5 ms·
8088/DOS 1.0 were useful as personal computers. Right now 3D printers don't justify their cost--why buy a $5k printer when you can just contract someone else to
by jquery 14y ago
8088/DOS 1.0 were useful as personal computers. Right now 3D printers don't justify their cost--why buy a $5k printer when you can just contract someone else to print for you?
Along those lines, 3D printers seem to be in the "mainframe" era. I.e., it'll bring down costs for commodities such as toys and cheap plastic parts (like mainframes brought down costs for accounting-like work), but they're years away off from changing up day-to-day life, even for nerds interested in them.
- iamwil 14y agoDoes printing shelving braces count as useful? I printing out two, stuck a piece of plywood on top, and now I have a shelf that supports 20+lbs.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- jquery 14y agoDon't get me wrong. I'm not saying they don't have uses. But being able to print shelving braces isn't the killer app I'm waiting for.
- lifeisstillgood 14y agoI thought that 3d printers were "soft". - what is the strength of the material ? What printer did you use?
- iamwil 14y agoIt's printed from ABS plastic, the same plastic legos are made out of. It melts at 220C. The strength of the piece is both contingent on its shape, material, and its in-fill pattern. I've never done controlled experiments with the pieces, So I can't really give you a specific measure. However, with certain parts with certain shapes, I've been able to stand on it, or make wall hooks from it. I used the Makerbot replicator.
- bootload 14y ago"... why buy a $5k printer when you can just contract someone else to print for you? ..." I didn't add making a business out of it, good point. I think the cost would be made back if you use the printer to produce custom packages for electronics like say Ninja Blocks (co-founder Marcus Schappi) http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ninja/ninja-blocks-connect-your-world-with-the-web http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ninja/ninja-blocks-conne... or if you're an artist like Micah Ganske http://micahganske.com/index.html http://micahganske.com/index.html who wants total control to experiment, build then create limited edition builds.