http://www.economist.com/node/18114327
Basicly read the article . How far is this advanced, how much potential does this have and how to profit from it in the early stages if so?

Didn't read the article but am quite familiar with the technology. I think it offers a lot of possibilities but mostly from use of the technology rather than from the technology itself. I'm fairly tired but I can't think of any way to make money directly from this.

if this is going to be used in rural area's and in small businesses, and some big ones too demand for 3d printers will go up drastically right? And they have to be made somewhere?

I volunteer for a green car company Wikispeed that I believe (I'm just the internet nerd) prints out their car bodies for 97% less money than it's been done before. They use some software and CnC machines I believe.

Agree with Henry that it's going to be the "killer app" that drives demand for these if it happens.

You want to start manufacturing 3D printers?

That would be very capital intensive and not really something I would expect to be a realistic option.

With respect to demand I see demand for 3D printing increasing but not in a way that justifies owning a 3D printer but rather sending projects to a third party. There are very few scenarios where owning your own 3D printer makes much sense.

just amazing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aghzpO_UZE

This

This will be something one day but the costs today are just insane. I know Jay Leno bought one and it is around $30K iirc. I would be curious what the time frame will be when you can go out and get one for for less than $500. I am pretty sure they will still screw you on the consumables like they do today though.

I wasnt talking about making one myself, but getting a piece from companies taht will. And I agree that people wont have one themselves. I think there will be central places with alot of printers that you can use for a fee that will offer 3d printing. Like every village at least one, and big cities at least a few more. Allowing you to bring your programmed model or something. There will probably alot of custom stuff being made for 3d printing like with apps for smart phones. Not a way to profit on that? Or shorting certain corporations that will be hurt by this when it gets big.

Also if it will be used alot, you will need alot of raw materials.

Really interesting.

I actually think the killer app is gonna be in the material. If they can print with a high strength, light and cheap material that can have direct industrial applications.

For example, instead of hiring sub contractors... Ford or whoever could (they probably will at one point) "print" car engines at even high precision than they are today. I don't know what exactly, but I am sure that will open up some design possibilities too for the engineers.

Then if they ever figure out how to work with multiple materials (not just 2, or even 3, but a way to work with enough materials to, for example, print a pair of shoes... or the scarf I've been thinking about buying)

I think to go big people will need to be able to recycle their stuff really easily. Print new thing you just downloaded or designed, don't like it or print failed, just put it in the recycler and turn it into something new.

$30k is dirt cheap for something like this -- a decent commercial 2D printer costs several times that.

There already is a $500 option. There are also plenty of $1500-10,000 options.

I think there might be a small possibility with that. I haven't really looked at it but the brands are all business names that I have never heard of so I doubt many are publicly listed. I don't really see demand for this being enough for a business who has 3D printing to grow from small to large just on the strength of 3D printing. What you'd be looking for is a company that might be bought by a multinational that wants to start offering 3D printers under their brand.

I guess it depends on what you mean by profit. If you bought a commercial grade printer and set up shop I think you could run a profitable little businesses but it is not something that you'd ever grow into a big business.

This will kill tool and die guys but they are not publicly traded The value in 3D printing is mostly in manufacturing single items. The people who do that now are small businesses.


Already happening. People are using them to make parts so as to be able to modify legal guns to illegal guns. I have also heard of people making guns from scratch by printing them. There was also supposed to be an attempt to print an entire house that someone was trying in Spain. Don't know if it worked or not but they were supposed to do it late last year.

Many 3D printers can make themselves (kind of) and there are a couple of fairly good open source ones.

It's great for doing things like printing a spare plastic part for some machine. The IP is going to be the big thing - piratebay have already started pushing for a global pirated repository of items that people can print at home. Illegal in most places but pretty much impossible to stop.

The only solid play that I can see from a strategy point of view is to do what apple did with music - make it so easy and simple and sexy that people prefer to buy your device and print items instead of using the pirated versions.

You'd need deals with lots of item creators to do this, but it could happen. Right now the tech is fairly crappy and is limited to small mono or two-color plastics but this may be ideal for certain industries. (e.g. Games Workshop and other small plastic toy models).

This is soooooooooooooooo awesome.

3D printed M-14s, here I come.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...inter?ref=live

http://techcrunch.com/2011/09/20/is-...-buying-a-gun/

http://www.ted.com/talks/lisa_haroun..._printing.html

This is the best video one 3D printing I've seen. The plastic printers are neat, but the ones that print metal are absolutely incredible.

That blew my mind.

So we already at the point where it's just a matter of someone building a 3d printer big enough to produce super engines.

Not really, the stainless steel is made up of steel powder and a binder that gets heated, then they add bronze. I'm not sure what the strength is, but I'd presume there some issues to be worked out before you could use them in high-pressure/ explosive situations. I'd also think the bronze may have issues with heat.

This kind of technology will be what makes it possible to live on the moon, etc.

Break some bolts? Need to remodel/build new facility? No problem, print a new one. Don't have to transport anything other then the 'building' material, which would be trivial to transport and I'm sure will eventually be as strong, or strong enough, as the "real thing" but weigh far less.

Also, while this technology is "old" - it still has the ability to be the kind of transformative technology that the global economy needs to jump start the next technological/social/economic engine growth.

Think of it like the computer. They existed in the 60's, 70's and 80's. But it wasn't until the late 80's that prices and sizes came down so far that the home computer and proliferation of computers in businesses drove that transformative technology. The same thing could very well be under way with 3D printing.

I know a guy who is a really good 3d modeller and we have been brinstorming for uses of the technology but have come up short so far. At the moment there is only a point in making small things, otherwise it is too expensive. Any ideas? There has to be something that is both small and has to be made unique or in limited editions.

What range of hardness can the base material take? Can the powder/metal be soft or hard depending on the fusing process?

How transferable or mobile can these printers be made to be? Perhaps a 3d printing truck or something can go around printing things, mostly for entertainment value right now, but possibly more utilitarian in the future.

Possibly try to market it to upscale and high end venues for now, where the novelty and entertainment makes up for most of the value. I can imagine high end restaurants or lounges, or date place cafes, that can charge a good chunk of money to print a plate or cup or something right in front of their face, and I imagine a small cup is one of the cheapest and easiest things to print.