Will 3D Printing Change the World?

If you watch the video, your mind will be going a mile a minute with ideas fueled by your own experiences.

The implications are staggering.

Joe Mobley

The problem right now is that 3D printers aren't accessible to the home user, paying $1k+ for a printer (where we have little use, right now) isn't a choice many people are making.

Since 2007, 3D printer sales have jumped 36,000%, so it is a HUGELY emerging market.

We don't use Inkjet's etc so much these days because there isn't such a need to print - email, electronic essay submission and the likes has devalued the need to have a printer - saying that, most homes still have one.

3D printing will follow suit in the future, when pre-made CAD models come with everything you order, they'll definitely have a purpose - upload the disk into your Mac/PC, install the software and you have a library of things to print in front of you (related to the product you have just purchased). That's when I think we'll have a real need for them.

They need to be in the $100 price range though. This COULD technically be done at profit, but it would require quite a large investment. I was tempted to do this myself, but unfortunately other projects are keeping me busy.

3D printing has the potential to be truly amazing.

"There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home." - Ken Olsen, president of Digital Equipment Corporation, 1977

Excellent Art.


Joe Mobley

Excellent points. In part, I think it comes down to tehcnological awareness. Having a degree in a technical/mechanical field, I'm very familiar with CNC machining. I understand that I could pull out a phone book, make a few calls, email a file, and get a part created for me out of aluminum. But most people aren't aware of this and it would never occur to them. What's more, the average CAD/CAM package is pretty expensive. With the onset of cheaper 3D printers, we're going to see new, more user friendly tools to accomplish the design of objects. It's been going on for years, of course, but this could really help fuel it.

The thought of producing something out of plastic, in a myriad of colors, that can be produced cheaply and mailed to you (for now), ought to inspire a whole new generation of CAD artisans. The barrier to entry is lowered. The cost of a 3D printer for plastic is far less than that of a 6-axis CNC machine for cutting aluminum. This means the barrier to entry gets reduced. It means people come at the same problem from a different angle. It means fresh blood in the industry. And there is nothing I can think of that would keep a file being used for 3D printing from being used for CNC machining. So a $40 plastic prototype can be test-fitted before becoming a $4000 chunk of aluminum.

But I agree, it's not revolutionary in the sense of what can now be created. That was my first thought when I discovered this technology. But the more I think about it, and its influence on artists and creators who can experiment readily with the technology using plastic... and later have the same thing made of metal... I think maybe it will revolutionize, not manufacturing itself, but rather the way that the average person interacts with manufacturing.

Maybe the entire shopping model will have to change then.

You don't need a printer to make a kid. Actually, there's another way to do that... and it's a lot more fun. PM me if you need further details. :rolleyes:

Maybe I'll even turn it into a WSO... "How to 3D print a kid... in only 9 months"

It will definetely change the world.

I have not seen this doco, but will watch when I get home.

I mean just think that you will be able to donwload spare parts for your bike or your car or your fridge when need be and then print them out yourself.

Or the fact that they will be able to print food and even body parts...

Amazing... and a great opportunity

I actually have a 3d printer! I picked up a Solidoodle for about $500 and it's amazing!

Here's my take on it -

My average print size is about 2in x 2in x 1in in size. These take approx 15 minutes to print.

A spool of filament costs $43 and weighs 2lbs. The average weight of one of my prints is a couple of grams. The cost per print is pennies! The filament is actually much thicker than the extruded plastic so 1 inch of filament equals 4 or 5 inches of extruded plastic. I've printed a few dozen objects and I still can't even tell any filament is missing from the spool!

Prior to this I used to sculpt these same objects, make a rubber mold and cast them in resin. 3d printing saves me hours of work and dropped the cost by a factor of almost 10!

They are a serious pain in the ass to configure and get printing nicely! Seriously. I spent over a month tweaking and playing with settings before I got a usable print. At one point I was almost ready to give up and send it back for a refund (SOOO glad I didn't now though!)

Now the hardest part is doing the 3d modeling. I had no experience with any 3d software before so the learning curve was steep indeed. I use Google SketchUp for most of my designing since it's free and with some plugins you can export files in the right format to send to the printer.

I'm not sure if this is going to change the world, but for those who can afford the cost and invest the time configuring it and learning the various software it will change your life. You start looking at things around the house and thinking "What can I print to improve this" or when something breaks you think "I can have a replacement printed out in an hour!" I'm a very DIY guy by nature and this feels like Star Trek technology on my desk. From idea to prototype without leaving the house in less than an hour!

What has me really excited now is beta software is starting to appear to turn your cell phone camera into a 3d scanner! I haven't tested any yet, but I'm drooling thinking of the possibilities

The most interesting bit to me is 3d printing of organs!! If they can 3d print an organ in 20 years, just imagine the advances that will allow for research on diseases.... Imagine you could print out a kidney, attach various strains of E. coli to it, you dramatically lower the costs of research! You would also abolish the need for using perfectly good organs for the sake of research, if they are able to prefect this technology then it is an extremely exciting time for science.

Oh, give me a break!

I can't get my ordinary printer to work without punching it a few times - how would I cope with one of these???

Printers hate me. I hate printers.

In industry the problems with some (resins & ceramics) 3D printing (aka Rapid Prototyping) is that the solutions used in the finishing process are UGLY, MESSY, and can cause problems to the spleen and respiratory system if one is not carfeul to use PPE.

It can be fascinating to watch as parts are created before one's very eyes, but then some poor soul has to take the process from the point of complete manufacture, to finished component. Parts emerge from the resin batch covered in wet resin residue, and requires aggitating - by hand - in a bath of Isopronol solution to clean them prior to curing in an oven.

Once cured, they then need fettling with wet/dry grit paper, prior to sealing (i.e. painting) as they are hygoscopic. So adequate extraction equipment is needed to deal with the dust that's created too.

CAD creates the ability for parts to be designed in ultra-thin sections, which, since the resin or ceramic is very fragile when handled by humans, is prone to fracture and breaking - repairs are very frustrating.

That said, technology cannot be undone, so for those with enough budget, it is the way forward until the next breakthrough.

Can you imagine that in the not too distant future many homes will have these printers. Eventually prices will drop. How is that going to affect imported stuff from cheap manufacturing countries? I think I can guess! The big winners will be the plastic material suppliers for these machines.

People said the same thing about dot matrix, inkjet & laser printers, scanners, and even computers, fax machines and copiers.

My first color printer was a dot matrix and it cost $400. No one else I knew had one. Now, ever I know (who has a pc) has a color inkjet that cost under $50.00.

As the tech gets better, more people will buy them driving the price down. Companies like Epson & HP will sell consumer grade ones and make money from the filament.

Garrie