThoin

3D printing will be the next huge piracy thing. There will be schematics of everything before long. Pring your own car parts, print anything. The fun starts then when they start 3D printing Glocks.................

Amalgam

PogMoThoin wrote: »

3D printing will be the next huge piracy thing. There will be schematics of everything before long. Pring your own car parts, print anything. The fun starts then when they start 3D printing Glocks.................

Strangely, printing a receiver is not yet illegal in the US. Only the upper part of the weapon is illegal in many states. Odd situation. That will probably change soon enough..

I don't know why you used the word piracy, it taints a wide 'scene', a lot of users gladly put their designs up on the likes of thingiverse.

Here's a good run down of the current wave of 3D Printer manufacturers and self builds.

Courtesy of Engadget: http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/29/3d-printer-guide/

I'm eyeing up building a MendelMax (http://www.mendelmax.com/) myself, or giving in to laziness and buying a Leapfrog Creatr. (www.lpfrg.com)

cerebus

seamus wrote: »

It is of course worth remembering that this is exceptionally new technology in its infancy.

For a good number of years yet, traditional production line manufacturing will still reign supreme and 3D printers will be used by universities and specialist engineering companies to do things which can't be done using traditional methods. It'll be at least 20 years before they become cheap and simple enough to use at home.

I think it will be sooner than that! Believe it or not, 3D Systems (NYSE: DDD) was founded over 25 years ago. The company is one of the leading publicly-traded players in the additive manufacturing (3D printing) space. This market is already well developed on the industrial side - typical applications are prototyping and limited production runs. You can also make things that are either impossible or very hard/costly to manufacture using traditional subtractive manufacturing techniques.

Vertical manufacturing sectors like dental, medical, architecture, aerospace, automotive and consumer goods are already spending in the hundreds of millions/billions every year on additive manufacturing methods (i.e. 3D printing).

There is also lots of potential for growth - the R&D/prototyping slice of manufacturing is probably worth $50B a year.

Consumer interest is also picking up - companies like MakerBot are making waves with desktop printers, and there were over 30 Kickstarter 3D Printer projects last time I checked. Wide scale deployment is still a long way away at the consumer level, but (for example) MakerBot sold over 5000 machines last year at a pricepoint less than $2.5k - i.e. early adopters right at the edge of the consumer/prosumer market. I was at CES a few weeks ago, and there were 8 different 3D printing companies on the show floor.

Companies like Shapeways, Sculpteo, Ponoko (some have been mentioned already in the thread) are removing the whole barrier to entry around actually owning/running a printer - they offer 3D printing as a service. Shapeways for example probably shipped >1M 3D printed objects last year - both from users sending designs to get printed and also from acting as a marketplace for independent designers to reach consumers (think Etsy/Amazon for 3D printed items). They can print stuff in multiple materials - everything from steel and gold to low-cost plastic. Very cool business model.

Antar Bolaeisk

My goal for this year is to save up and build one, I probably don't need a 3D printer (especially since I don't even have a 2D printer) but the geek in me badly wants one.

It's an awesome technology that fascinated me eight years ago when I first saw it and I've wanted one ever since.

Antar Bolaeisk

PogMoThoin wrote: »

3D printing will be the next huge piracy thing. There will be schematics of everything before long. Pring your own car parts, print anything. The fun starts then when they start 3D printing Glocks.................

Now you can download a car

Capt'n Midnight

PogMoThoin wrote: »

The fun starts then when they start 3D printing Glocks.................

That's already happened

http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2012/12/19/3d-printing-startup-makerbot-cracks-down-on-printable-gun-designs/

Run_to_da_hills

seamus wrote: »

It is of course worth remembering that this is exceptionally new technology in its infancy. Think about computers back in the 1960s and 70s, few of them would have the processing power to do "mundane" tasks today like sending an email or displaying a simple webpage.

For a good number of years yet, traditional production line manufacturing will still reign supreme and 3D printers will be used by universities and specialist engineering companies to do things which can't be done using traditional methods. It'll be at least 20 years before they become cheap and simple enough to use at home.

I can remember the first CD writers when they appeared, "WORM" drives they were called. The average HD capacity of a PC would would have been 500MB to 1 gig when they first appeared in the early 90's (486 DX 2-66 era)

A mate of mine who was into computer programming and data retrieval wanted to buy one of these, priced £1800 :eek: so he could go around and completely back up corporate hard drives. About 6 to 7 years later the average house hold PC's were coming standard with them. The same thing happened when DVD rw came out.

I would guess 3D printers will take off within three to five years at the rate every thing else has taken off. They will probably have a strict code of copyright and may require a license to operate one. I can remember being supervised using colour photo copiers in places like Reids and Easons in the 80's.

frozenfrozen

will someone print me a 3d printer?

68 lost souls

Loads of information out there on 3d printing. Used them throughout college and looking to get my own in the next year or so. Very cheap options put there at the moment but the details still aren't amazing. Great for prototyping or for quick fixes like clips and connectors. There are a few main kinds plastic powder paper and metal.

smash

I am so gonna print out Mila kunis!

Antar Bolaeisk

frozenfrozen wrote: »

will someone print me a 3d printer?

I think I've seen a maker bot capable of replicating itself, albeit a smaller version. You still needed to attach some parts afterwards like motors and such, all you really got was the frame.

Of course, this could all have been a dream.

Manic Moran

Amalgam wrote: »

Strangely, printing a receiver is not yet illegal in the US. Only the upper part of the weapon is illegal in many states. Odd situation. That will probably change soon enough..

The recevier legally is the weapon in the US. However, firearms built for personal use (i.e. not for resale or distrubution) are not covered under the various laws governing the matter.

That said, there are still some posession laws which apply, so 3D-printing a machinegun without the ATF Title II permit, or printing a non-CA-legal carbine in California will still land you ten years in jail.

NTM

Capt'n Midnight

smash wrote: »

I don't think I'd want to live in a wax building!

wax works ?

Matt Simis

Ive been following these since I saw them at Cebit 5years ago. They were pulling in big crowds then, printing things no larger than chess pieces with industrial looking machines. Already we are miles from that.

While I would like the seamless finish of the Laser Sintered Formlabs, it has two huge drawbacks for my purposes:

- $3300 and limited production (not sure if it was even released)
- Very small build volume at 12.4 x 12.4 x 16.5cm

IMO its better suited to Jewelry prototyping and similar (25micron build size) and other applications were no further finishing is required/desired.


The one to get, IMO, is one of the Delta Printers, like Rostock Max ($1100) or DeltaMaker (not released yet?). Not only can these models print incredibly fast at decent res (sub 100micron), they do curves better, has a huge build volume with the ability to keep scaling Z height (just extend the legs and pulleys) but it also looks the most impressive in operation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keC8aVym93U

That is timelapsed but its still super fast.


Thanks to Taulman 618 Nylon they can now print in much more durable (ie for working gears etc) Nylon too.