3D "Printer" - Freaking Cool (except for the OS).

[hhh]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZboxMsSz5Aw

[MonolithImmortal]

Someone reads xkcd.
http://xkcd.com/924/

[kevin11951]

Thats amazing, I have heard of 3D printers before, but the ease of duplication, plus the moving parts coming pre-assembled, wow...

I want one.

[hhh]

Someone reads xkcd.
http://xkcd.com/924/
pwned

[wolfen69]

I would buy stock if they went public with it.

[Dustin2128]

Pretty cool. I'm a fan of the RepRap myself, but I'm more of a DIY style person. And it's pretty sweet that it can print out another of itself.

[8_Bit]

Imagine what this will do to cheap Chinese toy manufacturers. :P

I foresee a lot of copyright holders getting up in arms about this. Last I checked they were still whining about people tape recording the music from radio stations.

[Dustin2128]

For some reason, I think the ridiculousness of copyright law would become apparent to normal people when it's physical objects. Come to think of it, can physical, useful objects even be subject to copyright?

[Paqman]

Imagine what this will do to cheap Chinese toy manufacturers. :P


Nothing. The cost of objects fabricated in a 3D printer is pretty eye-watering. For almost every application good old fashion injection moulding will come out waaaaaaaaay cheaper.

That's not to say 3D printing isn't useful. Retooling costs are zero, so for one-off jobs in complex shapes the price is justified. It's just no good for mass production.

Dustin2128: physical objects are patented, not copyrighted.

[forrestcupp]

3D printers have been in use for many years in engineering to create prototypes. From the looks of this video, they've come a long way.

[Dustin2128]

Dustin2128: physical objects are patented, not copyrighted.
That's what I thought- but what about, say, statues?

[hhh]

That's what I thought- but what about, say, statues?

Yes, that's copyright (or public domain if it's really old)...
http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl115.html

[Dr. C]

Yes, that's copyright (or public domain if it's really old)...
http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl115.html

But the OS that controls the 3D printer supports DRM.

[SoFl W]

3D printer creates ear (http://video.foxnews.com/v/4571366/3d-printer-creates-ear), and not as exciting, the 3D chocolate printer (http://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/2011/07/12/worlds-first-3-d-chocolate-printer/).

[Bandit]

I would buy stock if they went public with it.

I would to. Its so simple how it does it that it makes it even more amazing.

[SoFl W]

I was wondering how the printer understood that there were internal gears and those parts needed to move.

[Shpongle]

In the documentary future by design by the Venus Project , they talk about using these on a large scale to quickly assemble houses etc. I'd recommend it to anyone.

[SoFl W]

Another update (http://boingboing.net/2011/08/02/ultimaker-high-speed-low-cost-3d-printer.html) on this technology.

And there is an open source version, so the OS doesn't have to be bad.

[Thewhistlingwind]

Oh come on guys, you all know as well as I do that good CAD programs are distributed as windows executables, not Linux ones.

[forrestcupp]

I was wondering how the printer understood that there were internal gears and those parts needed to move.

I believe you would export the blue prints from a CAD program to the printer. The CAD design tells it that there are moveable gears inside. It wouldn't work like a copy machine.

[Inodoro Pereyra]

Hey, if anybody wants an affordable 3D printer, check this one out:

http://buildyourcnc.com/whiteAnt3DPrinterandCNCMachine.aspx

I've been planning to get one for some time now. And it does work on Linux...:D

[Madspyman]

Anybody mention Shapeways? http://www.shapeways.com/

[SoFl W]

I believe you would export the blue prints from a CAD program to the printer. The CAD design tells it that there are movable gears inside. It wouldn't work like a copy machine.

In the video I watched it showed the scanning, they showed how they could select a part and color it, but they didn't go into other details. I assumed a lot of steps were missing from scanning to printing an object.

[forrestcupp]

In the video I watched it showed the scanning, they showed how they could select a part and color it, but they didn't go into other details. I assumed a lot of steps were missing from scanning to printing an object.

I'll bet the scanning only works for solid objects. It seems like you would have to use CAD for things with internal workings.

[Inodoro Pereyra]

The scanning of internal parts has to be done separately, or you can just use a CAD software, and draw the part. There are people that have built working clocks with these printers, as well as detailed prototypes of working machines.
From my point of view, I think it'd be simpler to draw the part on CAD, than to scan it, and adjust it to fit properly later.
But the scanner is a great tool for complex forms. I, for example, want to make a 1/5th scale model of a car, to then make lexan bodies out of it, to use on a wind tunnel, and eventually on a track. Doing so manually would take me a long time, even with the 3D printer, while with a laser and a video camera I can get it done in an hour or so.

[rajeev1204]

I have had the pleasure of working with this technology almost 10 years ago.All major automotive companies to NASA to lockheed martin have been building prototypes using this technology for years now.

I have seen an entire mecedes benz engine with nuts and bolts built with this thing.

The leader in this field though is a company called 3d systems.We used to manufacture highly accurate prototypes for jewellery with walls as thin as 1 mm with their printers.

The real name for this technology is stereo lithography.3D printer is just a generic name.

The real magic though is not in the hardware, its in the amazing piece of software that controls the machine.

[Inodoro Pereyra]

I have seen an entire mecedes benz engine with nuts and bolts built with this thing.


Dammit, I would've paid to see that...:cool:

[SoFl W]

DIY 3D printer?


The printer itself is based on the RepRap, but is obviously far larger. It prints using ABS plastic utilizing a maximum build area of 403 x 403 x 322.7mm (15.86 x 15.86 x 12.7in). Built over the course of 3 years, it was fully operational in 2010 but has undergone several improvements as [Jim’s] needs have changed.

LINK (http://hackaday.com/2011/09/08/huge-diy-3d-printer-predictably-prints-huge-3d-items/) with video!