
10 Things 3D printers can produce right now - replicatorblog
http://replicatorinc.com/blog/2008/11/10-things-3d-printers-can-do-now/
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kirubakaran
Holy shit! Fuck webapps. This is the next huge thing without doubt. Once it
becomes more affordable, it is going to change the world _completely_ for
sure.

So this is how patents will die, huh? (patents don't stop you from making
something for your personal use)

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ph0rque
> So this is how patents will die, huh? (patents don't stop you from making
> something for your personal use)...

I think you nailed a key insight here: physical objects will be able to be
created with the ease of the way software can be created right now.

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kirubakaran
Also I think pretty soon some extremely light gel like alloy that becomes
super-strong on exposure to air will be made and we'll be making much more
than prototypes at home.

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replicatorblog
For sure, 3D printing is a neat technology, but people like Neil Gershenfeld
at MIT's media lab are doing even more advanced things literally programming
atoms to assemble in certain patterns which could then be used to make larger
structures. the whole notion of "manufacturing" is going to be very different
in 20 years.

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jerf
Many people object to nanotechnology when they think that we can't self-
assemble anything of significant size in any reasonable time.

I think that rather than it being "3D printing" vs. "molecular self-assembly",
it will be a matter of joining the strengths of the two approaches together,
with 3D printing helping to provide large-scale coherence and guidance
(probably by embedding some sort of guide into the object for the nano-
assemblers), and the nano-assemblies focusing on the small, detailed work like
embedded circuitry or whatnot.

As cool as self-assembly may be, this hybrid approach will be much more
practical, much sooner.

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replicatorblog
I think you are right jerf, 3D printing is an awesome technology,but it also
is not the only awesome technology. print on demand, Laser cutting, cnc
milling and embroidering all allow customers to manipulate different media.
Hybridizing these tools will allow for greater choice more rapidly.

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schtog
My main interest the last half year or so has been machine learning but
fabbers,self-replicating machines, 3D-printers or whatever you want to call
them is some extremely cool stuff.

Coupled with nanotechnology this is seriously gamechanging stuff.

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replicatorblog
Totally agree, when you think about the profound societal changes we've seen
with P2P, Web Video, Social Media, etc. then think about how that may
translate into the physical world we could be living in a very different world
ten years from now.

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reitzensteinm
I agree that the physical world will go through a revolution, but do you
really think the changes will happen over the next ten years? I think maybe
that's overestimating the impact in the short term. It's probably going to be
a long time before you're going to be printing out the first usable objects
(like the reprap's coat hangers, door handles and shoes) with minimal effort
at, say, walmart quality and prices.

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replicatorblog
reitzensteinm, Revolution may be too strong a word, but I think thinks
significant change ala what we have seen with social media is completely
realistic. One think to keep in mind is that this list jut covers 3D printing,
Laser cutting, CNC milling, Print on Demand, and other technologies can also
enable personal fabrication. Where I see the big impacts are:

Health - If printing bone or at least better implants becomes acceptable this
will be huge for the rising senior population.

Entertainment - With the rise of virtual worlds and video games, 3D printouts
of your characters could seriously disrupt the action figure/ doll product
categories which are worth about $4B/year. This assumes quality continues to
improve.

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reitzensteinm
Well, I think that in the long (very long) term this will result in the
manipulation of the physical world as easily as we copy and manipulate bits on
a computer today. And that will be an even bigger revolution (IMO) than the
digital revolution has been.

But in the short term, the only place where this makes sense is for one off
items, where it brings the cost of production down nicely. Just like FPGAs
versus statically designed microchips (I'm not sure what the right word is for
that), intersting niches will be advanced by printing, but advances in mass
production probably will have more impact on global wealth.

Don't get me wrong - I'm going to be taking a holiday next year to build a
reprap, so I'm a believer in this technology - I just think it'll be used in
specific niches and by hobbiests for a long time to come.

PS - About Rock Solid, I'm cofounder and a developer, yes.

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jonhohle
RP (rapid prototyping, as it used to be called), is also used to make molds
for invisalign braces, prototyping in all kinds of industrial applications,
and now to make 3D printers (<http://reprap.org/bin/view/Main/WebHome>).

When I was in college I worked in a RP lab, and the major concern at the time
was build materials. You could build parts out of metal on one of the machines
(which could also build parts out of plastic), but you could not build parts
out of both materials at the same time.

zCorp parts are extremely fragile, but can be cured hard (but are still more
fragile than the other machines), and, at least at the time, it was one of the
least accurate machines (but also was much cheaper and used much cheaper
materials). The highest quality machines used lasers to either cure resin or
melt a powdered form of the material. Both machines and materials were
expensive.

In nearly all cases, significant post processing of parts was required to have
anything usable when you were done. These are not like printers, where when
you're document is done, you hand out copies. When you're part is done you
sand. When sanding is done, you cure and/or seal.

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replicatorblog
I wasn't aware of the braces, thanks for the tip, will add that link as well.
I agree with you about the need for finishing of the parts, though with effort
you can achieve stunning results.

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jrbedard
There was a lot of 3D printers demoed at Siggraph this year. Their technology
is impressive but still not quite there in terms of quality (resolution and
color). Most of the models produced, even with higher-end 100K$+ printers,
still felt grainy as if the "3D DPI" is not high enough to create a layered
object with smooth enough surfaces. Also, all the models that I've seen
containing colors were hand-painted as the affordable printers don't have this
feature yet. I think that technology is improving, but still aimed mostly at
the engineering prototypes market for now.

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replicatorblog
jrbedard,

You are absolutely correct about the state of the art. I use a fairly nice
Invision 3D printer and its quality is nice, but pieces straight out of the
chamber have a distinct "wood grain" look. The machines are also somewhat
unreliable.

However with some sandpaper and elbow grease you can finishe the parts quite
nicely. I've sanded pieces from the Invision to the point where they are
optically clear and nearly indistinguishable from injection molded parts.

The most successful applications of 3D printing beyong engineering models are
niches. Figureprints.com can print out World of Warcraft characters for ~$150
because of the emotional bond people have to their characters.

Paragon Lake brilliantly figured out a way to make 3D printing a mainstream
part of the jewelry manufacturing process.

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jrbedard
yeah, at Siggraph the most popular company around 3D printing was
<http://www.shapeways.com/> with their social network around printable 3D
creations and their easy-to-use 3D modeling software to design and customize
artsy products.

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gojomo
For a great novella about the economic/political/social implications of
distributed fabbing, check out Bruce Sterling's 'Kiosk' from earlier this
year:

[http://web.archive.org/web/20080115084153/http://www.sfsite....](http://web.archive.org/web/20080115084153/http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/fiction/bs01.htm)

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replicatorblog
Excellent referral. I'm a big fan of Bruce's work, this is a perfect
style/content match.

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peakok
Wow, what an exciting field to be in. It is definitly one of the big thing of
the future.

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replicatorblog
Absolutely, there is a great article on the Ponoko blog (www.blog.ponoko.com)
about a new printer by Desktop Factory being about the same price as the first
Apple laser printer in 1985 (~$5K). Forget "Web 3.0" "Web 3.D" is way more
exciting.

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ph0rque
Can you talk more about what _your_ company is planning to do with 3D? There
was talk on here about starting a 3D printer startup, but it never went
anywhere (yet)...

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replicatorblog
ph0rque,

My company isn't using 3D printing at launch, rather focusing on some other
rapid manufacturing technologies. I'm just a 3D printing enthusiast. Feel free
to email me if you want to talk more.

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pietro
I've seen enough. I want one!

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nazgulnarsil
I thought that 3d printing was fairly limited in terms of materials. but if
you use the 3d printing as just the first step from which to create a mold you
can make metal objects too! this is great

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replicatorblog
Actually only the jewelry example used 3D printing as an intermediary step.
The art example was crafted in metal from the start. plastic, ceramics, even
bone are now "printable". The next big leap will be the ability to have
multiple materials printed at one time, so you could get something like a
toothbrush that is part plastic and part rubber.

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tocomment
How do they work? I can't picture how the art one is made.

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jonhohle
they all work by building in layers, hardening some material and then using
something else for a support structure (some use the unhardened building
material, some use a weaker (or soluble) building material, some use the same
material, in a thin lattice formation).

Its been several years, but I used to work at a prototyping company. They have
a decent overview of the machines they use, which cover all of the major
technologies: <http://www.rpc.msoe.edu/machines.php>

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albertcardona
Good times ahead for Blender modelers ( <http://www.blender.org> ).

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replicatorblog
Albert, are you a 3D modeler? If so, would love to talk.

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chriskelley
replicatorblog, I'm a 2D/3D animator - shoot me an email if you would like me
to set you up with some talented modelers. Contact info in my profile.

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replicatorblog
Chris,

Amazing work, ill be in touch.

