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

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SKORPI0

Lifer
Jan 18, 2000
18,500
2,426
136
Pres.Obama just talked about 3D printing and creating manufacturing jobs around it. ^_^
 

gorobei

Diamond Member
Jan 7, 2007
4,102
1,606
136
ear-ly beginings
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/1949073.stm
_1949073_mouse_ear300.jpg
 

disappoint

Lifer
Dec 7, 2009
10,132
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Hmmm a one time tooling cost for plastic injection molding and you can make ANY part you want up to a certain size. So essentially it's like plastic injection molding with NO tooling costs. Yeah that won't be useful. It will be useful for manufacturers though, not the average home consumer.

Also why couldn't you use a 3d printer to make an inverse mold then some other material to make the mold then pour molten metal in that mold to make metal parts?
 

gorobei

Diamond Member
Jan 7, 2007
4,102
1,606
136
fyi they safely removed the implant from the mouse and it went back to whatever was left of its lab life. probably had a tummy tuck or back tuck to deal with the excess skin.
 

Cpus

Senior member
Apr 20, 2012
345
0
0
Doodle3D released. Easy software and can be used anywhere on pc or ipad. Very easy to use software where you can draw what you want and it will make it a 3d printer ready file. Or if the pc is hooked up to a 3d printer you can just hit the print button when ready.
 

DrPizza

Administrator Elite Member Goat Whisperer
Mar 5, 2001
49,601
167
111
www.slatebrookfarm.com
They're still not going to become commonplace in homes. The vast majority of people aren't able to repair their own stuff. The number of appliances that are discarded because of a $20 part is incredible. "Well, it was getting old and it would cost so much to repair it." Ironically, on rare occasions, it *is* a plastic part. (The coupling between the motor & everything else in a washing machine.) Though, the specific strength of that part is incredibly important - too strong and the motor dies instead of the replaceable part. Too weak, and it breaks every other load.

Nonetheless, someone also pointed out that a lot of interior car parts are plastic. Uhh, big deal? I've owned cars for nearly 30 years, and except for one ignition switch, have never had to replace an interior part in a car. I'm not sure how often you break plastic things.

I do *all* my own repairs, have been doing so for a couple decades. There's no way a 3-D plastic printer would have been useful in all that time; there's simply nothing that's so critical that I can't just pick up the replacement on my next trip to the store. And, there's no way in the world that you're going to produce things anywhere near as cheaply as mass produced plastic items.

Though, there is one application I can think of: toys for little kids. Think of all the toys you could manufacture. Someone above mentioned plastic handles for tools (LOL) - You must have meant little kids toy hammers and stuff. Plastic does not make for a good hammer handle. (Fiberglass, yes. Plastic, no.) What's that? You thought of other handles - screw drivers, etc.? Uhh, they don't generally break during use.

As someone said earlier in the thread, these will become about as common as a lathe.
 

Cpus

Senior member
Apr 20, 2012
345
0
0
They're still not going to become commonplace in homes. The vast majority of people aren't able to repair their own stuff. The number of appliances that are discarded because of a $20 part is incredible. "Well, it was getting old and it would cost so much to repair it." Ironically, on rare occasions, it *is* a plastic part. (The coupling between the motor & everything else in a washing machine.) Though, the specific strength of that part is incredibly important - too strong and the motor dies instead of the replaceable part. Too weak, and it breaks every other load.

Nonetheless, someone also pointed out that a lot of interior car parts are plastic. Uhh, big deal? I've owned cars for nearly 30 years, and except for one ignition switch, have never had to replace an interior part in a car. I'm not sure how often you break plastic things.

I do *all* my own repairs, have been doing so for a couple decades. There's no way a 3-D plastic printer would have been useful in all that time; there's simply nothing that's so critical that I can't just pick up the replacement on my next trip to the store. And, there's no way in the world that you're going to produce things anywhere near as cheaply as mass produced plastic items.

Though, there is one application I can think of: toys for little kids. Think of all the toys you could manufacture. Someone above mentioned plastic handles for tools (LOL) - You must have meant little kids toy hammers and stuff. Plastic does not make for a good hammer handle. (Fiberglass, yes. Plastic, no.) What's that? You thought of other handles - screw drivers, etc.? Uhh, they don't generally break during use.

As someone said earlier in the thread, these will become about as common as a lathe.


True. Probably would be fun to play with though when all the problems are worked out and prices are lower.
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
71,127
14,003
126
www.anyf.ca
Could see them very useful to make hard to find parts though, or trivial things (like Apple adapters) that cost way too much.

Now what would be neat is if you could have several heads with different materials, perhaps one for a conductive material that can be worked with the way a 3D printer works and you could even make circuit boards with it.
 

blankslate

Diamond Member
Jun 16, 2008
8,797
572
126
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.

I think this is how it will end up. In the near future 5 to 10 years from now.
 

ElFenix

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Mar 20, 2000
102,407
8,595
126
It'll probably be filed with stuff that's not 3d printers