4 ms·

A 3D printer can't even print a DVD case, with the transparent insert thing. There's a long way to go.

by amelius 10mo ago

aleph_minus_one 10mo ago
It is very well-known in the 3D printing community that the design of a lot of items that you see in your daily life are actually driven by the limitations of the production process that was used to produce them. All in all, 3D printing allows a lot more flexibility in designs, but if you attempt to 3D-print many items of your daily life exactly as they are, the result will often be much worse than with the production process that the object was designed for, or sometimes it is possible to come near to the original object, but producing it using 3D printing takes a lot more effort. It is rather a consensus in the 3D printing community that people should rather make use of the opportunity to use the insanely increased flexibility that 3D printing allows to reimagine how objects in daily life look like - and thus create better versions of such objects that are (by construction) also good 3D-printable. -- Addendum: Concerning "the transparent insert thing": as far as I am aware with resin printing, you can 3D-print transparent things very precisely, and even with FDM printing, a lot of progress has been made with respect to printing objects that are quite transparent: > https://blog.prusa3d.com/3d-printed-lens-and-other-transparent-objects_31231/ https://blog.prusa3d.com/3d-printed-lens-and-other-transpare...
- ungreased0675 10mo ago
  Please don’t speak on behalf of the entire 3D printing community. Just say what you think.
seltzered_ 10mo ago
There are some ways to FDM 3D-print transparent plastic, see https://www.printables.com/model/15310-how-to-print-glass https://www.printables.com/model/15310-how-to-print-glass as one example. Another example is this one where the 3D print was done as a continuous printing (i.e. no slicer, or sorta like a vase mode print) to make the clear show a bit better: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2Sy50BrlDMo https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2Sy50BrlDMo
WheatMillington 10mo ago
That's a weirdly specific requirement though... 3D Printing can also print shapes and objects that aren't possible with traditional manufacturing techniques. Not every process can be used for every object.
- paradox460 10mo ago
  I've made a number of outdoor enclosures for electronics projects on my 3D printer. One of the killer features is that you can make vents that take curved paths through the walls of an enclosure. This, when done properly, can prevent most water ingress flawlessly, but allow a surprisingly large amount of airflow

A 3D printer can't even print a DVD case, with the transparent insert thing. There's a long way to go.

by amelius 10mo ago

A 3D printer can't even print a DVD case, with the transparent insert thing. There's a long way to go.

It is very well-known in the 3D printing community that the design of a lot of items that you see in your daily life are actually driven by the limitations of the production process that was used to produce them. All in all, 3D printing allows a lot more flexibility in designs, but if you attempt to 3D-print many items of your daily life exactly as they are, the result will often be much worse than with the production process that the object was designed for, or sometimes it is possible to come near to the original object, but producing it using 3D printing takes a lot more effort. It is rather a consensus in the 3D printing community that people should rather make use of the opportunity to use the insanely increased flexibility that 3D printing allows to reimagine how objects in daily life look like - and thus create better versions of such objects that are (by construction) also good 3D-printable. -- Addendum: Concerning "the transparent insert thing": as far as I am aware with resin printing, you can 3D-print transparent things very precisely, and even with FDM printing, a lot of progress has been made with respect to printing objects that are quite transparent: > https://blog.prusa3d.com/3d-printed-lens-and-other-transparent-objects_31231/ https://blog.prusa3d.com/3d-printed-lens-and-other-transpare...

ungreased0675 10mo ago
Please don’t speak on behalf of the entire 3D printing community. Just say what you think.

seltzered_ 10mo ago

There are some ways to FDM 3D-print transparent plastic, see https://www.printables.com/model/15310-how-to-print-glass https://www.printables.com/model/15310-how-to-print-glass as one example. Another example is this one where the 3D print was done as a continuous printing (i.e. no slicer, or sorta like a vase mode print) to make the clear show a bit better: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2Sy50BrlDMo https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2Sy50BrlDMo

WheatMillington 10mo ago

That's a weirdly specific requirement though... 3D Printing can also print shapes and objects that aren't possible with traditional manufacturing techniques. Not every process can be used for every object.

paradox460 10mo ago
I've made a number of outdoor enclosures for electronics projects on my 3D printer. One of the killer features is that you can make vents that take curved paths through the walls of an enclosure. This, when done properly, can prevent most water ingress flawlessly, but allow a surprisingly large amount of airflow