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how do you think something like this would affect the world?
this has been available for years. And today Autodesk the creators of Autocad, and developers of Revit announced that the new products this year can export the 3d models from the programs into a file format that prototype printers can use to produce plastic models of your work. It is extremely expensive to do. Last time I looked at getting one of my home designs printed in 3d it was somewhere in the range of 1900.00 for a 1/8" scale of the model.
I think this technology will create a revolution in fabricating metal objects. You could go from a CAD file to a wax prototype, coat it with investment material, bake it and make a casting in a half day. I just though of a 3D metal printer that "welded" a bronze statue together from brazing rod and electricity.
What these things can do with plastics is simply incredible.
You can make your own unit out of old stepper motors and dot matrix printer parts. People have used sugar and other materials such as glue and wax as the prototyping medium. The usefulness of such a printer is currently minimal, since you have to convert it to a real product of metal or some stronger substance. Even before this, there were 3-D pantographs that allowed copies of intricate carvings at different scales. Ultimately, devices like this put skilled craftsmen out of work and allow mechanization of processes that are then operated by dummies.
You can make your own unit out of old stepper motors and dot matrix printer parts. People have used sugar and other materials such as glue and wax as the prototyping medium. The usefulness of such a printer is currently minimal, since you have to convert it to a real product of metal or some stronger substance. Even before this, there were 3-D pantographs that allowed copies of intricate carvings at different scales. Ultimately, devices like this put skilled craftsmen out of work and allow mechanization of processes that are then operated by dummies.
thats kinda what im wondering.
how will this affect manufacturing in the world, if it ever goes large scale?
This is a good and bad tech, because if I had this I would never go out of the house save to eat and go to work. I already shop as much as I can online, not only because 80% of the time it's cheaper but that I hate crowds.
how will this affect manufacturing in the world, if it ever goes large scale?
will china go out of business?
This is not widely used for manufacturing due to the material properties not being good enough. Almost all unique mass produced products are made this way for testing (or pre-production) before mass production starts. It will be awhile before it's useful for mass production.
Does this mean that coathooks and doorknobs can be made in America? A task that has so far stymied our technology? This would be a truly amazing breakthrough.
We could send one of these machines to Mars, and then send it digital signals to tell it to make a bunch of plastic astronaut-shaped things..
The topic makes a lot of sense, if it's illegal to make a couple of copies of your favorite CD doesn't the same hold true if you make copies of your favorite statue? or make a copy of R2D2?
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