Open source 3d Printer

[JoshLoring]

Hmm.. I might have to build one myself

See QR Below or go to http://reprap.org/

 

[JoshLoring]

I don't even know what I would make. I still want one lol

 

[ddarlak]

yea, that's going on my list......

 

[genericname]

Oh man, I want one.

It looks like you can buy a premade (basic) one for 8 bills....I wonder if it's much cheaper to build yourself.

I'm not sure I have the mechanical know-how to build one of those....but it would be fun as hell to try.

If by "8 bills" you mean 8 grand, try 1/8 of that at MakerBot.

Man, with the Pirate Bay set to host torrents for 3D print files, I can't wait to see what the make scene comes up with in the next 5 years.

 

[ChicagoGraphics]

I'm not getting this, is it cutting or is it printing and spitting out some kind of melted plastic?
But I'll take 2 of them, lol

 

[Fred Weiss]

Hmmmm ... 12 hours to spit out a coat hanger.

 

[MikePro]

my big excitement with 3d printing is how some companies are now able to infuse metals into the product, creating some amazing works of art that no jeweler/artistan could ever hope to accomplish by hand.

 

[MikeD]

these rapid prototyping printers can make things in a variety of ways; they can extrude different plastics (Fused Deposition Modeling shown above) or they can even use a laser to fuse real metal particles together or sinter acetate sheeting. it's the most fun technology I have worked with because it allows the creation of shapes that could not be cast due to geometric law or any number of the laws of physics. they do take a long time to print (I printed (FDM) a hitch receiver plug that took 12 hrs,) but, if you were to machine a similar part, it may take weeks.

 

[MikeD]

anyone in the Georgia area interested in this tech has the opportunity to attend the RAPID 2012 Conference and Exposition, May 22-25 at the Hyatt Regency in Atlanta, Georgia.
Check it out!

 

[rjssigns]

Beware of the "desktop" 3D printers. You will get exactly what you pay for. My prototyping instructor brought one to class that coincidentally cost 800 bucks. What a POS. It is nothing more than a toy, and a poor one at that.
Point here is the technology is changing so rapidly that by the time you would get one in your shop and learn how to drive it, it would b nearly obsolete. And the good ones are super expensive. Just my $0.02

 

[MikePro]

my big excitement with 3d printing is how some companies are now able to infuse metals into the product, creating some amazing works of art that no jeweler/artistan could ever hope to accomplish by hand.

added, youtube link for those interested:
3d printing metal objects

 

[signswi]

If by "8 bills" you mean 8 grand, try 1/8 of that at MakerBot.

Man, with the Pirate Bay set to host torrents for 3D print files, I can't wait to see what the make scene comes up with in the next 5 years.

Makerbot is a fork of the reprap project and is the way to go for sure. I still prefer the big industrial 3D printers that use laser fused powered instead of extrusion + milling but despite that the Makerbot project is completely awesome from the standpoint of driving the open source 3D movement.