3D printing

[Turd Ferguson]

Wont be too long before this is as commonplace as downloading an mp3. You'll be able to make yourself an actual composite copy of just about anything that can be made out of plastic; cereal bowls, little green army men, chess sets, water bottles and other containers and a whole shitload of other items, including firearms components.

My question is, will manufacturers of patented materials become just another extension of the federal govt, just like the RIAA has become with copyrighted music, or will the cat be so far out of the bag that it will be impossible to put it back in?

[Dalebert]

...or will the cat be so far out of the bag that it will be impossible to put it back in?

That time is rapidly approaching for copyright and patents imho. It'll be pretty far along by the time these start being an issue.

**shameless plug warning**
We talked about these on last night's show.

[Turd Ferguson]

Yeah, its kinda mind-blowing to think about. Just walk down the aisles at your local Wal-Mart and take a look at everything that is nothing more than plastic, shaped into a particular form. Now imagine a day when all of those things can be printed up for a fraction of the cost from a 3D blueprint. Its a real game changer.

[Dalebert]

Yeah, its kinda mind-blowing to think about. Just walk down the aisles at your local Wal-Mart and take a look at everything that is nothing more than plastic, shaped into a particular form. Now imagine a day when all of those things can be printed up for a fraction of the cost from a 3D blueprint. Its a real game changer.

And that's just the start. I'm sure they improve the technology over time and make other advances, printing with better materials, more refined, even printing multiple parts that fit together, etc.

[rockhydra]

I love the new prospects of 3D printing. I have so many ideas for manufacturing cool stuff.

Sent from my SCH-i705 using Tapatalk 2

[Squid]

you can get a 3d printer under $500.00  check it out: http://www.makershed.com/Printrbot_Jr_Assembled_p/dspb1.htm

[Diogenes The Cynic]

I'm not sure you can parent the shape of an item. Otherwise, there wouldn't be an aftermarket for car parts.

But the 3d printer can be a very big deal. Its going to change economies of scale completely. There wont be a need to drive a truck full of plastic parts halfway around the country when they can be made closer to market out of plastic pellets.

Plastic will now be as easily repaired as metal and wood. Think of all the crap you've broken and had to throw away. Now you can just build a replacement. I work on old cars a bit, and the idea of fabricating new parts for old cars from blueprints is mind blowing.

[d_goddard]

It will be a great boon to those of us in the suddenly 3rd-world economy of the USA

[Diogenes The Cynic]

It will be a great boon to those of us in the suddenly 3rd-world economy of the USA

Its like a plastic lathe.

[Turd Ferguson]

Once they get the technology of self replicating 3D printers down, it's pretty much game over for the manufacturers of the printers as well. Only thing left as far as "industry" will be ideas for new designs, which will be pretty much without monetary reward, because once someone gets their hands on the new design, it's out in Torrentland for all to use pretty much overnight. Sure, that's looking waaaay forward, but still interesting to think about.

[d_goddard]

self replicating 3D printers

I keep hearing people get all misty-eyed over this idea. Unfortunately, it's Not Going To happen, for the simple reason that the resolution of a 3d printer would need to be high enough to reproduce its smallest parts -- the injectors.

Maybe there's a clever way around that -- interference technology, perhaps -- but it's not at all obvious to me that it's doable in the forseeable future, at least not the next 10-15 years

[SeanD]

self replicating 3D printers

I keep hearing people get all misty-eyed over this idea. Unfortunately, it's Not Going To happen, for the simple reason that the resolution of a 3d printer would need to be high enough to reproduce its smallest parts -- the injectors.

Maybe there's a clever way around that -- interference technology, perhaps -- but it's not at all obvious to me that it's doable in the forseeable future, at least not the next 10-15 years

Not to mention the outer casings are larger than the printing area.  Well maybe a tardis 3d printer.

[Turd Ferguson]

The case would be broken down into parts you would assemble. The injectors, on the other hand, would be a problem.

[Kaicielia BlueDragon]

Can you imagine when they create a 'breakdown' machine?  Something plastic (or whatever materials they can work with by then - I have heard they are starting to use metals in 3D printers) breaks, put it into the breakdown machine where it is turned into pellets, then use the pellets in the 3D printer to create a copy of the original.  No need to buy more pellets even.

As for the 3D printer companies - They would require some sort of programming and I'm assuming that wouldn't be included in the blueprint.  Also, I'm sure most people wouldn't understand enough about how one works to assemble/repair it on their own, and there's always the warranties.  "Buy your 3D printer from us, get X years of troubleshooting/repair service for free."  It's going to be interesting watching the technology (and the subsequent lawmaking) develop, as it has been for the internet.