Some of the factors holding the 3D printing back.
http://www.techrepublic.com/article/3d-printing-10-factors-still-holding-it-back/
If those had been celtic skulls, I’d feel like they were spying on me (I’m on attempt 8)
Nothing like false claims.
Not accurate and poor resolution …and professional machines can be the same and for a lot more money.
Not easy to use… That depends on the user.
People forget that lathes and weaving machines were touted for every home…dont see that do you.
Claims for 3d printing come from people who have no idea what’s involved only on what they see produced.
@Nigel_Dickinson I agree with, but nevertheless that is the general image for the subject.
Terrible article. I refuse to accept the prevailing notion that makers are somehow not “normal people” and that 3d printing is a skill that can only be learned by dedicated hobbyists. BS.
Another way of looking at that, @Brian_Evans , is that I know a lot of “normal people” who decided to become makers because they got access to a 3d printer. When making that widget required a milling machine and years of practice, they didn’t, but now that it just requires sketchup and an hour on a printer, they’re building stuff they always wanted to.
10 reasons why I looked a tiny bit at 3D printing and jumped to conclusions.
1 Huge steps have been made the last 3 years. Best you could get 3 years ago was a kit. These days you can get assembled machines from a lot of places.
2 No idea how a higher price and use of lasers is SLS is holding it back. People are building their own laser-cutters for example. Oh, and http://pwdr.github.io/
3 Most patents are invalid, and are not keeping back innovation anymore.
4 Guess you live in a boring white house with no trinkets, where never ever anything breaks because nothing happens.
5 (and also on 1 because using the same arguement twice is 2 points!)
Stood on top of prints, thrown them around. Sat on top of a 1.5m high print last friday. If you do not think prints are strong then you haven’t used the proper machines.
6 Search “shotgun made from home-depot materials”, it’s easier and safer then printing a gun.
7 We’ve had kids, none technical users, and our receptionist print stuff. Especially the UM2 is quite a step in user friendliness.
8 Doodle3D, TinkerCAD and a few others are quickly making changes here.
9 Always quicker then the few weeks it takes to create a mold for something.
10 200C to 300C is not high temperatures. Lots of stuff in your kitchen gets hotter. Not sure where the “mold” claim comes from, but FDM prints are actually sterile due to the pressure and temperature used.
You sir, are an uninformed individual which has no place in saying something about 3D printing.
@Daid_Braam are you aware that this article was written by a woman, not a “sir”?
That’s way less a problem than it used to be. There are piles of usable free software packages out there, and piles of superb ones if you’re willing to buy them.
My favorite stunt when people ask how strong a printed part is:
I flick it at my white board. Makes a nice loud noise and doesn’t ding the Sheetrock. I then gingerly stomp on it and stand on it with one foot. So far I’ve only wrecked two parts with such theatrics.
The parts can be pretty strong. They can also be maddengly delicate.
I know I would have a hard time getting my mom to use my printer, but my 3 year old is well on her way.
The article is basically the counter point that 3d printing will destroy all intellectual property and run industry out of business.
Both extremes have a trutheful nugget for their bullet points, but are heavily biased to the extreme.
Number 4, “The usefulness gap” really gets me. That’s where I am focusing my brain power right now.
Gareth, that is a complex task to do if the skull is not 100% manifold.
@Gareth_Owen If I understand you correctly - it seems to me that you should be able to use Tinkercad. And if your “ball” is a sphere - it should be fairly easy as Tinkercad fixes many non-manifold models just by uploading it. I believe I have also been able to do a similar function in Autodysys’ Bonzai3d - don’t remember for sure. I would first try Tinkercad, myself.