These mind Boggling Futuristic Machines are the nearest
thing to a Science Fiction Vending machine, that Sci Fi
writers talk about in their storys.
I have been hunting for these 3D manufacturing machines,
and it seems we better get on the band-wagon, or get left behind....seems they are growing exponentially.

Making tremedous advances.
Photograph hi-security 'Safe keys', and you've got a spare set!
Input 3d Cad from a memory pen....it will shrink it down and produce it.
Photograph your Art work, or photo of your living room....
And you get a small perfect replica in 3D.

I think these machines are going to get bigger, (with long platerns?)....enabling them to produce say, musical instruments
and other full life size objects.

Here is a selection of 3D printers I have found
You can buy them now. Dont Delay The future is Here
Prices from £1000 - £2900.

Turn your 2D artistry canvas into a 3D Picture, for sale. Multicolours.
http://www.creat3dprinters.com/3d_printers/cubex_trio/


Used X3 Extruders to make your 3D Cad Designed object.
http://www.bitsfrombytes.com/content/3dtouch-3d-printer


Will print your 3d Cad designs, and auto minimise to fit our 3D Up-Plus-Printer
http://3dprintingsystems.com/products/up-plus-3d-printer/


Import your 3d photos (uses Sterio-lithography)
http://formlabs.com/


Light weight printer. Can import your STL Cad files
http://www.afinia.com/3d-printers


The MakerBot Robo Savvy ready to go
http://robosavvy.com/store/product_info.php/products_id/3297

The potential is endless. Soon we'll have organic inputs like beef bouillon fiber, and synthesize edible materials. Imagine your Oscar Meyer wiener coming from a 3-D printer one day. Complete with bread, and chili topped with cheese. The mind boggles.

Aha! The age of replicated food is upon us. Star Trek, here we come! I wonder if anyone has thought of the possibility of printing caviar? That would bring the price way down, and save a lot of sturgeons. It seems that the sky is the limit, as long as you have an adequate raw material. I can imagine kids coming home from school and using the printer to make cookies for a snack. A homemaker telling their spouse, "Dinner will be ready in five minutes, I'm just waiting for the printer to make the steaks." It would revolutionize grocery shopping, that's for sure. "I'll take two bottles of meat and three bottles of green vegetables." The possibilities are endless...

And another food printer. NASA has given a grant to somebody to develop a food printer for extended space travel. The company is working first on a pizza printer. The story is here at Phys.Org.

Bill Gill

Baby’s life saved with 3D printed device

A bioresorbable splint used for first time, successfully stopped life-threatening tracheobronchomalacia...The device was created directly from a CT scan of Kaiba’s trachea/bronchus, integrating an image-based computer model with laser-based 3D printing to produce the splint.

http://www.kurzweilai.net/babys-life-sav...252e1-282065406

I just saw this story on Phys.Org:3-D printing goes from sci-fi fantasy to reality

3D printing is popping up all over the place. A couple of things mentioned that kind of amused me is the idea that the military is considering using it to make parts for weapons. That would be handy if you had a weapon break and didn't have the part, just make a new one. The other thing that kind of matched that one was the recent printed gun and the flap that has caused. So they want to be able to print weapon parts, but not let anybody else print weapon parts.

And starting this month Staples Office Supply, a chain of office supply stores here in the US, will start selling a 3d Printer for $1300. And in September the "3Doodler" will be released. It is a 3D pen that will sell for around $50.

And there are a lot of other cool ideas floating around out there. This may be one of the hottest things going.

Bill Gill

And now even more news about 3D printers. NASA is going to send one to the Space Station. That's according to this article on Phys.Org.

They plan to have the printer and its software certified for space sometime next year.

Bill gill

No wonder they are taking a 3D Printer to the Moon, Bill.
Seem's no limit to what a Computer and a 3D Printer can do.

These clever guys printed off a pair or prosthetic arms for a small child

http://video.techbriefs.com/video/3D-Printed-Robotic-Exoskeleton

And Finally a Printed Human Heart
Well you can't use it as a replacement ...quite yet.
But since you can print foods, and in particular certain meats, like hamburgers.....it might not be too long before at least certain parts of a Heart (like Valves) could be printed and used.

This actual print perfect 3D model of a flexible Heart that can be examined by hand.

http://www.columbian.com/news/2013/jun/03/cardiac-problems-3d-printing-heart/

Update on 3D Food Printers July 2013.

NASA has given a $125,000 grant to the 'Anjan Systems & Materials Research Corporation' to create a universal food
synthesizer for Astronauts use, on Mars.

Aimed at deep space missions, the team has printed, Noodles, Turkey loaf, Basil paste, Bread and Cake.
There will be no food waste,since the various food powders have a shelf life of up to 30 years.

http://qz.com/86685/the-audacious-plan-to-end-hunger-with-3-d-printed-food/

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23542-how-to-build-a-mars-colony-that-lasts--forever.html

More news on the availability of 3-D printers. Microsoft is going to start selling the MakerBot in its stores. Phys.Org: MakerBot printers come to more Microsoft stores.

There will be 18 Microsoft stores selling the printers. The Makerbot Replicator 2 will be priced at $2,549 from stores when bundled with MakerBot's service plan.

Bill Gill

its a toy , because it uses PLA , if you build something with it
it will melt in a hot car , if what you build has movable parts that contact with each other then the heat caused by the
fiction created will melt and fuse the parts together.

ABS should be used when building non toys that serve a purpose
and that do have movable parts involved.



http://www.protoparadigm.com/blog/2013/01/the-difference-between-abs-and-pla-for-3d-printing/

if you only want to build what nots to keep in your refrigerator
then I suppose it would be just the thing for you.

I thought about getting one myself , until I read about the
PLA filament that it uses.

the below playdough factory only cost apx $7.00 and if you keep
the models you make in the refrigerator you should get the same
results.



if the Makerbot Replicator 2 3D Printer also used ABS filament then this would be something that I would buy , as for now
I'm afraid that those who do buy one will mostly be disappointed with the results of their labor and expense.

it's getting more like a replicator every day!

Re the Playdough-- You can get a lovely colourful spaghetti result by using a garlic press! Or a Mouli mill, (though the latter is a nightmare to clean afterwards! )

It would look stunning in the fridge--- why have I never thought of that?

Phys.Org reports on a study that says that making things with aa 3-D printer is more energy efficient than making them in a factory in China and shipping them to the US. So everybody should get a 3D printer and start making their own stuff.

The story is here.

So does this mean we should move this to the Climate Change forum?

Bill Gill

No, I think it best stay where it is. It's a physics problem, after all, manufacturing small parts and "bits" is going to change greatly in the near future. All those little things like plastic tops and toy soldiers are going to soon be run off at home, with more control over their quantity and quality. If you need a sharpshooter, you can load the sharpshooter program and print away. If it's a tank you want, no problem, spin one out from the 3-D printer. Foliage, rocks, "sand" and pebbles can soon be simulated for the fan of miniature dioramas. My ex would have a ball with it. Simple pleasures for simple minds.

It has been a while and I don't remember where I saw it, but the story I heard is that the most popular use for 3-D printers is making action figures.

Bill Gill

LOL The only difference between men and boys is the price of their toys. Why buy an action figure when you can just print one out? This would be the ideal way to make a sharpshooter, or a monster for D & D. You could scan it in and print copies so everyone has one. Just what every dungeon master needs, an endless supply of characters and monsters.

IMO, JESUS WAS AN EARLY FUTURIST

In Matthew 19:26 we read: This insightful comment, by Jesus--and no doubt there were other ancient thinkers like him--inspires me to believe That he taught: There is a power--within and around each and everyone of us, which helps us Generate, Organize and Deliver what we call the future.

Ok, latest news. Cheap metal 3-D printer. Phys.Org:Scientists build a low-cost, open-source 3-D metal printer.

The report describes a 3-D printer for metallic objects. It was built for less than $1500 (US). That includes a MIG welder. Right now it is somewhat limited in what it can build, but they expect that to change rapidly as the design gets around. The next step towards a DIY world is getting closer.

Bill Gill

The ability to print metal objects could be useful, when one is in the middle of nowhere and needs a gear for an application. It could also be used to "print" guns and other weapons, and this could be a bad thing. But imagine being able to print an extra set of eating utensils when one has too many guests for one's silverware chest. Or a sharp knife for skinning that deer you just brought down with your 3D printed gun. The possibilities are mind-boggling.

speaking of printers , I once worked in a print shop and
they used a chemical etching method to make the print dies for
images.

using a photograph , a plastic sheet was produced that only had
the dark colors printed on it.

the plastic sheet was then placed onto a thin sheet of metal.

then chemicals and light were used and this reacted to eat away the metal that was exposed to the light and this formed a raised print that could be attached to a drum printer.

I dont see why this could not also be used to make metal parts
with , you could stack each etched piece on top of each other and
then fire them in an oven to get the final product.

Sounds complicated. Probably way too complex to do on a DIY basis. It doesn't sound like something you could do under computer control, since the oven step would have to be extra.
Bill

but that is how it is done currently.

They have a printer that uses welding rods. It's not very accurate as of yet, but the concept is solid.
Working in a manufacturing environment, I certainly hope to see economical versions of these in a decade or two. Prototyping costs are insane in my industry, and I would love to avoid those. Every prototype cost avoided, is another potential raise for my employees, and maybe myself.

I just had an excellent idea , on a 3d printer but it isnt
anything like the current types of 3d printers.

and it actually uses printer paper !

and glue of all things !!

but it only produces a reuseable mold that is used in casting
plastics.

sorry , thats about all Im going to say about it.

So, now Phys.Org has a report on the various methods used in 3-D printing. The engineering behind the 3-D printing revolution

Paul, one of the methods bears some resemblance to one of your suggestions, but is a little more thought out.

Bill Gill

I guess you are talking about the one that uses laser light to harden a glue like substance into a shape.

I didnt see anything that uses printer paper in the way that Im thinking about using it.

but Im thinking that metal sheets might be better than paper sheets , for durability for a model.

but I suppose you could just use a roll of aluminum foil to get a durable shape.

either way would create alot of waste material which a power bed printer does not produce.

I guess it would all boil down to the price of the printer and the cost of building material if the final product produced is
similar in quality , and those 3 things would probably be what
would get it sold or not.

I never knew that 3d printing was called
"additive manufacturing"
before today, but the name manufacturing doesnt quite fit in
does it?

maybe they are not referring to an assembly line type of manufacturing where parts are built en masse and then assembled.

using a 3d printer for that type of manufacturing could get extremely time consuming and costly , I would think that using
a 3d printer should be mainly in prototype design and mold making for casting molds to be used in manufacturing.

perhaps "addititive tool manufacturing" would be a better choice.

Additive Manufacturing is kind of a large term.I'm not sure where it came from. I think they do use it for manufacturing some specialized parts in the aerospace industry. That is for short run specialized items. For the near future I expect that it won't be very good for large scale manufacturing. It is good for prototypes and one off items that are built for special purposes. Some of the uses that have been mentioned are things like medical implants, which can be built to order to fit an individual. That is a kind of manufacturing.

With a little more development they might be able to start building small complex parts that would be hard to build with other techniques. One thing I can think of right off hand would be electronic circuit boards. They tend to have intricate patterns that are made by coating the board with metal, then removing everything that isn't wanted. You might be able to take the bare substrate and print the metal onto the board more easily than removing the excess. I think though that it would take more development to speed the process up. After all they make circuit boards in extremely large numbers right now.

Bill Gill