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I respectfully disagree. 3D printing has not lived up to its hype or potential. The process is slow and sensitive to conditions. The commercial applications are

I respectfully disagree. 3D printing has not lived up to its hype or potential. The process is slow and sensitive to conditions. The commercial applications are relatively limited. It has radically transformed rapid prototyping, which is very important. But it's hard to compare it to the ubiquitous daily utility of paperclips or even velcro. I have much more hope for the next generation of 3D printing, whatever that is

romwell 7y ago
I disagree with that. It has also transformed hobby/craft markets and arts. The only thing stopping it is UX at this point (you still need to have both craft and computer skills to use them). I have very little use for paperclips, actually, but if I needed one, I could easily 3D print it. And that ability - to imagine things and have them come out of the machine - gives the magical empowering feeling that most of the people still have yet to encounter. I disagree that it's a simple invention, though. The hardware is simple, yes, but it's nothing without software. And the software we need to make 3D printing less of an exercise in patience is simply not yet there, even now. CAD is not accessible. Slicing is not accessible (sure, Cura will spit G-code without you doing anything - but what do you do when your print fails or falls apart because one of the myriad settings was not set right for this particular print?). Mesh leveling was not a thing on consumer 3D printers five years ago (!). Ditto for variable-width layers. And no slicers have the printhead follow curves in 3D, it's layer by layer in everything I've used, even if the model allows for something more. What I'm saying is that that we don't have the software to utilize the existing simple hardware to its fullest potential. And without software, a 3D printer is a glorified glue gun. (Sure, we could've had "3D-printing" pens a-la 3Doodler decades ago. They are fun, but hardly revolutionary).
- richk449 7y ago
  > I have very little use for paperclips, actually, but if I needed one, I could easily 3D print it. Out of curiosity, how good would a 3D printed paperclip be compared to the metal ones I am used to? I suspect the performance would be significantly worse due to material properties.
  - kragen 7y ago
    You could make it stronger and more durable, but it will definitely be larger and heavier if you make it out of PLA, and more expensive than a bit of bent wire if you FDM it.
    - romwell 7y ago
      >and more expensive than a bit of bent wire if you FDM it Yeah, but the whole point of 3D printing is that you can make small-scale custom runs that would be exorbitantly expensive with traditional manufacturing. You can have paperclips that double as markers/tags/have your name on them/send a message, e.g.[1]. Same goes for other things. 3D printing is a way to make custom things at small scale on demand, but automating away most of the steps after the design stage. [1]http://www.mkrclub.com/2016/02/make-football-paper-clip-fast-useful-3d.html http://www.mkrclub.com/2016/02/make-football-paper-clip-fast...
      - kragen 7y ago
        CNC wire bending is a lot better than 3-D printing for small-scale custom runs of custom things at small scale on demand, automating away most of the steps after the design stage. But the sets of designs you can make with the two processes are almost disjoint.
AngryData 7y ago
I sort of agree, however there are ways to print metal parts via a sintering process, and if your printer doubles as CNC to cleaning up critical surfaces even better. They just cost a lot of money, but that is changing, just like 3d printers becoming cheaper as the required parts become common commodities.

romwell 7y ago

I disagree with that. It has also transformed hobby/craft markets and arts. The only thing stopping it is UX at this point (you still need to have both craft and computer skills to use them). I have very little use for paperclips, actually, but if I needed one, I could easily 3D print it. And that ability - to imagine things and have them come out of the machine - gives the magical empowering feeling that most of the people still have yet to encounter. I disagree that it's a simple invention, though. The hardware is simple, yes, but it's nothing without software. And the software we need to make 3D printing less of an exercise in patience is simply not yet there, even now. CAD is not accessible. Slicing is not accessible (sure, Cura will spit G-code without you doing anything - but what do you do when your print fails or falls apart because one of the myriad settings was not set right for this particular print?). Mesh leveling was not a thing on consumer 3D printers five years ago (!). Ditto for variable-width layers. And no slicers have the printhead follow curves in 3D, it's layer by layer in everything I've used, even if the model allows for something more. What I'm saying is that that we don't have the software to utilize the existing simple hardware to its fullest potential. And without software, a 3D printer is a glorified glue gun. (Sure, we could've had "3D-printing" pens a-la 3Doodler decades ago. They are fun, but hardly revolutionary).

richk449 7y ago
> I have very little use for paperclips, actually, but if I needed one, I could easily 3D print it. Out of curiosity, how good would a 3D printed paperclip be compared to the metal ones I am used to? I suspect the performance would be significantly worse due to material properties.
- kragen 7y ago
  You could make it stronger and more durable, but it will definitely be larger and heavier if you make it out of PLA, and more expensive than a bit of bent wire if you FDM it.
  - romwell 7y ago
    >and more expensive than a bit of bent wire if you FDM it Yeah, but the whole point of 3D printing is that you can make small-scale custom runs that would be exorbitantly expensive with traditional manufacturing. You can have paperclips that double as markers/tags/have your name on them/send a message, e.g.[1]. Same goes for other things. 3D printing is a way to make custom things at small scale on demand, but automating away most of the steps after the design stage. [1]http://www.mkrclub.com/2016/02/make-football-paper-clip-fast-useful-3d.html http://www.mkrclub.com/2016/02/make-football-paper-clip-fast...
    - kragen 7y ago
      CNC wire bending is a lot better than 3-D printing for small-scale custom runs of custom things at small scale on demand, automating away most of the steps after the design stage. But the sets of designs you can make with the two processes are almost disjoint.

AngryData 7y ago

I sort of agree, however there are ways to print metal parts via a sintering process, and if your printer doubles as CNC to cleaning up critical surfaces even better. They just cost a lot of money, but that is changing, just like 3d printers becoming cheaper as the required parts become common commodities.