Somewhere in this NG there was a discussion on the maturity of 3-D
printing - but I can't find it.

To cut to the chase: The Economist mag had an article on it fairly
recently:
http://www.economist.com/news/scienc...-printed-smile
--
Pete Cresswell

On 5/25/2016 4:49 PM, (PeteCresswell) wrote:
Somewhere in this NG there was a discussion on the maturity of 3-D
printing - but I can't find it.

To cut to the chase: The Economist mag had an article on it fairly
recently:
http://www.economist.com/news/scienc...-printed-smile

The problem with most is the cost of the "ink". I thought of "printing"
some replacement casters for our refrigerator but it would have been way
too costly (for something so "generic") and hard to get the smoothness
that an injection molded part could afford.

OTOH, if you're going to be someplace where raw materials are hard to
come by and/or stock (e.g., ISS), then being able to use one feed stock
for a wide variety of products can be a HUGE win!

On Wednesday, May 25, 2016 at 6:49:31 PM UTC-5, (PeteCresswell) wrote:
Somewhere in this NG there was a discussion on the maturity of 3-D
printing - but I can't find it.

To cut to the chase: The Economist mag had an article on it fairly
recently:
http://www.economist.com/news/scienc...-printed-smile
--
Pete Cresswell

I posted something a while back about a number of guys building their own DIY 3D printers out of E-waste. Perhaps that was it? ^_^

[8~{} Uncle 3D Monster

On Wed, 25 May 2016 17:34:31 -0700, Don Y
wrote:

On 5/25/2016 4:49 PM, (PeteCresswell) wrote:
Somewhere in this NG there was a discussion on the maturity of 3-D
printing - but I can't find it.

To cut to the chase: The Economist mag had an article on it fairly
recently:
http://www.economist.com/news/scienc...-printed-smile

The problem with most is the cost of the "ink". I thought of "printing"
some replacement casters for our refrigerator but it would have been way
too costly (for something so "generic") and hard to get the smoothness
that an injection molded part could afford.

OTOH, if you're going to be someplace where raw materials are hard to
come by and/or stock (e.g., ISS), then being able to use one feed stock
for a wide variety of products can be a HUGE win!

Sometimes you need to consider the 3d printed part more as a casting
than a finished part - some minor finish machining necessary.

On Wednesday, May 25, 2016 at 9:02:49 PM UTC-4, Uncle Monster wrote:
On Wednesday, May 25, 2016 at 6:49:31 PM UTC-5, (PeteCresswell) wrote:
Somewhere in this NG there was a discussion on the maturity of 3-D
printing - but I can't find it.

To cut to the chase: The Economist mag had an article on it fairly
recently:
http://www.economist.com/news/scienc...-printed-smile
--
Pete Cresswell

I posted something a while back about a number of guys building their own DIY 3D printers out of E-waste. Perhaps that was it? ^_^

[8~{} Uncle 3D Monster

In this How It's Made episode on 3D printers, they state that the company
that makes the 3D printers uses their 3D printers to make 40 different parts
which they then use to make their 3D printers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4RGU2jXQiE

Cousin Self-Replicating Monster

On Wed, 25 May 2016 19:01:25 -0700 (PDT), DerbyDad03
wrote:

On Wednesday, May 25, 2016 at 9:02:49 PM UTC-4, Uncle Monster wrote:
On Wednesday, May 25, 2016 at 6:49:31 PM UTC-5, (PeteCresswell) wrote:
Somewhere in this NG there was a discussion on the maturity of 3-D
printing - but I can't find it.

To cut to the chase: The Economist mag had an article on it fairly
recently:
http://www.economist.com/news/scienc...-printed-smile
--
Pete Cresswell

I posted something a while back about a number of guys building their own DIY 3D printers out of E-waste. Perhaps that was it? ^_^

[8~{} Uncle 3D Monster

In this How It's Made episode on 3D printers, they state that the company
that makes the 3D printers uses their 3D printers to make 40 different parts
which they then use to make their 3D printers.

Isn't there a law against that?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4RGU2jXQiE

Cousin Self-Replicating Monster