3D printing seems to have gone quiet. Where are we all at?

[jason udallParticipant @jasonudall57142]

Now. ..filament auto change…on the fly eek!

3d scanner. ..mm resolution vs capacity vs cost..

And since 3mm filament is the largest readily available 2mm nozzle/hotend.

r home made filament at 5mm from pellets?

Will it ever end?…

Hope not.

 

 

 

 

Edited By jason udall on 24/02/2016 12:05:04

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

One of the big US toy makers is selling a 3D printer for a few hundred $ (might be Mattel)

Air NZ is printing out some of it's food trays for 1st class passengers.

Ian S C

[Johnboy25Participant @johnboy25]

I always thought airline food tasted a bit plastic even in first class… 😋

Joking aside – what is the components for Jason?

Edited By Johnboy25 on 24/02/2016 16:17:49

[jason udallParticipant @jasonudall57142]

Those parts are part of a rotor-flush filter head.
The filter screen is fitted (in this case 2) onto the y shaped manifold.
The rotors spin inside this screens, back flushing the mesh….
See rotor flush ‘s website. ..
These parts are funtional build.
The two or three or four heads wouldn’t have been cost effective in the relatively low volumes.
But 3d printed parts have made the product viable

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

The trays that Air NZ is making are "Fold down cocktail trays" they are attached to the back of the seat. I think they are making a few other parts too.

Ian S C

[jason udallParticipant @jasonudall57142]

It seems accepted that one can make for ones own use, a mechanism covered by patent.

Does/would/should this apply in the world where manufacturing is “possible” as required for ones own use..consequently all use
Imagine a day when everything is made ( maybe by print bureau) for ones own use.
Like print on demand..copy of the monalisa..certainly sir.

I am aware of ( some of) the limitations in 3d printing…but what do the readers think a world where print on demand is more mature and accepted.
No haulage. ( greatly reduced).
No recycling. ..chuck item finished with in reuse hopper.

No waste packaging… (see no haulage above)
No work..
??
Thoughts anyone

Edited By jason udall on 28/02/2016 10:43:14

[Steve FParticipant @stevef]

I recently bought a Fabrikator Mini from Hobbyking in the UK warehouse. It only has a small capacity 80mm X 80mm X 80mm. Cost £167 + £7 postage.It arrived in 2 days and since then the poor thing hasn't stopped. Good learning experience and I'm now using Fusion 360 to draw my own stuff and then off to the printer. I bought it to have a try before buying something bigger.

**LINK**

regards

Steve

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

See **LINK**

[MWParticipant @mw27036]

Alot of criticism has come from the idea that the structural integrity and layer bonding of the ABS/PLA printers can be unreliable at times, the material is also criticized because the mechanical applications are limited. I'm not an owner of any printer and have only handled samples so i cant have as much to say on this but the stength felt ok to me and i wasnt overly bothered by the sketchy surface finish.

The one thing that puts me off buying a cheap one (less than 1k) is the idea that you need alot of designing knowledge in the first instance to use one effectively without simply borrowing other peoples designs, is this as simple to use as say mach3?

Thats the only reason why i wont try one for now but maybe they can fix these problems.

Michael W

[EnnechParticipant @ennech]

I only 3D print in ABS but I have no hesitation in using the process for foundry patterns where appropriate. Although they are a honeycombed structure internally they are quite rigid.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Ennech on 28/02/2016 15:46:43:

I only 3D print in ABS but I have no hesitation in using the process for foundry patterns where appropriate.

.

Impressive examples, Ennech

An innocent's question, if I may:

Are these used like traditional wooden patterns, for sand casting … or are they burned out, more like lost wax ?

MichaelG.

[EnnechParticipant @ennech]

These patterns are relatively big being for a 71/4" gauge loco and will be used for conventional sand casting Michael. The chimney is around 80mm in diameter and the stretcher will go between frames 151mm apart.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Thanks for that ^^^

MichaelG.

[EnnechParticipant @ennech]

This is a 3D printed chimney pattern a bit bigger and the resultant casting in gunmetal.

[Anonymous]

Posted by jason udall on 28/02/2016 10:41:55:
It seems accepted that one can make for ones own use, a mechanism covered by patent.

Like this you mean?

[MWParticipant @mw27036]

Posted by Ennech on 28/02/2016 16:29:38:

This is a 3D printed chimney pattern a bit bigger and the resultant casting in gunmetal.

Those Look pretty good.

Michael W

[AjohnwParticipant @ajohnw51620]

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 28/02/2016 16:10:41:

Thanks for that ^^^

MichaelG.

Patterns is one of the reasons I want one Michael. There are others. One of the best sites to see some of the other things that can be done with them is stargazerslounge in the DIY section.

A furnace come first though. More or less bottomed out now if I can find a particular type of cement for part of it.

John

–

[jason udallParticipant @jasonudall57142]

I know of various “open” source repository.

My thought was , will the presumption that “patented” or otherwise design registered and protected designs ..clearly not intended to be open source..but its ok to replicate for your own use..as engineers …where does this change from niche to norm..

[simondavies3Participant @simondavies3]

Jason,

Since this is effectively reverse engineering, where do you break the patent for the concept and where are you simply adapting someone else's idea with your own to create something (maybe marginally) different…?

I suspect the practical (not ethical) answer is that even with a gang of printers, you are unlikely to rival proper mass production methods. I also find that it is necessary to beef up some aspects of a component to compensate for the relative strengths of injection moulded plastic vs. printed so there are potential 'fit for use' questions too.

Ethically (and maybe legally) I would see the line being drawn between making a replacement for a broken item or one that is further modified with your ideas and the point where you are removing revenue from the original supplier since its cheaper/easier to make your own than to buy them. But even this last point has the caveat that (IMO) assumes that you would have bought more of the item at the list price – and are not simply making them because you can at what you consider a reasonable price for the volume!

I am reminded of my early teenage years when I mass produced wargaming tanks by silicon moulding from purchased masters and then cast armies of tanks using roofing lead. I still have them and would never consider selling them but I can see a very close similarity here!

I am however unconvinced that this will become any more of an issue than any other product copy issue in the past. I do not believe that the general public will equip itself with printers and software to design bits and places setting themselves up to generate copied parts will be equally in competition with the existing Far Eastern (and others) who produce look-alike fakes and equally targeted by anti-counterfeit people.

I still love my printer for what it can do though!

Simon

[jason udallParticipant @jasonudall57142]

I put this though out for the consideration.
Suggesting that the “law” once again is ill prepared for where technology has reached.
The conventional business model of making products that are safe from copying has to be seen to soon be dead. ( see record industry).
Successful business will adopt another model…

Thought it might have been fun to speculate..

[ZebethyalParticipant @zebethyal]

Not a new article, but becoming more relevant every day "Free! Why $0.00 is the future of business"

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Lets be honest, the average punter is unlikely ever to be able to copy a part or mechanism even if they have one in their hand – not lack of intelligence, but the lack of experience.

Even if they could, the time we would be willing to put to do so in is enough to make most people buy one instead. Even most folks here get the garage to fix their car…

An example – the technology for printing your own magazines at home has been available for a couple of decades. With decent laser printing you can have something comparable to the commercially printed product. Yet the proportion of MEW readers who have a digital sub and print their magazines is tiny.

3D printed items will always take a finite time to produce and need assembly if nothing else. In the real world printers will jam, run out of materials or glitch now and again. Just because you will be able to print your own stuff, it's likely most people will prefer just to have the whole thing and get 'instant gratification'.

Even when significant numbers of people are getting designs to print off the web, the way it will go will be licensing.

Here's ways it could work:

Designs for gadgets online with same day despatch of non-printed parts.

Buy a machine – with ownership comes lifetime access to STL files for all the printable parts.

Buy a radio – you choose the spec for the electronics, and get emailed the files to build the case in a style you chose (and possibly customised) on line. If you wnat a different look in future, just go back and get a new case design and swap the internals.

Order premium parts in glass filled nyon or similar to 'upgrade' your home prints.

Designs given away as 'free gifts' i.e. as a marketing tool. Perhaps in the future we will be doing this for MEW!

I'm sure there are 1001 other ways of getting money from 3D printing.

Neil

[jason udallParticipant @jasonudall57142]

Neil..
If people can print there own magazine at home but don’t ( in large enough proportion) then why isn’t mew /me available to readily down load…no need to defend I am aware of the reality.

Again it is the discussion of the implications of the “law” that apears to permit “copying for your own use” when in the future all use might be own use.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Posted by jason udall on 01/03/2016 11:48:02:
Neil..
If people can print there own magazine at home but don't ( in large enough proportion) then why isn't mew /me available to readily down load…no need to defend I am aware of the reality.

You've got me confused there Jason – anyone with a digital sub can download MEW.

Or do you mean why isn't it a free download?

My point was just atht the extra effort of 'print at home' is too much for most readers, so I'm sure it will be the same for objects.

Neil

[jason udallParticipant @jasonudall57142]

Neil..some time ago the archive was printable or at least pdf formated. ….this was changed to stop what apeared to be collections being sold by third parties. If I remember correctly.

The point is that mew or mtm or whoever made a change to prevent what you suggest wouldn’t happen because its too much bother.

[Author]

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