Yeah, but how many people on the street do you encounter that talk about making wood furniture at home? While the hype is a bit much, 3D printers are mostly exciting to the same types of people who in the past would have a woodshop in their garage or similar hobby setup.
True, at the moment they are still somewhat disapointing, but that is to be expected when you are scaling machines that just a few years cost tens of thousands of dollars down to something consumers can play with.
Though one irony is that much of the tech that is going into them was developed for situations where CNC machines were not versatile as people hoped and they needed new tools.
True, at the moment they are still somewhat disapointing, but that is to be expected when you are scaling machines that just a few years cost tens of thousands of dollars down to something consumers can play with.
Usually the quality produced between a commercial/industrial device and consumer one is comparable with other devices with the biggest difference being the size and power requirements for other tools. Granted when you go down to the bottom of the barrel they will suck but for things like welders, plasma cutters, milling machines, and other machine tools this seems to hold, yet a commercial 3d printer produces vastly better quality than a consumer one. I recently decided to spend some money and get a good co [fleetfarm.com]
how fast is 3D printing? slow as death by clean living. so that's one notch in the handle.
can you 3D print in a moving truck? the platform and system have to be stable like a $6000 turntable. notch 2.
is a 3D print product pretty? flexible? neon colors, black, and white are what you have, assuming you are not slinging molten metal or concrete, the other two mediums in use. not flexible. notch 3, fashionistas in revolt.
so far, it looks like three strikes and Amazon is out. they spend more time on slick PR releases than thought there.
How fast is traditional manufacturing? Sure, once you get your tooling set up and dedicate an entire warehouse to production and assembly, you can crank out ten thousand widgets a day... but it takes months and lots of money to get to that level of production.
Meanwhile, if a part can be 3D printed, you press a button and the next morning you have it in your hand. Client/customer needs some customization? No problem, a day or so of computer time and press the button...
I've had a 3D printer for a little over a year now. And it's a big deal. The very best thing about it is being able to design parts that fit. I had an antique drain where I needed to attach a hose from my furnace. I was able to make a part that fit the hose and the drain cover, replace lost vacuum cleaner parts, an LED flashlight helmet mount, custom clips for easily attaching straps to a caving bag, the list goes on and on.
Currently I'm working on quadcopter frame. Though most of the frame is alumi
"There are things that are so serious that you can only joke about them"
- Heisenberg
What's the market here? (Score:2, Interesting)
I really don't get it. With all the 3D hype, I've never seen anyone in the street or personally talk about or have a 3D printed object.
What are people doing that it requires such a massive infrastructure?
Last I heard, it was only Luddites that had factories or delivery trucks, we were going to 3D print everything at home, including the home itself?
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Though one irony is that much of the tech that is going into them was developed for situations where CNC machines were not versatile as people hoped and they needed new tools.
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True, at the moment they are still somewhat disapointing, but that is to be expected when you are scaling machines that just a few years cost tens of thousands of dollars down to something consumers can play with.
Usually the quality produced between a commercial/industrial device and consumer one is comparable with other devices with the biggest difference being the size and power requirements for other tools. Granted when you go down to the bottom of the barrel they will suck but for things like welders, plasma cutters, milling machines, and other machine tools this seems to hold, yet a commercial 3d printer produces vastly better quality than a consumer one. I recently decided to spend some money and get a good co [fleetfarm.com]
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what's the point? it can't work (Score:4, Insightful)
how fast is 3D printing? slow as death by clean living. so that's one notch in the handle.
can you 3D print in a moving truck? the platform and system have to be stable like a $6000 turntable. notch 2.
is a 3D print product pretty? flexible? neon colors, black, and white are what you have, assuming you are not slinging molten metal or concrete, the other two mediums in use. not flexible. notch 3, fashionistas in revolt.
so far, it looks like three strikes and Amazon is out. they spend more time on slick PR releases than thought there.
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how fast is 3D printing?
How fast is traditional manufacturing? Sure, once you get your tooling set up and dedicate an entire warehouse to production and assembly, you can crank out ten thousand widgets a day... but it takes months and lots of money to get to that level of production.
Meanwhile, if a part can be 3D printed, you press a button and the next morning you have it in your hand. Client/customer needs some customization? No problem, a day or so of computer time and press the button...
can you 3D print in a moving truck?
Probably. Depends on the printing method
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But if they hold the patent, anybody who does put thought into it to make it work has to pay them.
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Thats today's technology, but it will not be that way forever.
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Currently I'm working on quadcopter frame. Though most of the frame is alumi