I have been watching these things for years, but unfortunately the tech is still novelty grade.
Here is the problem: The cost of the tool is much higher than anything it can produce. With all other tools the value proposition is the other way around. You buy a $300 set of wrenches and a $50 book to save thousands in auto-repair costs. You don't spend thousands of dollars in tools to fix one or two small plastic gears. Unless and until the value proposition gets inverted it will remain a nerd-only curiosity. Yes, I want one, it would be cool, but they need to bring more to the table to justify the expense. > We hear a lot about 3D printing these days. Anyone here with hands-on > experience? Does AA have a 3D printer? > > > $300 3D Printer > http://techcrunch.com/2012/02/28/is-the-300-3d-printer-finally-here-makible-thinks-so/ > > MakiBox is a riff on the open source RepRap 3D printer that fits a > print head and motor inside a box about the length and width (but not > the thickness, silly) of a sheet of paper. The MakiBox kit will start > at $350 while an assembled kit will cost $550. > > The question remains, however: do we need 3D printers on our desks? If > not now, when? > > > A Look at 3D Printing and Open Source > https://www.linux.com/learn/tutorials/542928:a-look-at-3d-printing-and-open-source > Arthur C. Clarke said "Any sufficiently advanced technology is > indistinguishable from magic." And it's still magical when you > understand how it works. 3D printers are here, they're cool, and there > is a large and enthusiastic open source 3D printer movement. > ... > Maybe someday, instead of making little architectural models, a giant > unit will drive up to a building site and spit out a complete > structure. > > Not hard to imagine a printer that uses concrete as its medium to > "print" buildings. > > The open source printers we're going to look at spin out a melted > plastic filament that comes off spools, which gives the finished item > a woven appearance... Open source 3D printing is still in the hacker > realm. There are no prefab personal open source 3D Printers; you have > to build from kits or from scratch. > > Obsolete by the above announcement. > > After a good intro, the article loses steam once it gets down to the > specifics, spending just two paragraphs covering available printers, and > one covering the software. It mentions RepRap, Thing-O-Matic, and > Makerbot Replicator for printers, and ReplicatorG for software, and > Thingiverse and Google 3D Warehouse as model repositories. > > -Tom > _______________________________________________ > Hardwarehacking mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/hardwarehacking > _______________________________________________ Hardwarehacking mailing list [email protected] http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/hardwarehacking
