I think this is going to be the biggest thing since the internet and its here now.

I always say that I wish I'd been born 10 years later as I'd have been old enough be part of the dotcom bubble.

http://blog.ted.com/2012/01/23/a-pri...ni-on-ted-com/

http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/1...d-titanium-jaw

http://www.shapeways.com - biggest online 3d store i could find

http://www.nextengine.com/ - 3d scanning!

Cliff notes on above for 3d print noobs:

They shouldn't be called 3d printers, rather 3d fabricators. Think of the replicator in star trek and that's what is. They will fit on your desk, they cost a few hundred dollars for the low end stuff.

you can make your own objects and print them. You can download an object and print it, you can scan an object and clone it. All manufacturing of small objects will eventually move to the printers - mass production and shipping will evolve into the much more efficient download and print on demand model.


Anyone got any fabulous ideas on how to profit?

3d designers are going to be in demand.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/30...thing-1158635/
but your start is better

sorry lock and ban

I wasn't around when printers were available at the home, but wasn't the sentiment roughly the same? "We won't need to buy magazines/books anymore etc because we can print at home now".

I don't know much at all about 3D printing but will it ever match industrial quality/capabilities? How do arguments differ from paper printing?

These printers are really neat but have a huge way to go before they take over manufacturing. I don't see it happening.

I've only seem them print cheap plastic toy things, can they do more? Like things with moving parts?

The other thread got a bit off from trying to figure out how to capitalize on the future of the technology. It was more of people going "Neat!"

The improvement in printer technology and the decrease in price have likely done more to kill film than books.

CAD design, mechanical/electrical engineering, material science, medical stuff and industrial design are my guesses for the skills that are going to increase in demand as the technology improves.

My guess on industries:
Medical implants
Aeronautics
Luxury goods (Jewelry, gold clubs, ...???)
R&D, Science (I would think most already have access but price decreases could be helpful)

I think that the killer applications are medical devices and being able to produce high strength/heat resistant metal parts.

They can print fully assemebeled objects with internally moving parts. There are also printers that can print metal.

Oh nice, didn't realise. Are the accurate enough or going to be accurate enough to print medical devices? That sounds like a great application.

I don't think they're going to be the biggest thing ever but it's obviously gonna keep on growing for the next x amount of years. I think HP were the first big company to get a commercially available printer out there. I think every other one I've seen has been from a small start up who only sells 3d printers, so HP could end up having a monopoly on the market if it explodes sometime soon.

One of the HP printers is accurate to within 0.25 mm, is that accurate enough for medical devices? I'd guess it probably is, but even the dirt cheap DIY printers are pretty accurate.

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/uk/en...665.html?dnr=1

I think the (or one of the) biggest application atm (but this will probably be overtaken in the future) is pre-viz in video games. I remember back in 2006 when I read an article about the spore creators printing out models of characters when the tech was pretty new.

I think in the future they could replace a lot of CAM (computer aided manufacture) systems and become the tool of choice for prototyping all sorts of products. Because these printers are designed for low volume one-off or batch production, this seems like the most likely thing they'll be used for.

My old product design teacher would forcibly rape anyone who said CAD design or CAM manufacture so my sphincter still clenches when I see someone do it.

Well, this is an ideas thread. Who here is realistically in a position to capitalize on medical implants? Hahaha..

This is neat technology, but with very limited applications. It will never compete on price or come even close.

So you have to appeal to very niche, techie, "neat' factor which is a very uphill battle.

some woman apparantly had a new jaw printed. First body part ever to be reproduced by a 3d printer. It was titanium tho

You can find videos and articles on 3D printing for medical implants. The idea is to use a 3D scanner and then print out a part made specifically for the person. They can also be made as a mesh which is supposed to help prevent rejection.

A key patent or process could make you extremely wealthy without ever having to make an implant. You can have a 3D printer sitting on your desk for $300-500. The price is going to continue to come down and the technology is going to improve.

Selling kits to make your own, manufacturing or importing key components that all the DIYers will need, offer product prototyping locally/semi locally, sell low volume/high priced items online and print on demand when they sell, try to patent some key technology and troll manufactures.

Everyone needs to start throwing out more ideas so we can start to come up with some that might be viable.

So does anyone actually have/ or seen one of these small DIY $500-$1000 printers? If so can you give a report on the quality, etc.?

My 3d teeth are 3 d printed much cheaper and better than Gold with the actual price. Construction and prototyping 3D is also verry common.

But as soon as you go in massproduction its too expensive, a professional scanner and printer is much more expensive than a few hundred.
And the most have no idea about product prices in asia, products that we buy for 50-70$ are produced for as low as 3-5 $.

I disagree I really think its a game changer, and while its expensive and niche now this is how all new technologies start.
The rate of speed of technological change is exponential and the public is going to want this so I think it'll start to happen pretty fast. The technology that fits in our hand today filled a room 30 years ago and was a million times more expensive.

The printers will get smaller and cheaper. Mass production and shipping will change to downloading and printing (a huge boon for western economies).

So what happens when the printers are as cheap as 2d printers and you can download items and have them in an hour for the best price rather than wait for delivery?

You forget the original material where you create something and you forget that you get a unicoloured product, and the original material is far away from simple plastic.

there are multicolour printers available, they're pretty flexible.

The thing is manufactured plastic stuff is really cheap to begin with.

I think the key is to focus on custom-ability of it.

Some ideas:

1. Toys with your child's face on the action figure instead of a generic face
2. Monogrammed everything toothbrush etc. apparently rich people pay a lot for this now it could be for everyone
3. If they can print clothes I see great value in that because they are already relatively expensive and they need to be made to our exact dimensions and arent. (unless you are precisely a M L or S which is unlikely.)

This really is a game changer for several reasons including some that havent been mentioned yet.
1. you can build things that you can't build the old fashioned way using this technology
2. It produces a lot less waste than traditional manufacturing so eventually should be less costly

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6Px6...eature=related
here ya go, can be in metal too. Also bioprinting will be available in some time.

So what's the most complicated thing it can make ?

Some of the more impressive uses include a key to unlock police handcuffs, a flute, gun parts to modify legal guns into banned versions.

This is not the huge game changer people think it is.

Comparing these printers to replicators on Star Trek is way off. If this was the technology from Star Trek then that would be different but it isn't.

The biggest mistake people are making is thinking that it will be simple to create a new object, and thinking that the materials and cost of running it is free. It needs to be compared to alternatives to see where it's a game changer.

For remote locations, this could be extremely useful. Expensive things that need to be custom, useful. Things too hard to make any other way, very useful. Making custom clothes, laughable.