I seriously want to get a 3d printer.
 

First working 3D-printed firearm built

Wow. Title is a bit misleading as only parts were generated using the printer but the premise remains.

I love it.

Working homemade Mattel gun - very cool.

Why not print one offhttp://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...ilies/grin.gif

I saw one of these things in action, the plastic printing isn't strong,
it is like glue being applied in layers and it dries, or something like that,
builds to 3 dimension, same event I saw an awesome small cad cam
machine, much more powerful for manufacturing, same type of design
skills needed, it was not that expensive.

These machines are mostly used to build prototypes of products,
to see how they work in 3 D, they are a tool basically for further
design and development, building components and building a working
mechanical prototype.

One day we may have the materials, like some sort of metal/ceramic.
To build something that works under extreme conditions.

Maybe we have them but they are not economically feasible.

What is engineering ? Taking science and doing something practical with it, economics is a big part of it.

Hellenistic Kingdoms had many gadgets ahead of their time, so did other societies, it wasn't until 2,000 years later that engineering and economics made use of them, like steam engines, mechanical computers, hydraulics, the science was known, steam engines were used as toys, the mechanics of the planets/navigation was put into a specific computer/slide rule, and hydraulics were used to make musical instruments like organs, so the science was known but they were way ahead of their time, not economical for use everyday. Those are just 3 good examples, today those technologies have entirely different uses of great significance. Another good one is the science of battery technology, batteries found in Iraq, don't know what they were used for, to zap people for fun ?

Out of all the new tech advances, 3d printing gives me the most creeps. I've seen a 3d part, and held it, it's like it has no soul. This technology is going to destroy humanity. No individual craftsmanship, no hard work an talent, just push a button and something is 'created'. I'm not biblical like a lot of folks here, but man, this stuff really is the mark of evil, imo.

I wonder how long till RepRap can do stuff like this. That's something to keep tabs on:

Depending on what kind of software is bundled with these things, I'm thinking Cad designers are probably going to be in much higher demand in the near future.

edit: One thing that could be a bit crazy is find a key, take a picture of it, touch it a bit in photoshop, then print it off whenever you want.

My guess is these types of keys http://ts1.mm.bing.net/images/thumbn...7d61a6d8d1eef6 are going to become "obsolete"

This technology is going to destroy humanity. You must be creeped out for a quite a while now since CNC milling machines have been around for decades. lol

I work in Blender daily and it requires a lot of talent, skill, and time. A lot of these things are done in Blender and other programs, but mostly Blender (it's free and open sourced.) 3D Printers like RepRap have plugins for programs like Blender specifically since its free/open sourced.

Here's a little kid showing you how to make a machine gun in Blender.
http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...ies/tongue.gif

Until Walmart gets ahold of the technology.

Mark my words, they will start printing more cheap crap to feed our thirsty consumers than the fed reserve prints fake money.

Everything will be fake. From the girl you date with her fake tits, and fake smile, to your fake printed coffee makers and the fake printed money in your wallet. We are damned. It all starts to innocent too....rejoice! praise! new advancements. Then millions of folks get laid off, unemployed, because a printer replaced their job.

Then we get to China. What do you think will happen to China when Walmart starts printing their crap instead of importing it? Dollar collapse, WWIII?

This has DOOM all over it.

What this technology will do is decentralize manufacturing more and more. It will make production more of something you do at home. You either download the plans or do them yourself. This will be a benefit to humanity. It will only suck for corporations.

The cheap crap standard now has a bias held against it. If it sucks too bad people will start printing it themselves.

When it takes off there will be ink wars, and the quality standards will follow according to where consumers vote with their money.

High durability ink offerings will come into the equation, so if it costs me $5 more to print a garden hose nozzle, or whatever, that lasts twice as long or longer....

"So who makes the best ink now" will be on a lot of people's minds.

Maybe for awhile. The corporations know people are lazy. People can go to 7-11 now and push a button, and get mash potatoes and gravy, on the spot. People actual do this. 7-11 recommended to do this on Thanksgiving if you need to. Now, imagine if people could go to walmart, push a button, and get whatever cheap walmart crap they want, on the spot. One. Button. People have become lazy cheap bastards on these corporations tits. Why would that change?

I admit I'm being pessimistic. I just think, given time, nothing good will come out of the 3d printer.

people will become too lazy to push a button after a while

folks, yours truly wants one of these so bad I can taste it!

They now have them so that they create metallic 3D items, using metal embedded polymer feedstocks. Ditto, foodstuffs. Limited only by our imagination.

They are also conducting early tests in printing our own food from the very ions that surround us constantly. This is being viewed as a potential solution to world hunger.

Want steak, taters, corn on cob, green beans, strawberry dessert, and for me, dark semi-sweet chocolate chips?

Open the puter, select the file, load the ingredient cartridge, and voila....semi-sweet chocolate chips or fudge brownies until the world looks level.

CHOCOLATE FUDGE WITH FRESH TEXAS PAPERSHELL PECANS, anyone?

WOOOOHOOO!

I first became acquainted with these units back in '86 when my geek stockbroker had a buddy who worked in Boeing Engineering, and had one of those half-a room sized units...called it lithography. I've been bitten ever since. In fact, I've even tried to hire some "service bureau" dudes to do the programming for me since I'm too old to learn that angle, and then sell me the file. No takers so far, but it won't be long.

I know a guy who is designing gold processing equipment using a 3D printer PROGRAM. Won't be long until he's got a working model in "lexan-lite"....see through and all!


beefsteak

More generally, open source hardware will decentralize everything

http://opensourceecology.org/

the 3D printer is a useful tool for pattern-making.

not only can it print a 'positive', for visualization purposes.

it can also print a 'negative', e.g. a mold impression.

typically the process is -

plastic mold (negative)
rubber mold (positive)
plaster of paris (good for aluminum) or investment (similar to plaster of paris, more porous) mold (good for brass, silver, gold)


or sometimes, in the "old days", the pattern-maker would start with a wood 'positive', then make plastic 'masters' (a negative impression) from that, then make working rubber patterns (positive), which were used to make plaster of paris or investment molds (negative mold impression), into which molten metal was poured.

either way, the metal casting can then have secondary machining to 'clean it up'.

A while is being generous, in a new york minute folks would jump on board.

Let's face it, technology has made humans fats, stupid, and lazy. Our species is dying because of it, biologically, every thing we make 'easier' for the masses...we kill them slowly. People need to be physically active, need their minds challenged. I don't mean minds "fed" like they are today, rats at a food pellet, minds challenged. You challenge minds, when you combine action, danger, problem solving for survival, that mindset that sets your focus on every second you live.

Technology, has folks living their dreams through computer games. The lives they should be out living, they watch on a screen.

Now 3d fucking printers. Nobody seems to get this. A man's very spirit requires action and adventure. If you are not living that, you are dying. That's what they want, and they have technology to sell to you to get it.

thanks for listening, I'll shut the door on my way out.

All of this baloney about 'spirits' and the like is likely a smokescreen to give the illusion of validity to a mere distaste.

A distaste of baloney and spirits is an unlikely illusion and has no validity and is merely a smokescreen driven purely of a distaste of merely lesser objects.