This is interesting. It reminds me of the Star Trek replicators. Remember those? They never had to have the Enterprise towed back to starbase for repairs because Scotty could make any part imaginable in his replicator. Now we have 3D printing technology which is something like a replicator. You can create any design you can imagine using CAD software and the 3D printer will "print" the actual finished product in one piece, a layer at a time. And Professor Olaf Diegel in New Zealand is printing guitars this way. Pretty cool!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20047744 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20047744)
http://phys.org/news/2012-05-spider-guitar-dazzles-style-video.html (http://phys.org/news/2012-05-spider-guitar-dazzles-style-video.html)
http://www.odd.org.nz/ (http://www.odd.org.nz/)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zf5LfmP2tzY(http://www.odd.org.nz/Hive_Bass_Front_vsmall.jpg) (http://www.odd.org.nz/spiderlpblackred-frontsmall.jpg) (http://www.odd.org.nz/spideralumide1.jpg)
(http://www.odd.org.nz/atomblack1small.jpg)
(http://www.odd.org.nz/scarabalumide2.jpg)
More pictures and info at ODD Guitars: http://www.odd.org.nz/ (http://www.odd.org.nz/)
Wowwww that's really ,really cool :) they look fantastic.
Very Cool, now have it make lunch & we might change the world for the better!
That is really amazing.
I followed the you tube link and watched a few more different things being created. I've heard of this technology before but I'd never seen how it operated. I'm sure that I'll have one in the kitchen in a few years. Or maybe Apple will sell iPrinters and sell designs from their online iPrint shop.
cheers,
Ian
Next step is to get these printers to print working copies of themselves.
Quote from: peterp on October 25, 2012, 08:24:22 AMNext step is to get these printers to print working copies of themselves.
Some progress has already been made on that. The RepRap Project publishes plans for building your own 3D Printer. It's an open design and most of its parts are reproducible by the printer itself.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RepRap (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RepRap)
http://reprap.org/wiki/Main_Page (http://reprap.org/wiki/Main_Page)
Pretty cool idea. We all have many products that are made, at least partially, with cheap plastic parts that break easily and are difficult to replace. So we end up throwing the product away and buying a new one. With a 3D printer, that waste could be eliminated. You'd just print your own replacement parts to repair the damaged product.
Guns don't kill people, 3D printers do.
This is the start of thoughtcrime - you heard it here first.
I dread the day they will be able to print a guitarist !
I saw a scary article about 3D printed guns a while back. Just download a design from the internet and print yourself a lethal weapon.
When I left my previous company in 2006 we had a stereolithography / SLA / 3D printer there, used to make prototype loudspeaker baskets and stuff as part of the development process. We'd had it for a couple of years too by then.
I daresay they've come on a bit since then, but they don't look much different.