

Sculpture Made On A MakerBot - k0mplex
http://www.makerbot.com/blog/2012/10/20/cosmo-wenmans-mind-blowing-sculpture-made-on-a-makerbot/

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EvanMiller
MYTH: 3D printers will never be able to print underwear

FACT: Wrong. Hard plastic underwear provides amazing protection and support

MYTH: 3D printers will never be able to print the Mona Lisa

FACT: Wrong again. Today you can download a 3D model for "rectangular hard
plastic canvas" from the Internet, print it out using your Makerbot, and then
paint the Mona Lisa on it

MYTH: 3D printers will never be able to print small, wobbly, leaky coffee cups
that warp when hot beverages are poured into them, and that lacerate your lips
when you attempt to drink from them

FACT: This is already possible on some of today's higher-end 3D printers

MYTH: 3D printers are useful in any way

FACT: It turns out this myth is true. Watching a 3D printer emit a hard
plastic object in a color that nobody wants keeps nerds in a state of rapture
that prevents them from engaging in more dangerous activities such as shooting
heroin or starting actual businesses

~~~
jamesmcn
I read this in the voice of an IBM mainframe sales person in about 1980, when
confronted with an Apple II.

More seriously, today's 3D printers _are_ mere toys compared to what a future
atom-scale assembler could do. But they are clearly useful to some people and
fun for other _right now_.

The Microcomputers of the '70s and '80s absolutely _were_ toys back then too,
by comparison with the bigger iron available at orders of magnitude higher
prices. But they were useful, and they started us on the road to volume
production that allows me to have a supercomputer in my pocket and a half-
dozen supercomputer-class portable machines hanging around my home office. Not
to mention all the audio gear I have built around processors ranging from a
Z80 though modern microcontrollers to some very powerful DSPs.

Perhaps 3D printers are toys. But they are wonderful toys that will take us to
interesting places.

~~~
sown
Just because it happened for personal computers isn't a guarantee that it will
happen with home 3D printers.

It's nice to be excited about this tech but you need to pay attention to what
potential customers are saying, too.

We need to find the Visicalc of home 3D printing.

~~~
pwang
So, what do people need custom physical objects for? Especially rigid stuff?
Generally things are rigid either because the application they serve requires
the structural rigidity, or because the application they serve requires
chemical properties that produce rigidity as a side-effect.

If something doesn't have to be rigid, then there are real cost advantages to
having it be flexible (such as ease of packing and shipping).

So, I ask again: what are common, small, rigid objects which are too expensive
now (because of production, transport, or rapid wear)? Eyeglass frames are one
thing I can think of. Orthodontic retainers are another.

Truly, as I think about all the smallish, plastic things that are available in
stores, the only thing that comes to mind as an effective use of 3D printing
is to pirate children's toys. Those usually are marked up dramatically because
of licensing costs with the movie/TV companies, but otherwise, they're just
cheapo plastic. If you can print them at home for a fraction of the cost, and
then sell to your friends as well, that could be very interesting...

It would be hard for movie companies to enforce against you, because it's
physical peer to peer, and there's no way to trace the artifact back to its
producer.

~~~
jamesmcn
> the only thing that comes to mind as an effective use of 3D printing is to
> pirate children's toys.

That is as solid an argument as suggesting that the only use for a camera is
to pirate artwork. Or the only point of digital media is to pirate other
people's work.

If I had kids, the opportunity to design and make toys of our own design might
be compelling enough (particularly if you could get a 3D printer for $250 or
so).

But, like early microcomputers, we may not have found the killer app yet.
Right now, we are at the blinkinglights stage of 3D printing. These things are
incredibly primitive, but they are still fun for some people and useful for
others. Give it some time, and something interesting will happen.

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grannyg00se
It looks like the _assembly_ and _finishing_ of a 3D printed group of parts
was taken to a whole new level. I don't see any indication that a whole new
level has been achieved in the 3D printing itself. Great finished product
though.

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delinka
"MakerBot Desktop 3D Printers can only make things up to a certain size." The
printer did not make the horse head. The printer produced the parts (up to a
certain size) and Mr. Wenman assembled and finished it. _He_ made the horse
head.

"...but they’re not, like, museum-quality great." Notwithstanding that the
printer can't finish the pieces to make them "museum quality," there are
striations on the horse head that come from how the plastic is stacked up. Not
Museum Quality.

While this is a fine use of 3D printing, it's not a major advance like the
article tries to make it.

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ChuckMcM
Nicely done. I have considered doing these sorts of sectionals on my
replicator. Still working on a nice 'low density' internalized structure
(solid PLA/ABS is out of the question) which provides the necessary support
and rigidity. My last attempt was intersecting triangles.

~~~
joshuaheard
I have seen hexagons used, like in a honeycomb.

~~~
nnnnni
I believe that's the standard reprap infill pattern.

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viviantan
You'd still need quite a bit of artistic talent to make hard plastic look
good. But would I want a super expensive and buggy 3D printer for Christmas?
Yes please!!!

Btw, has anyone used 123D Catch (or any 123D software)? From what I gleaned
from Autodesk's TOS, you inevitably end up granting them a irrevocable license
to use your 3D models however they please. Perhaps that's why 123D remains a
"hobbyist" software suite. I still haven't heard of anyone who uses it
professionally.

~~~
nnnnni
Sounds like 123D Catch and the new Thingiverse are made for each other! ಠ_ಠ

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sliverstorm
_MYTH: MakerBot Desktop 3D Printers can only make things up to a certain size.
BUSTED_

 _This awesome photo shows the 29 unfinished blocks of the horse head before
Cosmo went to work fusing them_

So, not busted after all?

~~~
evoxed
Like the printing resolution. Oh yeah, you can get rid of the ridges for a
perfectly smooth model. They're called "interns". Bring your sandpaper and a
dustmask! That being said, I'm glad that they're recognizing the ability to
extend their product with good old fashioned hand skills, even if it isn't the
greatest marketing pitch.

