3D printers, the next frontier

3D printing provides the means to create parts for a kit that will never be made commercially or to scratchbuild something that requires large numbers of unique parts.

No one need feel forced to use 3D printing, but it’s a good tool for serious builders to have familiarity with. It may also be the case that building a master that can then be scanned with 3D capture is a viable option soon, as that will mean YOU do not need to deal with electronics, learn software, or own a expensive printer. That way you can extend your existing skill set with 3D printing at virtually no cost other than sending the master to the printer, then paying for just the parts you need in return.

Here in Europe they try to sold some “home” 3D printer; they were offered in the last Dortmund toy fair in april. This fair is one of the biggest toy fair in Europe.

The rendering is quite good, some flash here and there; forget a surface completely flat.

But!!! don’t be to hurry its extremely difficult to use it and second one thing everybody forget its the need to have big capability in program like CAD design program, not to mention 3d CAD design.

As an example, Tim Warris of Fastrack had show a few years ago on this forum a small freight house and his question was How many time needed to design this small freight house?

The design was quite simple, some walls whith windows, a roof and the need of some notch in the wall to construct it. He produced the files for a laser cutting machine, but a 3D printer need some equivalent files.

Many of us answered a couple hours but Tim ended whith a few days as the real answer and he is a professionnal of CAD design, working more than 40 hours a week on such programs.

All the printers show in Dortmund from small one to big one need files coming from CAD program to produce an object. And scanning is not the answer, because this scan need to be retouched whith a CAD program to be sure to reproduce correctly the image.

Advanced CAD program and scanning program rendering 3D files for a machine are extremely expensive program. Don’t hope to use a simple program