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

[sdifox]

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.

I can see it as a nice toy, but I don't see it becoming commonplace.

 

[xSauronx]

i hope not. regular printers already suck bad enough.

 

[sourn]

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.

The point is they got it to work. And know they know what they need to use. I'm not saying this is gonna be common place anytime soon, but once the prices go down a lot I could see some gun lovers doing this. It's a mag it's not the end of the world if it breaks while you're shooting.

 

[BrightCandle]

Universal production machines will get better and as they do their utility will go up. Eventually we might be fabricating basic processors at home if we so pleased. Prices will go down, quality will go up and eventually a lot of what we use can simply be made as needed.

 

[sdifox]

The point is they got it to work. And know they know what they need to use. I'm not saying this is gonna be common place anytime soon, but once the prices go down a lot I could see some gun lovers doing this. It's a mag it's not the end of the world if it breaks while you're shooting.

3d printers are great for prototyping, that is about it. Actual usable items need to be manufactured.

 

[lxskllr]

I can see it as a nice toy, but I don't see it becoming commonplace.

Imagine being able to make common kitchen gadgets, or personalized toys for your kid's birthday party. You could make replacement gears for broken equipment, or make holiday decorations. I can think of at least 5 things I could use a 3d printer for right now.

They're a little limited right now, but so were computers in the early 80s when I first got one. My 1982 mind would have been blown by the computer I'm typing this useless post on :^D

 

[sdifox]

Imagine being able to make common kitchen gadgets, or personalized toys for your kid's birthday party. You could make replacement gears for broken equipment, or make holiday decorations. I can think of at least 5 things I could use a 3d printer for right now.

They're a little limited right now, but so were computers in the early 80s when I first got one. My 1982 mind would have been blown by the computer I'm typing this useless post on :^D

your computer is a lot more complex than a 3d printer.

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

your computer is a lot more complex than a 3d printer.

They weren't in the 80s.

 

[irishScott]

Maybe in a decade or two. There are already some initiatives to make a "home 3D printer". The main issue right now is cost and materials. There's not a lot you can really do with cheap, relatively weak plastic, and the ones that use molten metal are ridiculously expensive (not to mention complicated to operate).

 

[GagHalfrunt]

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.

Which will just open up a new market for idiot-proof patterns. Want a monkey-wrench? Pay 99 cents for the pattern, plug in a flash drive and presto.

 

[JTsyo]

Which will just open up a new market for idiot-proof patterns. Want a monkey-wrench? Pay 99 cents for the pattern, plug in a flash drive and presto.

yea, that would have to be the case for wide spread use. CAD isn't widely used in households.

 

[Lonyo]

Considering how many people there are with ideas, but they can't set up mass production and distribution, those ideas would turn into plans which they could sell for you to make yourself.

There are also lots of geeky applications, like making your own WH40k models or lego blocks.
Design the model in a simple 3D editor, like a game editor, and then print it out (games already have options to customise a character).

 

[ImpulsE69]

At some point as the technology progresses I can see these being fairly common. Someone already proved you could reproduce vinyl records with them (albeit sound quality was not good). The point is right now its still very early. The span of potential usage for these is astounding.

 

[OlafSicky]

No, why would anyone need one.

 

[Sureshot324]

It really depends on how cheap they get, but I'm pretty sure they'll get to the point that almost everyone has one. At the current pace of development, in 10 years there should be sub $200 3D printers that are far better than all of today's 3D printers.

 

[KeithTalent]

They were talking about this on Planet Money the other day. They had a major 3D printing dude on and he was talking about how it would work once you can print using other materials like fabric and whatnot, which he said was a few years off of course. Would be cool to go to a site, order a shirt in your exact size and have it print for you at home.

KT

 

[vi edit]

I could have a lot of fun making figures, props, and pieces for my plethora of board games. Would also be kinda fun to be able to make your own little army guy collection and Barbie furniture for your kids. But in reality...more cheap plastic shit is the last thing I need in my house.

 

[bigdog1218]

I help out in a high school that has a 3-D printer. It's in the CAD shop and they bought it so they can build some of the stuff the students design in CAD. It's a nice toy and they've fabricated some stuff, but like someone already said it's really for prototyping and not manufacturing. Anything they build that needs tight specs never comes out right. It also uses ABS and the stress testing we've done has shown the dried material isn't nearly as strong as a solid block because of the layering technique these machines use to create objects.

It'll be a hobbyists tool at best, and no way as common as a table saw or actual tool. You have a broken metal part on your lawnmower? Have fun measuring it to the exact dimensions, drawing it out in CAD and having it print out and perform equal to the original part. Or you can go to the store and spend a fraction of the cost on the actual part.

And material costs dropping? Haha, how'd that work out for printer cartridges?

 

[Mandres]

You have a broken metal part on your lawnmower? Have fun measuring it to the exact dimensions, drawing it out in CAD and having it print out and perform equal to the original part. Or you can go to the store and spend a fraction of the cost on the actual part.

Exactly right. These will never become common household items like dishwashers. The amount of knowledge and skill to produce anything with them is too high.

I still think they might revolutionize small-run manufacturing though. Imagine if instead you could take that broken lawnmower part to the local shop and have it scanned and duplicated. That would be pretty awesome.

 

[sdifox]

They weren't in the 80s.

Yes they were.

 

[SlitheryDee]

I'd say within 5 years we'll start seeing them for sale in stores. If they can get down to ~$500 or less that would be the turning point IMO.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I can't imagine they would. How much does a CNC machine go for now days anyway? Can't imagine them being cheap. I'm sure there's a decent skill involved in using one too and you don't just feed it a .dwg file and have that exact part come out. There's things you have to account for in the design such as the angle the tool can tilt at etc. There's also different ones such as dremel based, high water jet (used for cutting counter tops usually), and high powered laser. Not a machine I'd want to play with without proper training, either.

Then again I could picture maybe small units that will do sheet metal or plywood or other flat materials as that would make it simpler and cheaper to make. So if you want to cut out a whole bunch of wooden shapes on plywood consistently, it would work for that.

 

[Mandres]

I can't imagine they would. How much does a CNC machine go for now days anyway? Can't imagine them being cheap. I'm sure there's a decent skill involved in using one too and you don't just feed it a .dwg file and have that exact part come out. There's things you have to account for in the design such as the angle the tool can tilt at etc. There's also different ones such as dremel based, high water jet (used for cutting counter tops usually), and high powered laser. Not a machine I'd want to play with without proper training, either.

Then again I could picture maybe small units that will do sheet metal or plywood or other flat materials as that would make it simpler and cheaper to make. So if you want to cut out a whole bunch of wooden shapes on plywood consistently, it would work for that.

What you said is applicable to CNC machines, but I don't think it's relevant for 3d printers. There is no tool or tool path. They work like an ink-jet printer building up an object point by point (or slice by slice really)

 

[Lonyo]

No, why would anyone need one.

People need stuff.
It makes stuff.
People could use it to make the stuff they need, instead of purchasing it.
They would purchase the raw materials and input the design.

Maybe not everyone "needs" one, but it could be used in order to satisfy needs that we do have, rather than requiring people to go and find/buy something.

 

[Red Squirrel]

What you said is applicable to CNC machines, but I don't think it's relevant for 3d printers. There is no tool or tool path. They work like an ink-jet printer building up an object point by point (or slice by slice really)

Wait, 3D printers are different? I thought it was just another word for CNC machine.