
Introducing the HP Jet Fusion 3D Printing Solution - protomyth
http://h20435.www2.hp.com/t5/The-Shapes-of-Things-To-Come-The/Introducing-the-HP-Jet-Fusion-3D-Printing-Solution/ba-p/296466#.Vzs7bJMrLUY
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azdle
A slightly more informative video about how it works:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeTdo-w6Qx8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeTdo-w6Qx8)

Edit: And another much more informative video about the actual printing
process:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXntl3ff5tc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXntl3ff5tc)

Looks like it uses black ink printing onto plastic beads spread on a printing
bed to make some sections melt under light and others not.

Edit2: Probably not actually "black" but "UV Absorbing" for the ink.

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gene-h
It almost certainly uses black ink. All parts produced with the machine they
have now are to be black. It technically doesn't use beads, it uses plastic
powder. It works exactly as you described though.

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azdle
Oh, yeah. I put the UV part in there because of the talk about full color
printing. The first time through that video I missed the key phrase "could in
the future"[1].

[1]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXntl3ff5tc&t=3m27s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXntl3ff5tc&t=3m27s)

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gene-h
Why would you need UV absorption for color printing?

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azdle
Well, I'd assume white counts as a color, as well as other light colors. Plus
they then go on to talk about printing clear things. You need to absorb energy
from somewhere so I figured UV was about all that was left.

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analognoise
Fyi: The printer is $130,000.

I'm not saying it isn't great, but it's not exactly for home use. Or if it IS
for your home, you have an amazing home, can I please come live with you and
use your printer?

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protomyth
I've often thought that a new version of the Copy Shop (e.g. Kinkos) would
probably be a better start for mass 3D printing because the machine could be
much better than the home model and people really don't need to use it that
frequently yet. $130,000 might be good enough for that use.

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macavity23
Agreed - and I think it will stay that way. Right now most people find it too
much expense and trouble to keep a photo-quality color (2D) inkjet at home,
and would rather pay per-photo at Kinkos/Walgreens. I don't see any signs of
this changing.

I think 3D printers will go the same way. How many little plastic parts does
the average consumer ever want to print? Probably not enough, and not rapidly
enough, to justify a big purchase, when they can pay per-item at a (physical
or online) Kinkos equivalent and get a higher-quality part printed on a
machine like this.

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knightofmars
"Insert the pre-packed HP 3D Materials cartridges into the HP Jet Fusion 3D
Processing Station." Will the use of 3rd party materials cartridges void my HP
Jet Fusion 3D Processing station warranty? ;)

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TheOtherHobbes
Probably. I doubt you'll be seeing third-party budget materials any time soon.

The printer looks interesting, but the PR is kind of insane. I'd really like
to know some basic specs - speed, max object size, and so on - but I can't
find them easily under the tsunami of marketing awesome.

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TeMPOraL
You're not the target audience :).

Welcome to the XXI century - when companies finally figured that marketing has
a much better ROI than producing anything of substance. I wonder if in the
limit we'll hit a future when people will be selling each other stories and
dreams, not bothering with actual products or services anymore? :).

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noonespecial
>I wonder if in the limit we'll hit a future when people will be selling each
other stories and dreams, not bothering with actual products or services
anymore? :).

I think they call that "Kickstarter".

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huuu
In the mean time Carbon ([http://carbon3d.com/](http://carbon3d.com/)) has
also 'reinvented' 3D printing but can show a working model:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2thSsQrZUM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2thSsQrZUM)

I think Carbon will change 3D printing because they provide better chemical /
structural (layer less) properties and better speed so it is more suitable for
production models.

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fudged71
There are now several startups claiming to have "fast" photopolymer printing
technologies. However Carbon is more about the materials R&D than the machine,
it was merely a tool. CLIP is the most legitimized with press, funding,
customers, and IP. (I just met the Carbon folks today to see their machines)

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nharada
Can someone familiar with the space speak to how much of this is advertising
and how much is genuine progress/innovation?

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fudged71
I am currently at the Rapid conference in Orlando where the HP announcement
was made. When the technology was first announced last year I'm pretty sure
they were the only ones using this kind of process. There are a few different
powder/binder/inkjet type machines out there now but I don't think anyone is
doing fusion in the same way.

The entire discipline of additive manufacturing is rapidly expanding with new
processes and applications.

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tmrmn
Theres a video explaining the print process

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXntl3ff5tc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXntl3ff5tc)

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smpetrey
Is this even real? I didn't even see any printing take place.

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chinathrow
Sure real. Printing is demoed within the first video where you see laser beams
working on a powder bed.

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msie
Funny, was there footage of actual 3D printing taking place?

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Frompo
Judging from the more informative videos linked in other comments, there is a
brief timelapse shot of the printing. But I agree that with all the other CGI
it is hard to trust it is a real timelapse shot.

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jondiggsit
Boxel by Boxel for Boxel presented by Boxel

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kilroy123
Who is the target market for this kind of printer?

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gene-h
Service bureaus. Companies that 3d print parts for people. Imagine a data
center, except instead of servers you have row after row of 3d printers.

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nimish
HP PageWide in 3d. The 2d printers are really nice, and don't suck down power
like lasers.

These look like production presses but for 3d parts

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spitfire
But will they Carlie Fiorina you on the ink? History says yes.

