3D Printer...if only I had one for my ideas.
 

WOW...I want one of these. :D

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Top F1 teams are actually designing small parts at the factory (think brake ducts) and sending the file to the pits on race weekends where they'll print them out and use them.

This is amazing technology!

Very seriously considering buying a MakerBot and donating it to my kids school. SO cool.

Yep, great technology and created in the good old USA. Seemingly unlimited applications.

I'm about to pull the trigger on one as a Christmas present to myself.

Just can't decide on which one.

Ack!!! Don't say that! I was thinking the same thing. :D

Perhaps we can buy a 3d printer and print a bunch of 3d printers! :)

Take a look at DDD. Saw an article on it 4-5 years ago.

DDD - Stock Quote for 3D Systems Corp - DDD Stock price - real time stock quote for 3D Systems Corp

so how much is one of these? I would think the cost is way up there!

These are being marketed to the home owner now.

Cube 3D Printer | A home 3D printer to turn your ideas into real objects

so you could feed your Harbor Freight tools in there and get something worthwhile printed?

MakerBot makes them for $2000. Pretty well sorted product at this point.

Stuck with proprietary filament with the Cube.

Ughh. Makerbot pulled back from being an open source product, (after copying the open source development) which angered most of the 'community'. PLus you can buy better for alot less.

Made mine for about $600. Will post pics later, but tons of info here: http://www.reprap.org/wiki/Main_Page

And this is the 'pelican equivalent forum' for diy printing: RepRap Forums

Bough most of my parts & filament from these guys, they also sell complete kits: Home page

Another alternative:

Alibre Design - 3D Printer Overview

brilliant!!

This stuff is actually scary:
A 3d printer can print itself (actually this is how the new generations are built)
Upcoming 3d printers will print circuit boards and in the future could possibly be transistors,etc..

In my head this is like skynet..

Now, can I print money?? ;)

The important thing is, can you print yourself out of prison for counterfiting! :)

One of the big nationwide office chains or copy/document chains is going to start having them in stores, at least in Europe.

Also check to see if there is a local Maker Group in your area - or a TechShop is America's 1st Nationwide Open-Access Public Workshop -- What Do You Want To Make at TechShop? techshop

I don't have a printer, and will probably never have one, but I have owned the stock of DDD for a while.....it has a market cap of 2.5 Billion. It split about a year and a half ago and has allready gotten back to its pre-split price. There are a half dozen companies building these machines. The latest technology is using Blu Ray technology to dry the parts as they are made.

You will start seeing these showing up in the classroom as teaching aids in art classes, engineering classes, automotive classes etc. Very large scale machines have been around for a while, do some research.

I think that once these things hit the mainstream the "fever" will set in......kind of like computers. All the schools will have one.

Its a very cool tool when you think about it.

The next step will be the biological applications this technology offers. Print specific organ cells into a bio-friendly medium and create a replacement kidney, liver, lung etc. There are already researchers doing this the other way - building a frame and allowing the cells to grow onto that.

check out fablab on google and you will see allot of tech colleges around the world have them in fablabs and offer anyone in the community to come in free and take a design idea to final product using the 3d printers. I know we have a fablab opening in january and that there is a big following. you may luck out and find one free for the use locally . I think MIT was the pilot on this concept.

Wired magazine had a good write up. Expect them to be the next rage for the home. Low cost... under $1,000 will be common. Great learning and inspiration tool for kid's too. Just think how the kids bedroom will smell of plastic!

I am skeptical of this.

3D systems are patent trolls. I would stay away from their products on principle.

I am working on a MakerGear Prusa Mendel with a friend. It's kind of a PITA to assemble - I would suggest a preassembled machine if you can afford it.

Very cool stuff, we've been using them in aerospace for years to prototype parts as well as experimental flight testing. I'd love to have my own, the ability to make complex contour custom interior parts as well as tooling for fiberglass or carbon fiber layups would be awesome. If I had one today I'd use it to create a custom fit pod to replace my worthless Carrera ash tray and mount my A/C controls in its place, allowing me to delete my console.

We use this technology frequently to flight test aerodynamic shapes on aircraft. If it can handle 500 MPH, it can handle 200.

What type of printer are you using, and how long does it take to print?
Regardles of me being right or wrong about that, I think people tend to have unreasonably high expectations of what they can do with a reprap/makerbot.

what does THE ''PRINTER'' print output plastic or what

if it will do wax
you could do a lost wax mold
and cast any type of metal

hmmmm... it would be very easy to buy a model kit of a 911, put it in a 3-D printer and then add spoilers, wings, etc. to it

- just modify the fluid in your tunnel for the Re # and you have it all tested

A side note, I have a neighbor who built one. Not that difficult if you are geeked up.

Larry

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A few of the things I've printed. Time depends on quality and density settings, Average print is probably about 15-20 minutes, some larger, more complex prints can take an hour or more.

The printers are not that expensive today, the prices have been coming down.

The "ink cartrages/ink" is where the big operating cost is. Know what you are getting into.

Ya gonna do a few AR15 receivers?

for your reading enjoyment:

The Undetectable Firearms Act and 3D-printed guns (FAQ) | Cutting Edge - CNET News

Interesting but could you really make an all plastic functioning gun?

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I would think there are folks who are working on it.

From in the line of fire. I'm sure most people here have seen this.

So would this be safe to shoot?

This one is the gun used by rogue CIA agent Mitch "Booth " Leary in the 1993 film In the Line of Fire. In the film, Leary, played by John Malkovich at his least irritating, plots to assassinate the President of the United States and plays a cat and mouse game with Clint Eastwood's character, a disgraced Secret Service agent who failed to save JFK. Spoilers are ahead for those who haven't seen the movie. It is pretty good, so watch it and come back. Leary constructs an elaborate plan to defeat the layers of Secret Service protection, including posing as a rich businessman with thousands of dollars to give to the President's reelection campaign. Genius.

Homemade Defense: Greatest guns of Fiction- Plastic Gun

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