# 3D printers-here to stay?



## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

There not new.
First one I saw was at NASA at least 15 years ago.
There use is so limited I just can not imagine a reguler DIY ever even needing one.
Jay Leno has one in his garage for repopping antique car parts he can not find.


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## ZZZZZ (Oct 1, 2014)

The prices will continue to drop and the quality and practical uses will continue to improve.

Reminds me of the quote from some expert 40 or so years ago, (can't recall who it was) "Why would anybody need a computer in their home?"


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## Windows on Wash (Aug 30, 2011)

ZZZZZ said:


> The prices will continue to drop and the quality and practical uses will continue to improve. Reminds me of the quote from some expert 40 or so years ago, (can't recall who it was) "Why would anybody need a computer in their home?"


I'm looking forward to win CNC machines are going to keep coming down in price.


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## BrowneBearLLC (Apr 8, 2015)

Engineers use them all the time and they are here to stay, in my option I would wait a while. The field is still young and changes are still in the works along with the prices being high. I do know also that they schools are now investing into them which tells you that they have a future


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## ZZZZZ (Oct 1, 2014)

"Don't try this at home", but just an idea of the potential of 3D printers.

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


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## thediyhubby (Nov 1, 2014)

ZZZZZ said:


> "Don't try this at home", but just an idea of the potential of 3D printers.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SObzNdyRTBs


Wow, amazing! Now I want one!:thumbup:


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## Mort (Nov 26, 2008)

I'm pretty sure I don't like anything about what I saw in that video.

I'm only 33, but I must have an old soul, because the lack of character and craftsmanship in anything that comes out of a 3D printer is sickening. Maybe I'm in the minority but that's how I feel.


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## Tom738 (Jun 1, 2010)

*Here to stay*

Here to stay, but wait until it is useful enough to justify the price point rather than buying it as a toy.

I replaced a piece of missing molding on a central-area 120-year-old linen closet last year by stealing the same molding from a hidden spot on the back of a door and replacing the door trim with some new stuff that was slightly different. But today I think I could take off a matching trim piece, scan it with Kinect For Windows, and order a printed copy from a 3D vendor (or print one at home if I owned a printer) pretty easily. IIRC there's an app that uses Kinect Fusion to let you scan 3D objects and then pulls up a list of vendors for ordering the print.

We're not at the point where 3D printing is a part of the contractor's bag of tricks. But we'll get there.


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## ZZZZZ (Oct 1, 2014)

Mort said:


> I'm pretty sure I don't like anything about what I saw in that video.
> 
> I'm only 33, but I must have an old soul, because the lack of character and craftsmanship in anything that comes out of a 3D printer is sickening. Maybe I'm in the minority but that's how I feel.


I dunno Arnold. I think once the technology matures some more, designers will go crazy with all kinds of computer-generated designs that nobody had ever dreamed of before.


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## jbfan (Jul 1, 2004)

ZZZZZ said:


> The prices will continue to drop and the quality and practical uses will continue to improve.
> 
> Reminds me of the quote from some expert 40 or so years ago, (can't recall who it was) "Why would anybody need a computer in their home?"


That reminds me of an electronics instructor I had 35 years ago saying that tubes would never be replaced by transistors!


Jeff Dunham used a 3 d printer to make one of his puppets.


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## Mort (Nov 26, 2008)

ZZZZZ said:


> I dunno Arnold. I think once the technology matures some more, designers will go crazy with all kinds of computer-generated designs that nobody had ever dreamed of before.


I dunno, maybe. I hope not. 

Takes the humanity out of whatever you're trying to create. Too sterile. 

Now get off my lawn *shakes fist*


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## ZZZZZ (Oct 1, 2014)

Mort said:


> Now get off my lawn *shakes fist*


:laughing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qw9oX-kZ_9k


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## gregzoll (Dec 25, 2006)

My wife's company sold theirs, because they never used it. The only company that really takes advantage of this technology is Ikea.


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## Yodaman (Mar 9, 2015)

The technology is here to stay. In the future your food will be 3d printed from your former pantry cabinet. Yummy! Can't wait! I am not rushing out to buy one, but I am slow to react on tech. Heck I just recently upgraded to a smart phone, and still amazed at how great this Bose SLIII bluetooth speaker sounds.


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## KC_Jones (Dec 1, 2014)

The company I work for has several. I am a designer in our engineering department and I get the impression everyone commenting has had zero interaction with them. These machines are not a fad nor are they just to make gimmiky items. We regularly 3D print rollers for our rolling machines to try out new designs. They aren't good enough for production, but we can run enough product to try out new designs in R&D. It saves us months of time waiting for a machine shop or our own shop to produce metal rolls. Yes we are running plastic printed rollers in a machine. The savings in prototyping alone pays for the machine in months a year tops. And for the comments about it being sterile. That honestly bothers me, I am a human and I am still designing these items. It is my design I take that to heart. Just because some guy isn't spending 10 hours on a mill making my design doesn't make it "sterile". Oh and remember before milling machines it was some guy with hand tools, he probably thought a milling machine made things "sterile". It's a change of technology that's it. Oh and we have a waiting list of employees wanting items made (mostly custom car parts). We pay for material and when the machine isn't running for the company we can run our stuff. That machine is basically running 24/7.


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