3D printer

[Admin]

http://www.spikedhumor.com/articles/104047/3D_Printer_The_450.html

 

[philipp]

I have used these, they are amazing devices. They produce incredibly detailed output (300dpi IIRC), the only problems being that the things they produce are fragile, and the dusty media can clog up the print head.

Great fun to play with though

P.

 

[retired_member6]

The homes of the future, there's tons of tech being held back right now, not sure why, maybe it's just affordability but christ knows why people still drive themselves, we don't need to. But I recall an article about 8 years ago where the tech is there for us to mould anything but it's just price, break a plate, just make another instead of going to the shops.

The yanks have already invented phaser technology, the australians are on their way to inventing transporters and now we have the replicator, what we dream, think or imagine can become reality... within reason, some things like sharing a prison cell with paris Hill simply aint gonna happen.

 

[philipp]

It would be great if it was a replicator, but sadly it's not quite that cool. It's a platform covered in fine chalky dust, and an inkjet head that moves across and down it spraying coloured glue. When a layer is complete, the platform is lowered fractionally, a new dusting of powder gets applied, and then the process repeats. It's cool (you can 'print' 3D cogs and chains and things) but the output is very fragile, it falls apart only slightly less easily once it's been treated with fixer.

Actually there's a particularly neat 3D prototyping machine that I've seen which uses a vat of resin, and two computer-controlled lasers moving along two axes. Where the beams intersect, the resin is cured and hardens to make a really decent strong prototype. But that's big bucks compared to powder prototyping.

Sorry, I'm such a geek - I love this stuff

P.