3-D Printing is now affordable

[Chuck Most]

You know, they laughed long and hard at Gene Roddenberry with his communicators and replicators in Star Trek. Now here we are only a half decade later with cell phones (some of which still flip open) and 3D printing. Makes me wonder what's next. SNARK!

Captain Picard had an iPad... back when Next Generation first aired in 1987.

Checkmate.

[CadillacPat]

You know, they laughed long and hard at Gene Roddenberry with his communicators and replicators in Star Trek. Now here we are only a half decade later with cell phones (some of which still flip open) and 3D printing. Makes me wonder what's next. SNARK!

Who laughed at him???????

I don't remember anyone laughing at or ridculing Roddenberry.

We all knew, as did he, that he was writing about the distant future, that's why they called it Star Trek.

He was not writing about tomorow morning.

I don't see anyone carrying 3D Printers in their pocket that will instantly replicate every single part of a model kit with the simple press of a single button?

At this point in time, that is laughable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To correct you, it has been 47 years, not half a decade, more like half a century, since the first Star Trek.

CadillacPat

Edited March 5, 2013 by CadillacPat

[Greg Myers]

To answer some legal questions.

http://www.wimp.com/printingchange/

[Greg Myers]

Who laughed at him???????

I don't remember anyone laughing at or ridculing Roddenberry.

We all knew, as did he, that he was writing about the distant future, that's why they called it Star Trek.

He was not writing about tomorow morning.

I don't see anyone carrying 3D Printers in their pocket that will instantly replicate every single part of a model kit with the simple press of a single button?

At this point in time, that is laughable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To correct you, it has been 47 years, not half a decade, more like half a century, since the first Star Trek.

CadillacPat

You're right Pat ,they'll never get it off the ground . "If God wanted men to fly . . .

[MAGNUM4342]

Captain Picard had an iPad... back when Next Generation first aired in 1987.

Checkmate.

Edited March 5, 2013 by MAGNUM4342

[sjordan2]

To answer some legal questions.

http://www.wimp.com/printingchange/

Best update on the subject that I've seen yet.

[CadillacPat]

You're right Pat ,they'll never get it off the ground . "If God wanted men to fly . . .

Greg your attempt at comparing this early airplane with 3D printing only supports my opinion.

The number of people flying in 1903 is directly comparative with the number of modelers in 2013 who are printing out models with 3D printers.

Give it another 25 years.

CadillacPat

[Lownslow]

were there i plan on reasearching which other classes i need to take in order to draw bodies and convert mesh into printable objects

[Henchmen4Hire]

I look forward to the day we'll all have affordable good 3D printers at home, but I think it's going to happen when I'm dead already, so it's hard to get excited haha. All the home-3D-printers I've seen so far print things that look like a pile of spaghetti, the midrange ones leave some kind of ugly texture, only the really expensive ones print exactly what you want it seems.

[DirtModeler]

3D printing is going to pretty much kill off any low volume injection molded kit companies. Period.

Injection molded kits will still exist, but only the high sales models... the niche markets are going to exclusively be 3D printed.

The quality now is pretty good, and it's getting better every year.

Shapeways is what most people are using these days. The quality of their Frosted Ultra Detail is decent.. but definitely not great. There are better printers out there that print higher quality parts.. but the cost jumps quite a lot to the point they are only suitable for resin masters.

I expect to see injection molded quality 3D prints with no visible layer lines on the prints by 2020 on machines that will be around $2000.

There will be cheaper machines out there, but they won't print as nicely. (just like you can get a cheap inkjet printer today that prints pretty good)

[DirtModeler]

.... And here's that technology.

THIS will be the technology of the High End Printers of the 2020 future. I think $2,000 is a little on the low side. I think these will be more like $35,000 to $50,000 and owned by many cottage industry manufacturers.

http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/futureoftech/nanoscribe-3-d-laser-printer-impossibly-tiny-structures-1C8734562

Nano Scale 3D Printing, and it's already here.

My guess?

"low end" printing will be mainstream by 2020 (what we consider high end today)... This Nano Scale printing will print truly seamless prints on par with injection molded parts. But it won't be truly mainstream in the sub $5000 range until 2030.

Edited March 10, 2013 by DirtModeler

[Greg Myers]

TRD is already a start in this direction, although kind of pricey. I think companys like Galaxie and Accurate Miniatures will pop up giving us the unusual kits we all talk about.

[CadillacPat]

I think $2,000 is a little on the low side. I think these will be more like $35,000 to $50,000

But it won't be truly mainstream in the sub $5000 range until 2030.

This is much more in line with the reality of how I see this happening

CadillacPat

[Rob Hall]

I'll probably dabble in 3d printing a bit here soon, my company has ordered a Makerbot Replicator 2 for our new office fun room. Not sure what we will do with it (my company does enterprise software/web site consulting).

[sjordan2]

Seems to me that home 3D printing has to go hand-in-hand with home 3d scanning as far as modelers are concerned, and they seem to be progressing at a similar rate. Outside 3D files will be necessary for choosing a large enough variety of subject matter, unless you're a brilliant engineer. But I sure would like to have one of those hand-held scanners, which so far require the ability to strategically place readable dots on large subjects like a 1:1 car, sort of like motion capture in movies. (Quite a bit different from increasingly available laser scanners for somewhat smaller subjects.)

Edited March 10, 2013 by sjordan2

[Modelbuilder Mark]

My question still stands, if I want to make a part/piece that is new, NOT a scan/replica of an existing part, would I not have to have some drafting skills to create the "master" that the printer would work from?

[Henchmen4Hire]

It's not that hard to make 3D models guys. I learned to make models for video games in like a day, just by watching free tutorials of varying quality online. After a week I was already comfortable experimenting on my own and have made lots of cool models since.

You're simply moving around a bunch of dots (vertices) to get the shapes you want, the more dots you use the more detailed the model can be. Whatever 3D modeling program you use makes the process easier by letting you create shapes, lines, bends, curves, extrusions, etc. You can even set up a blueprint in the program (pictures/drawings from different angles of the object) and use it for reference as you make the model, so it's not like you have to use a ruler and measure every little thing in real life.

I don't know what other steps you have to take to get the printer to recognize a model, but I imagine the kind of model needed would have to be sculpted in something like Zbrush, something with tons and tons of polygons/vertices (high-resolution, or whatever the term is). But again, it's not hard to learn, provided you have a good teacher and the money to keep paying for the classes haha. Good luck with those outrageous prices...

Edited March 13, 2013 by Henchmen4Hire

[Chas SCR]

@ Mark, yes you would have to know how to draw it basic blue print reading style and know what you are trying to do by taking it from your head and putting it into the computer and scaling it to work. Here are three pics from start to complete that I did for a test part.

[Modelbuilder Mark]

@Chas

Thanks, that is what I was thinking may be the case. That may be what would make it the most out of reach for most people who build models casually or for fun. Not the eventual expense or access of the tools.

[Henchmen4Hire]

That may be what would make it the most out of reach for most people who build models casually or for fun.

It really shouldn't though, for example you can make that rim in like 5 minutes or less using basic shapes (a cylinder, a 6-sided polygon, some insetting and scaling). Scaling an object to the right size is a one click operation, you can even type in exact dimensions.

Give it a shot everybody, who better to learn how to make 3D-printable models of car parts than model builders?

[johnbuzzed]

I think that 3D printing will start off with some cottage industries first but I don't think it will be a hit with the larger corporations too soon- think of all of the retooling that would be involved, along with the time involved in the production of a single part. It doesn't seem to me to be very cost-effective. As far as home use, the abilities to design and produce parts with 3D printers will be the same as with any other somewhat complex tools. Not everyone can be a whiz with a lathe, end mill or even an airbrush on their first attempts- stuff like this will take practice. I don't think I'll ever get a 3D printer for my personal use but I would most certainly use parts produced thru the use of one.

Along the ST train of thought, one of my co-workers just used the term "universal translator" in describing a piece of equipment that we use here. Reality does follow fiction...

[ajwheels]

Give it a shot everybody, who better to learn how to make 3D-printable models of car parts than model builders?

Until scanners get really good..........and a whole lot cheaper.............one still needs that CAD source file to print from..................but the CAD tools are getting more user-friendly all the time, and a number of them are free online, and the learning curve is a lot less steep these days...................also, lots of tutorials out there as well...............

As Henchmen said, give it a shot............you may find you have a knack for it, and then you will never look at a model kit in the same way again.............the sky's the limit...............

Tony

[NormL]

Scanners are good, it is the software that needs to improve for the creation of parametric models from point clouds. Coming from clouds to models is much harder than modeling in 3D ...

[Rob Hall]

Our Makerbot Replicator 2 showed up at the office this afternoon...

[Lownslow]

Our Makerbot Replicator 2 showed up at the office this afternoon...

You gonna make some stuff post pics if you do ive eyed the machine before but something puts me off about extrusion printing.