Do you think 3d printers will become commonplace in homes?

[Cpus]

They have printed amazing things like tools, cups, ipod/iphone cases...

 

[mizzou]

no

it's much more efficient for me to buy things cheaply from a mass producer

 

[IronWing]

It would be incredibly educational. "Hmm, that didn't work at all."

 

[dougp]

It would be incredibly educational. "Hmm, that didn't work at all."

You also wouldn't get those awkward moments with your postal carrier when they deliver those "discreet" brown boxes - sex toys on demand!

 

[lxskllr]

I think they'll become as common as drill presses, table saws, and planers. Not everyone will have one, but everyone will know someone who does.

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

no

it's much more efficient for me to buy things cheaply from a mass producer

What about all those things you can't buy or are crazy expensive? Pen/sharpie lids, remote control covers, bottle lids, etc.

 

[SKORPI0]

Homes, not in a few years until materials become cheaper and probably first adapters will be hobbyist/modelers.
Perhaps your local Staples, Kinko's, Office Depot will have them as a printing service.

 

[wirednuts]

I think they'll become as common as drill presses, table saws, and planers. Not everyone will have one, but everyone will know someone who does.

yup. i told my boss the other day, the repair world will completely change when you can just print the parts you need.

i suspect over time too, youll be able to select the polymer mixtures to produce flexible or hard parts, whichever you chose and anywhere in between.

 

[arkcom]

How many people have a cnc router?

I do. It's not that easy to use, and a 3D printer is even worse. It won't be worth it for most people.

 

[dougp]

yup. i told my boss the other day, the repair world will completely change when you can just print the parts you need.

i suspect over time too, youll be able to select the polymer mixtures to produce flexible or hard parts, whichever you chose and anywhere in between.

Well, it'll be interesting because you can use it to create molds as well, so anything you need to use silicon or fiberglass for is available as well.

 

[wirednuts]

Well, it'll be interesting because you can use it to create molds as well, so anything you need to use silicon or fiberglass for is available as well.

good point. i suppose for a while we will be lucky to have 3d printers that just print one type of polymer. that will be like the black and white days

 

[Staples]

I think the materials to build things in these printers will be a lot more expensive that people think. Just think printer ink, outrageously expensive.

 

[Miramonti]

I think it will be one of those things that will always be expensive because the will continue to improve and add features for a long time, keeping prices of the latest models up. Many will elect to buy used ones to save money, but they will be considered ghetto compared to the latest and greatest, and have more wider tolerances and less accuracy due to wear etc.

 

[BladeVenom]

no

it's much more efficient for me to buy things cheaply from a mass producer

It's more convenient if you could just print something up, and people will pay for convenience.

What about something that isn't mass produced anymore, like replacement parts? Or that isn't carried locally, and you'd have to pay for shipping?

 

[Miramonti]

I think places like Kinkos will have high quality commercial ones where you can use their software online, pay with a credit card, and go and pickup the finished product.

 

[arkcom]

I think places like Kinkos will have high quality commercial ones where you can use their software online, pay with a credit card, and go and pickup the finished product.

There are already some online places to do this. It's not cheap, though.

http://www.shapeways.com/

 

[BladeVenom]

People will buy them to print up high capacity magazines if they are outlawed. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q10Jz2qIog8

 

[gorobei]

i agree that it will probably be a kinko's business model. as the price goes down and other materials become available, it will still be too expensive to operate any of the printers that can put out functional items.

knicknacks and other arts and crafts can be done in plastic or any of the bonded powders, but anything function will require a homogeneous composition(injection, die, metal infusion, or sintering).

the printed AR receiver and mags that that guy tried to print failed after 2 or 3 shots. mainly because all printing processes are layer depositions which builds in thousands of stress failure points. the compression strength of most printed items is ok, but the sheer and torsional strength isnt anything you would want to put any real weight or force on(at least not the plastic extrusion type printers, and probably not even the laser cured resin types).

metal printers just bind steel powder into a temporary structure that has to be infused with a molten metal to become functional. that kind of brass or bronze smelting isnt for the home brewer. even the resin impregnating of the starch powder types isnt that fun a process.

a franchise 3d print shop would probably be a combo of 3d printing, rtv rubber and plastic mold casting, laser cutting/etching, metal sintering and cad cam milling with something between consumer and truly professional equipment. you would bring in your project shape and engineering criteria and the staff would help you figure out if you should print it, print a mold so you can cast it, or mill it from metal/wood.

 

[vi edit]

I think the materials to build things in these printers will be a lot more expensive that people think. Just think printer ink, outrageously expensive.

I find it oddly ironic that a poster named "Staples" is talking about how high priced printer ink is.

 

[sourn]

"the printed AR receiver and mags that that guy tried to print failed after 2 or 3 shots"

The ar receiver like you said would and did fail for obvious reasons (unless they come up with pretty strong material). But mags would be fine (like the video showed). I was an armorer for a year in afghan and trust me mags are a joke how it is unless you buy specific types. But for the run of the mill mag, I'd probably take a 3d printer one over the crap we used lol.

 

[gorobei]

that's the second video, check out part1. he says the rounds are being punched through the mag material as the bolt closes. they fix it with new material in the second video, but that doesnt change the fact that for the forces involved with with firearms, you want a homogeneous injection cast plastic and not something whose strength is dependent on how well the new layer bonds to the previous layer. air bubbles and temperature/plasticity control are problems right now that force most of the hobbyists to print dozens of versions to figure out size limits and fill structures.

 

[sdifox]

why would you want to buy this?

 

[lxskllr]

why would you want to buy this?

Because they're awesome. It's a Star Trek replicator here and now. They might not make a cheeseburger yet, but you gotta start somewhere.

 

[JTsyo]

On the industrial side they can even do it with metal now. Saw a TED talk where they were going over how this could be used in larger scale to produce cheap concrete homes, even apartment buildings. There's going to be a lot coming in this field in the coming decade.

In the next 5 years you should see better models for homes. One of the tech shows I went to had a $300 tabletop model. Material cost should drop as demand grows.

 

[waggy]

I think eventually they will be in everyone's home.