"Article on 3D printing from NYT" Topic
8 Posts
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| CATenWolde | 13 Jan 2011 11:30 a.m. PST |
Thought this might be of interest: link Cheers, Christopher |
 aegiscg47  | 13 Jan 2011 1:45 p.m. PST |
I think the last sentence of the article is probably the most important. Just because you may someday own one of these isn't saying that you'll be able to understand how to design anything for it! The university I work out looked into a high quality 3D printer for this year and with the costs of the machine, materials, maintenance, etc., we decided against it for now. Hopefully they'll get better, cheaper, and easier to use in the near future. |
| Micman | 13 Jan 2011 2:03 p.m. PST |
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| Allen57 | 13 Jan 2011 2:20 p.m. PST |
Even if they get cheap most of us wont be able to use it because of the arcane nature of CAD software. |
| Top Gun Ace | 13 Jan 2011 8:10 p.m. PST |
I want one that prints in metal….. |
| ScoutII | 14 Jan 2011 9:41 a.m. PST |
They have ones that print metal already. Most use stainless steel or aluminum due to the cost – but I have seen them print in silver and gold and other metals for jewelry and what not. link Software really isn't the issue either so much as it is ability. Pencil and paper is cheap and readily available – but not many of us make a living as artists or designers. Some people will be able to use the tool well enough – others, not so much. The big thing right now (other than reducing the overall cost) is increasing the speed of printing. At very high resolutions – it can take a long time to print one object. For contract companies like Shapeways – this means that they restrict the resolution that they print at to something that is less than ideal for our purposes. These two links show a higher resolution than most contract companies offer to normal consumers. Printing at these levels can take a day or more to produce one of these models right now. link link Current contract printing can get you prepainted plastic quality figures though. link And it may be a fast way for 6mm gamers to get fairly cheap buildings. link Plus – everyone could use some more dice. link |
Chortle  | 14 Jan 2011 10:02 a.m. PST |
One of my friends told me about an Epic 40K fan he knows who 3D printed his own forces (just for his own use) and had them cast up. |
| ScoutII | 14 Jan 2011 10:20 a.m. PST |
Yah – I have used it a few times for stuff like one off models and model parts (intakes for jet engines, cowling and other complex curved shapes). Costs a lot more than sculpting from putty – but it took a lot less time and effort. As more and more people use it – it will become cheaper, faster and the contract companies will print in the higher resolutions. |
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