Good article about the kids here at NC State playing with 3D printing
http://www.technicianonline.com/features/science_and_tech/article_fdb76462-5a0e-11e2-8bdb-001a4bcf6878.html
QuoteAlthough several procedures still have yet to be finalized, the 3-D printers at Hunt Library are operational and ready for students to use.
According to Rogers, students can come during the 3-D printers' operating hours of between 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. with an STL file of their design and a Hunt Library employee should be available to help create a model from it.
"You can give us a file and then we can talk through certain decisions like what machine you want to use and then we'd agree on a process and a price. We then have a form that you'd fill out and then we'd tell you that it's going to be a day or two days and then you can come back and pick up your model," Rogers said.
Students can create STL files from programs such as Solidworks, Autocad, Inventor, Tinkercad, Rhinoceros and Sketchup.
Rogers said that the 3-D Printing jobs at the Hunt Library are charged by the amount of material used. However, students will know how much each design will cost before they are printed.
"I think these machines are astounding," Rogers said. "It's really kind of a challenge to students and other people on campus to see what they are going to make with these machines. The machines are here for you all. What are you going to make?"
It will be interesting to see what kind of things they can come up with.
Quote from: TheCommandTent on January 23, 2013, 06:02:35 PM
It will be interesting to see what kind of things they can come up with.
Just wait, a few years from now when they will be able to 3D print using various kinds of metal.
How about micro 3D printing? (http://www.slashgear.com/laser-3d-prints-tiny-spaceship-the-width-of-a-human-hair-10268744/) I can imagine lots of practical uses, but maninpulating the printouts might be a bit of a problem...
I may not have hover cars but Ill damn well see touch screen smart walls and holographics.
Canadistanian hover cars in South Florida.....
Id buy a Wirblewind.
Laser Scanner Preserves Train History With Precisely Printed Models
http://www.wired.com/design/2013/02/flexiscale-model-trains/
3D-printed skull implant (http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2013/03/07/3d-printed-skull-implant-ready-for-operation/?intcmp=features)
Glad to see they are wasting no time in implementing this new technology...