Not sure if this is old news, but now we can all have our very own 3D printer! http://reprap.org/bin/view/Main/WebHome It is able to print pretty much anything in various plastics, and work is underway to extend the machine's capabilities to include metals and ceramics. Is this cool or not?
I am so tempeted - there's several 3d printer / prototyper kits out there: http://www.makerbot.com/ http://fabathome.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2007/04/fabhome_open_so/ I can't wait until we get these things to use metals as the printing medium. I'd be able to print parts for the gooster!
This is really interesting, and as a matter of fact it's the first time I've seen/heard of these devices outside of the prohibitevly expensive industrial machines. Furthermore, I do have three steppers stuffed into a drawer just begging for me to find a use for them, and I've been dreaming of owning such a machine for years!
http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=167195 http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=175075 Last time I looked the project was a bit disorganised for me to properly understand anything.
Yay I'm a pioneer! The version 2 is almost done, and it can print some pretty huge parts and is also physically smaller than the version 1. Can't wait for them to get the print speed up and release the final specs. I just wish I had both space and a use for it. Although extruding custom PC frontings and sidings could be interesting
i still think the system needs a support material to create quality parts. The Dimension SST down my university creates awesome reproduction parts in ABS, however the system uses minimum amount of build material so big cross sections are usually hollow. No big problem. I remember finding the maker bot a while back, watched their video's and whilst they have cracked the problem of controlling such a build method, there builds are crap. But its open-source and development should lead to great things. One nice thing about FDM is its practically silent! I had been thinking it could be possible to extrude aluminium, but it would be bloody hot!
