Just watched the video and I am just amazed! one question I have is how did the machine know the wrench was adjustable?
It replicates the item down to the smallest (scanable) detail. It doesn't have to know anything, the object replicated works the way the original object does. The scan picks up the details of the parts, and they function as they would.
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Just watched the video and I am just amazed! one question I have is how did the machine know the wrench was adjustable?
Since the scanning they did seemed to use visible light, they must have edited the resulting file a bit to separate out the movable parts. Light wouldn't have been able to see internal structure. Notice when they clicked on the part to turn it red it selected just that bit.
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I'm just a little confused. The video made this tech seem like a wonder product. Super easy and completely practical. I mean, the wrench WORKED.
So why isn't this far more prevalent, and why hasn't the company already exploded into a building full of money? Something doesn't seem right here. Did it take 6 months for the wrench to solidify or something?
Well the wrench, while strong enough to tighten a bolt a bit, wouldn't be nearly as strong as a metal one with that powder (though there's other 3D printing that actually use metals).
It's great for prototyping, or custom work of small batches, but it doesn't scale well.. The process is slow, imagine how many wrenches a wrench factory turns out, probably thousands in the time it took to print that one.
Plus the cost of the custom materials that let the printing work as well as it does are probably much higher than the cost of a simple metal or plastic in a mass production setup.
Still, very cool stuff and already there are businesses around it:
So... it occurs to me that if you can make a working clock, you can probably make a gun too.
Or will be able to relatively soon.
You could actually make as many guns as you want. Although I suppose you would have to still purchase the bullets. The concern arises when you have one of those Waco "cult" situations where they could pretty quickly replicate a small army's worth of firearms.
That's a bit concerning, no?
Unless... everyone started replicating bullet proof armor...
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So... it occurs to me that if you can make a working clock, you can probably make a gun too.
Or will be able to relatively soon.
You could actually make as many guns as you want. Although I suppose you would have to still purchase the bullets. The concern arises when you have one of those Waco "cult" situations where they could pretty quickly replicate a small army's worth of firearms.
That's a bit concerning, no?
Unless... everyone started replicating bullet proof armor...
That's an interesting scenario. I don't think that this is the machine to do it: subtractive milling CNC machines (which have been around for decades) would be much more effective at producing the necessary parts. And actually, a quick google found that there are people out there making their own gun parts on CNCs (I sure the FBI is watching me after the last 15 minutes I spent browsing certain sites). One of the foremost guys doing CNC gun manufacturing has access to a machine shop with hundreds of thousands worth of equipment, including CNC routing, turning, anodizing, and plastic injection molding machines. And he's not even doing all of the internal components, just the frames, barrels, casings, etc. It's going to be a very, very long time before a 3D printer can replicate that sort of work. And given how easy it apparently is to buy guns in the US through both legal and illegal channels, I think it's probably far more efficient to simply buy your army's guns outright, rather than the cost of setting up a metal shop.
Well for starters you'd have to have all parts scanned. That would mean any moving parts or hidden parts would be tough, you might have to take the gun (or whatever else apart) to make sure everything got scanned, then put it back together.
Basically things with more parts, and more moveable parts, are going to be tougher and tougher and eventually impossible. You want things that are made of few pieces, and easily visible.
Though eventually I'm sure the technology might start using x-ray or similar techonologies to see through the surface of objects and replicate even more complex objects.
That is a very good point though, Flashpoint. As our technologies get more and more impressive it's going to be very important to really study possible uses and put more emphasis on morality studies.
I don't think an object like a gun, made with a 3D printer, would be able to produce or withstand the compression etc necessary for it to behave like an actual gun.
So... it occurs to me that if you can make a working clock, you can probably make a gun too.
Or will be able to relatively soon.
You could actually make as many guns as you want. Although I suppose you would have to still purchase the bullets. The concern arises when you have one of those Waco "cult" situations where they could pretty quickly replicate a small army's worth of firearms.
That's a bit concerning, no?
Unless... everyone started replicating bullet proof armor...
Saw a blog today that immediately made me think of this post. Not guns, but some potentially equally dangerous technology. http://bigthink.com/ideas/39633
Doesn't look as flexible as the Makerbot Replicator or some other ones, only has one kind of material, but the price is certainly getting there.
Looks quite similar to the Printrbot, which had a huge kickstarter campaign and already has a huge user base. Similar pricepoint, within about $50, and same size, though Printrbot has some larger ones, too.
anyone get a 3d printer yet? I'm thinking about getting one, no idea which one to to buy.
I don't have one, but I follow the community a lot. I'm a bit more interested in the CNC milling side of things.
Depends what your needs are, but the next generation of DIY printers is going to be incredible. They use a resin printing technique as opposed to extruded plastic, and the resolution is far superior to most extruded plastic printing. I was really impressed with this one that was kickstartered earlier this year, but it's about $2500-$3500.
As far as the extruded plastic ones go, the big advantage of the Makerbot is a huge support community compared to most other DIY solutions. If you're looking for a cheap solution another option is the printrbot, but they had an incredibly successful quickstarter campaign, and they're still backlogged with filling orders from that.
The 3D printer market will implode once people start using 3D Printers to pirate 3D Printers, eliminating all sales and driving the manufacturers out of business.
All we'll have left are copies of copies of copies of printers, which will eventually cease to function correctly.
I kid of course, but the ramifications for intellectual property are staggering, and I don't know how you deal with them. How can Lego, as one simple example, possibly hope to survive in a world with pervasive 3D printer access?
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Last edited by sclitheroe; 07-06-2012 at 10:35 AM.
Imagine the shame the girl from the secretarial pool will experience after getting drunk at the Christmas party and 3D-photocopying her ass, and then finding it all over the internet for download.
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The 3D printer market will implode once people start using 3D Printers to pirate 3D Printers, eliminating all sales and driving the manufacturers out of business.
All we'll have left are copies of copies of copies of printers, which will eventually cease to function correctly.
I kid of course, but the ramifications for intellectual property are staggering, and I don't know how you deal with them. How can Lego, as one simple example, possibly hope to survive in a world with pervasive 3D printer access?
Actually, that's exactly how the whole system is supposed to work! One of the first big DIY 3D printers was the reprap, which was all about self-replication: the goal was a machine that could completely self-replicate itself. It still hasn't completely achieved that goal, but it's a crucial concept. Even with a system like Makerbot, you'll find Thingiverse is full of improvements to their original design that people have come up with and printed themselves, and Makerbot encourages that sort of innovation (if people open-source their innovations, then Makerbot can incorporate them back into the core design).
But yes, you're right about the intellectual copyright ramifications. Is it acceptable to reprint a part for a broken device that you own, if the replacement part is unavailable? What about if the replacement part is available, but ridiculously overpriced? What about designing your own parts to work with lego, that are not exactly duplicating any functionality of existing lego (there are, for example, kits that interconnect lego pieces to a whole bunch of other toys and building systems). I'm actually surprised that there haven't been any really major intellectual copyright cases involving the 3D printing community, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time.
Apparently someone has created part of an M16 assault rifle using a 3D printer and when it was put together with an off-the-shelf upper .22-calibre pistol receiver, it successfully fired hundreds of rounds.
At University (U of A in Edmonton) they had a few. Really neat stuff for sure. One of the more interesting things they mentioned was for uses where you dont have physical space to bring everything, so you can print tools/components as required. One easy example is for space. If something goes wrong you can print the component you need.
