Hello, future

[bryant]

The printer uses paper and glue; it lays down one sheet of paper at a time, then cuts away the bits that aren't part of the model with a tungsten carbide blade. You get detailed 3d models with a low material cost at a resolution equal to the thickness of a sheet of paper. Reportedly the output feels like carved wood.

I mean, wow.

Comments

[ultra-lilac.livejournal.com]

The best thing about my new job is getting stuff made on the 3D printer. It's so cool!

[bryant]

Ooooh. Which one do you have?

[dcltdw]

"Those toys! Where does he get those wonderful toys?!?"

I wonder when those could become affordable to the everyday bunny.

[bryant]

Mmm. There's a more traditional 3d printer out now retailing at $5K, which is not affordable but which is cheaper than the original Apple Laserwriter. Material costs are higher, though.

[dcltdw]

*thinks* $5k? Hmm. So you'd need maybe 20 people to pool their money to buy one collectively for, say, a group of miniature gamers. And even then, $250pp is not trivial money.

Have places like (say) Your Move Games or Pandemonium bought one and then let you print out a figurine for some price? I guess price point becomes the dealbreaker, since if you want to have 100+ miniatures, you suddenly care if each miniature is $1+ more.

[bryant]

Yeah, $5K isn't happening. But if the price trajectory of laser printers is any indication, they get cheap within a decade or so.

Of course, the 3D equivalent of Pagemaker is also necessary, and I don't know that we've seen that yet.

[that-cad.livejournal.com]

Would said bunnies be paying in carrots? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

[xorphus.livejournal.com]

Futurismic published a story that's sort of about 3D printing (http://futurismic.com/2008/04/01/mallory-by-leonard-richardson/) earlier this year (although my friend Leonard actually wrote it in 2006). It features gel-based printing rather than paper, though.

[melopoeia.livejournal.com]

droooool