The future of 3D printing?

When I look at 3D printing I see a very interesting tool for everyone with an inquiring mind.

You now have a device that can make just about anything you can imagine so that you can look at usability issues and assess size and weight issues.

Beyond that, I saw several really good posts where the 3D printer model was used to make castings for metal parts, which is very very interesting.

Think about a colony set up at a remote location, or planet, where you can essentially build any part of your system if it should break.

You could also experiment with variations of parts in a nice controlled way.

I also like the possibility of using large versions to make concrete housing.  Just enter the style you want and the 3D printer will make the structure using pliable concrete.  For single floor dwellings, you can proabably even get by without rebar.

So I think it is still very early to assess the full range of 3D printer uses.  We have just begun to think about the utility of the technology.

The size and scope of the models built will also change as we experiment with different materials.  Just imagine what you might build out of carbon fiber, nanotubes, molecules, atoms, subatomic particles, etc.

The more we use the 3D printers, the more uses we will find.  Many new technologies will be invented and innovated.

These devices are just too cool.

Just my opinion,

DAB

DAB, I'm looking into using 3D prints for casting aluminium parts. Firstly as conventional patterns for sand casting in ABS but it would be also interesting to build structures in PLA to be burnt out by the hot metal. A RepRap expert at IMakr advised me that this smells a bit like popcorn when burnt.

http://www.workshopshed.com/2013/05/3d-printing-pattern-for-sand-casting.html

Andy,

The post I saw was from a guy with fifteen years of casting.

If you try to burn out the PLA, you get noxious gases, some poisonous in closed spaces.

Also, you get uneven burning, which could spoil the casting.

Everything I have seen indicates that using the wax method is the only cheap and reliable way to sand cast a metal part.

If you check the web, I saw a good post on how to make your own "machinable" wax for use in a CNC application.

So do a lot of research before you try to do this.  It is very dangerous.

DAB

DAB,

We've been doing lost-PLA casting experiments out herein SF and we read through the MSDS on PLA with care.  The off-gassing from this process, at least in our reading, isn't that bad compared with most everything else you'd do around a foundry.  I grant you that the MSDS for burning PLA outlines specific emmissions like:

(*) Carbon-dioxide

(*) Carbon-monoxide

(*) Aldehydes

...but I think wax throws off this same stuff too, no?

Anyway, when we get some good results of 3D-printed PLA that we turn into metal objects via casting; we'll post some pix here so you can see results.

Kevin

Dab, thanks for the heads up. Yes, the gas would be an issue and could ruin the cast. I was thinking thin walled tube structures so there is much less to burn.  I do all my casting outside and yes its plenty dangerous already so experiments should be carefully thought out. Some of the hobby casters are a bit gungho but that's not my style.

There's also a lot that can be done with conventional patterns, 3d printing those is a lot easier than making from wood.  I need some good weather to cast with the ones I've had printed, already.

Dab, thanks for the heads up. Yes, the gas would be an issue and could ruin the cast. I was thinking thin walled tube structures so there is much less to burn.  I do all my casting outside and yes its plenty dangerous already so experiments should be carefully thought out. Some of the hobby casters are a bit gungho but that's not my style.

There's also a lot that can be done with conventional patterns, 3d printing those is a lot easier than making from wood.  I need some good weather to cast with the ones I've had printed, already.