3D-printing in the future

[Deleted]

So 3D printing is becoming quite normal these days. I'm not lying, I didn't even know they were commercialized yet and I thought they would take at least another 5 years or so for the average peep to be able to buy one and start making his own "schematic" for it.

Here's something I drafted from wikipedia in case it's unfamiliar to anyone (which I doubt) -->

"Additive manufacturing or 3D printing, is a process of making a three-dimensional solid object of virtually any shape from a digital model. 3D printing is achieved using an additive process, where successive layers of material are laid down in different shapes. 3D printing is considered distinct from traditional machining techniques, which mostly rely on the removal of material by methods such as cutting or drilling (subtractive processes).
The technology is used for both prototyping and distributed manufacturing in jewelry, footwear, industrial design, architecture, engineering and construction (AEC), automotive, aerospace, dental and medical industries, education, geographic information systems, civil engineering, and many other fields." - Wikipedia

So, we've come this far (so far) that we're now able to print whatever the hell we want (realistically) in the form of plastics.
As long as you have any knowledge in programmig(CAD) the world is open to you, within reasonable limits.

To the point: I think this will serve as a placeholder for spin-offs in other areas, with other types of material instead of just plastic.
Imagine yourself standing in the garage, dreaming of that Dodge Charger -69 and then prrinting it out with this big-ass 3D printe
that instead of melting plastics, melts metals of any kind instead.

I'm curious about whether or not you guys think it'll get that far, and what you would be interested in printing if it does!

*TLDR - What is the future of the 3D printer, and how would you benefit from it? What do you want to create? Not limited to plastics*

[Tokru]

I don't think it will be that easy (if even possible) to do that with anything other than plastic. Different material just behaves very differently.

[Sunseeker]

The larger the object you want to make, the larger the printer you think. Think about the size of the factories used to build cars, they're HUGE. You'd have to have a 3D printer large enough to make a whole door, or frame. Your printer would have to be larger than the car, and of course use materials durable enough to function in the engine and at high temperatures.

[Deleted]

In the close future? Plastic doodads will become even cheaper then they are now.
In the medium future? Everyone produces their own plastic doodads.
In the far future? Who knows? the possibilities are endless..

[Lora]

I've seen one in use and it's really cool.

[juzalol]

"You wouldn't download a car!"

Actually, I'll surely download your blueprints and print out a brand new car if it's possible
in the future!

And when will cars have always online DRM. Can't connect to their servers at morning, oh
well I guess I'll work from home today...

[MMKing]

It probably will. Imagine the difference between your paper printer and that one of a large corporation. Yours can print a page at a time somewhat slowly with a limited selection of colors. A large corporation may invest so that they print several pages a second.

Similarly, you may get a basic 3D printer for parts of limited size, a large corporation may be able to print out cars with theirs.

[Endus]

I don't think it will be that easy (if even possible) to do that with anything other than plastic. Different material just behaves very differently.

Metal's not that much harder to work with; it's similar in the sense of being easily melted and cooled in place. Does standard production use that technique? No, but standard plastics production works very similarly to metals, currently, anyway. It's a higher melting point and more expensive substrate, though.

Wood you couldn't really handle with the "printing" tech, which is an additive process, but we've already got the technology for subtractive machining; insert block of wood, it carves it down into the shape you want. You'd need a second machine for this, but if you wanted a production lab in your garage, it's easily feasible to do so.

Food is actually easy, in theory. The big trick is getting multiple materials working at once, so you can mix and match to create different foodstuffs. Most of the 3D printers are using single materials, but this is the same kind of jump there was with moving from black-and-white printing to color printing; it's not a huge challenge and the concepts needed are mostly there already.

Organs are a bit more complicated, structurally, but theorists are saying we're only a few years out from this. It won't be feasible in an in-your-garage sense, but hospitals will be able to buy the million-dollar machine that can do this, allowing for rejection-free transplants.


There are already companies emerging with bigger printers, who take orders, so that if you want to go into manufacturing, rather than owning a manufacturing plant or trying to print out 50,000 units in your garage, you give the plant your order, and they print it out for you. This lets people do the prototyping on their own, and then go straight to manufacturing, without any need for a huge buy-in to buy equipment.


Basically, we're on the cusp of seeing privately-owned manufacturing lines being a thing of the past, as relevant to that post-modern era as blacksmiths and farriers are to today's economy. There will be large-scale manufacturing services available, but those will be services, much like hiring a contractor to build your deck or a physiotherapist to treat your injury. They won't be the kinds of market-manipulating behemoths that they are today, and the major manufacturers will essentially dry up.

[Deleted]

I think it will be a common household gadget much like a microwave oven.

Soon/now: Crafting of simple tools, weapons and minor household gadgets. Also sextoys, that will be the most crafted items for sure
Close future(20-30years): Food, organs, completely functional electronics(No assembly required)etc.
Distant future(50-100 years): Everything and anything we want to make. We'll print stuff atom by atom and won't require complex materials anymore.

[Deleted]

Consider the implications of such a device in terms of the goods it could produce.

Large objects are almost excluded from person use, as has been pointed out. One could, theoretically, build a care. But you either need a giant printer, or make it in small pieces. Doing so would reduce structural integrity, and consequently defeat the purpose.

Using metals would be highly problematic. First off you'd have to have a ready supply of industrial grade ingots available for consumers. But this isn't the main issue, the main issue is what current printers do, and do not, do. Right now they essentially "clue" plastics together. That's the total of the process. Most consumer products involving metals are heat treated, or some post forming treatment is applied.

Printers might become more practical for making simple items, forks, cups etc. But complex, multi material objects? Not likely for the foreseeable future in all honesty.

---------- Post added 2013-05-19 at 09:05 PM ----------

I think it will be a common household gadget much like a microwave oven.

Soon/now: Crafting of simple tools, weapons and minor household gadgets. Also sextoys, that will be the most crafted items for sure
Close future(20-30years): Food, organs, completely functional electronics(No assembly required)etc.
Distant future(50-100 years): Everything and anything we want to make. We'll print stuff atom by atom and won't require complex materials anymore.

To make an aluminium component you'd need, wait for it, aluminium atoms.....

Not all atoms are the same. All aluminium atoms are the same, but they're different to say carbon atoms.

[Tokru]

To make an aluminium component you'd need, wait for it, aluminium atoms.....

Not all atoms are the same. All aluminium atoms are the same, but they're different to say carbon atoms.

Maybe in the future we all have our own little fusion reactors at home. We can buy gas containers with pure hydrogen in the supermarket and then fuse it into any element that exists and is stable.

[Deleted]

Or maybe....you can buy different types

Also aren't they just arranged differently? Same shit, but different arrangement. We could solve that :>

[Deleted]

Or maybe....you can buy different types

Also aren't they just arranged differently? Same shit, but different arrangement. We could solve that :>

As I stated, you could certainly buy said materials. But then you come to the size issue of printing larger objects. Overcoming that you then need a "printer" for each type of process required for each product. A hammer needs heat treatment for example. Something that operates in excess of 300 C isn't something you want next to the fridge.

---------- Post added 2013-05-19 at 09:18 PM ----------

Maybe in the future we all have our own little fusion reactors at home. We can buy gas containers with pure hydrogen in the supermarket and then fuse it into any element that exists and is stable.

Sure, we'll just have something that's 15 million C in the hands of any random citizen....

[Rotted]

Not sure how you mean 3D printing,

but in the toy shop I work in, in the summer, we have these prints on a wooden background, its plastic and its 3D, but the pictures also change depending if your walking past them,

for example

some pictures will look at you, others will get up and out of seats etc, they are pretty funky but just a gimmick really

[Deleted]

As I stated, you could certainly buy said materials. But then you come to the size issue of printing larger objects. Overcoming that you then need a "printer" for each type of process required for each product. A hammer needs heat treatment for example. Something that operates in excess of 300 C isn't something you want next to the fridge.

I'm trusting science to have solved these problems before we get there.
I'm sure they can figure something out in 50-100 years that seem outlandish to us now

[Sunseeker]

Not sure how you mean 3D printing.

It's a process whereby a machine melts raw plastic into specific shapes, laying them uopn each other, to create a full 3-dimensional object, such as a gear or a small statue.

[Bladeface]

on the matter of printing something like a car, it wouldnt actually be that hard. the only big peice of a car is the frame so you could technically just pring it in peices besides that and build it yourself. the fact that it is quite easy to make plastics that are far stronger than metal makes the idea much more reasonable/likely. i imagine within the next year most cars will be at least partially printed and this be much much cheaper. not to mention that most of these plastics are much lighter than metal so the cars would be more fuel efficient too.

[Deleted]

I'm trusting science to have solved these problems before we get there.
I'm sure they can figure something out in 50-100 years that seem outlandish to us now

I'm willing to bet they can't. Space is space. Increased population, more limitation and premiums on space.

[Bladeface]

It's a process whereby a machine melts raw plastic into specific shapes, laying them uopn each other, to create a full 3-dimensional object, such as a gear or a small statue.

its not really melting its more like mixing 2 agents that bond to form a plastic. its basically a tray filled with powder and the machine places a liquid reagent into designated spots to form the solid object.

[Deleted]

Well whatever this is right now, to me, it's one of those giant steps that lead to the futuristic stuff in Star Trek or so :P Dibs on the Enterprise. Who calls shotgun?