3D Printer

[redforever]

They have now used a 3D printer to help reproduce a body part, an ear.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Pr...320/story.html

[redforever]

Seems they are just at the tip of the iceberg how a 3D printer can be used for medical purposes.


1 Saving a baby’s life with a 3-D laser printer

http://uofmhealthblogs.org/5563/savi...laser-printer/

2 Liver cells made with a 3-D printer

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/stor...ing-video.html

[redforever]

Replacing lost limbs, personalizing exercise gear, duplicating body parts, making jet engine parts...and the list goes on.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/generalelect...ving-the-world

[homestand]

Originally Posted by Flames_Gimp

anyone get a 3d printer yet? I'm thinking about getting one, no idea which one to to buy.

bump

[The_Penguin]

I saw one at Costco a couple weeks ago. One of those special manned displays, probably temporary.

[wireframe]

I have a few 3d printers that I built at home. They are not the tool that companies would have you believe. Much more of a hobby at this point. They need constant maintenance to work properly and that maintenance is only easy if you know how it works.

And cad (drawing parts in 3d) is not easy for beginners. That is a real limitation for consumer level 3d printers.

For most people, it's probably easier to get a hobbyist to print parts for you because the cad and maintenance are difficult.

[Rathji]

I think the idea of buying patterns to print is much more likely than someone buying and learning CADD, for the long term vision of the products

[wireframe]

Originally Posted by Rathji

I think the idea of buying patterns to print is much more likely than someone buying and learning CADD, for the long term vision of the products

I see where you are coming from, but that just hasn't turned out like people hoped. That's are a few sites where people share part files, thingiverse being the largest, but the vast majority of files are for specific applications. They are close to what you may need, but not close enough to use. For example, you might find a replacement Knob for a different bbq than the one you own and the hole is 2mm too big.

[The_Penguin]

Originally Posted by wireframe

I have a few 3d printers that I built at home. They are not the tool that companies would have you believe. Much more of a hobby at this point. They need constant maintenance to work properly and that maintenance is only easy if you know how it works. .

Yeah, most techie blog/forum posts I've seen on 3d printers seem to indicate that they're very finicky and often take multiple tries to get something printed properly.