[HH] 3D printing

[Jack Coats]

On Sat, Mar 3, 2012 at 3:26 PM, Tom Metro <tmetro+hhacking at gmail.com> wrote:
> We hear a lot about 3D printing these days. Anyone here with hands-on
> experience? Does AA have a 3D printer?
>
>
> $300 3D Printer
> http://techcrunch.com/2012/02/28/is-the-300-3d-printer-finally-here-makible-thinks-so/
>
>  MakiBox is a riff on the open source RepRap 3D printer that fits a
>  print head and motor inside a box about the length and width (but not
>  the thickness, silly) of a sheet of paper. The MakiBox kit will start
>  at $350 while an assembled kit will cost $550.
>
>  The question remains, however: do we need 3D printers on our desks? If
>  not now, when?
>
>
> A Look at 3D Printing and Open Source
> https://www.linux.com/learn/tutorials/542928:a-look-at-3d-printing-and-open-source
>  Arthur C. Clarke said "Any sufficiently advanced technology is
>  indistinguishable from magic." And it's still magical when you
>  understand how it works. 3D printers are here, they're cool, and there
>  is a large and enthusiastic open source 3D printer movement.
> ...
>  Maybe someday, instead of making little architectural models, a giant
>  unit will drive up to a building site and spit out a complete
>  structure.
>
> Not hard to imagine a printer that uses concrete as its medium to
> "print" buildings.
>
>  The open source printers we're going to look at spin out a melted
>  plastic filament that comes off spools, which gives the finished item
>  a woven appearance... Open source 3D printing is still in the hacker
>  realm. There are no prefab personal open source 3D Printers; you have
>  to build from kits or from scratch.
>
> Obsolete by the above announcement.
>
> After a good intro, the article loses steam once it gets down to the
> specifics, spending just two paragraphs covering available printers, and
> one covering the software. It mentions RepRap, Thing-O-Matic, and
> Makerbot Replicator for printers, and ReplicatorG for software, and
> Thingiverse and Google 3D Warehouse as model repositories.
>
>  -Tom

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/09/01/concrete_building_printers/
  or
contourcrafting.org
  or
http://youtu.be/-yv-IWdSdns