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I can't think of regular uses I'd have for present-day 3D printers, but I do appreciate the "1970s affordable microcomputer" comparison. I'd have a hard time th
by rsaarelm 14y ago
I can't think of regular uses I'd have for present-day 3D printers, but I do appreciate the "1970s affordable microcomputer" comparison. I'd have a hard time thinking of an use for an Altair 8800 too.
Printing clothes would be one killer app for me (everyone needs them, they wear out, the design variety space is huge), but I don't see how you'd go from the current tech into something that can do clothes.
- mtgx 14y agoI don't see why it should be that hard. There are already those machines that make the material. You just need to make one that can take a virtual model from the PC and "build it".
- rsaarelm 14y agoThe "building it" for clothes currently involves cutting and sewing the material. I don't see how that would be very easy to do with a machine with anywhere close to as few degrees of freedom as a 3D printer. I suppose you could try to make the thing extrude the cloth already weaved in a closed loop, like doing a sock by extruding concentric woven circles and tapering them off to the tip. Then if you could split the circle into two or three you could try to do shirts and pants.
- iamwil 14y agoThere's been a little headway in this regard. Here's a 3D printed bikini. http://news.globalintimatewear.com/Mechanisms/7037/Shapeways_Launches_the_First_3D_printed_Bikini.html http://news.globalintimatewear.com/Mechanisms/7037/Shapeways...