# 3D Printer? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 6, 2011, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printer/588042 "2011-07-06T15:37:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printer/588042/41 "2011-07-08T23:26:21Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > So you’re saying this thread’s a copy? But made from a super-secret powder. It takes time to harden and mimic the real thread. Just hang on. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printer/588042/42 "2011-07-08T23:56:02Z")
Absolutely real, and not limited to polymers. In my business, we’re getting into making product parts this way, much more quickly and cheaply than the conventional casting/forging then exotic-machining processes, and without the alloy element segregation problems you can see with castings that would reduce some key material properties. It’s called “Direct Metal Laser Sintering” - a layer of powder is sintered with a laser, like you see here (just short of melting it), and the part is built up layer by layer. The result can have a very fine finish to it, too, not like the stair-stepped surface you get with stereolithography, or castings made directly from them without secondary finishing. IOW, yes, it’s real and way cool. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printer/588042/43 "2011-07-09T00:47:24Z")
That’s not a crescent wrench, it’s an adjustable spanner. Pretending like I know anything about tools. I saw a primitive 3D printer at an Expo five or so years ago. It was very crude, but pretty cool. And then there’s [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptUj8JRAYu8). ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printer/588042/44 "2011-07-09T00:51:08Z")
Can anyone answer with authority about the tensile strength of these replicated items? If the crescent wrench in the video was subjected to the same stresses a steel wrench were subjected to, would it pass muster? Is the finished “hardened powder” product more brittle than the original? ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printer/588042/45 "2011-07-09T03:01:18Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Can anyone answer with authority about the tensile strength of these replicated items? If the crescent wrench in the video was subjected to the same stresses a steel wrench were subjected to, would it pass muster? Is the finished “hardened powder” product more brittle than the original? There are two web sites that are doing on-demand 3d printing. I made some comments in the other thread, but fyi Here is shapeways materials page: [http://www.shapeways.com/materials/](http://www.shapeways.com/materials/) I notice that the Alumide sample has a ring through it: [http://www.shapeways.com/model/132813/alumide\_sample.html?gid=mg](http://www.shapeways.com/model/132813/alumide_sample.html?gid=mg) And here is ponoko’s materials page: [Online Custom Laser Cutting Service - Used By Apple - FREE Sample](http://www.ponoko.com/make-and-sell/materials) They both have support communities, I’m sure you could ask your questions there as well. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printer/588042/46 "2011-07-09T06:14:42Z")
> [@Jagwasher](#): > > After thinking about it for nearly a whole minute, I’m pretty sure this is the coolest thing I have EVER seen. I, too, have now seen the future. My mind is blown. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printer/588042/47 "2011-07-09T07:45:19Z")
> [@Zyada](#): > > We had a nearly identical thread yesterday. Maybe twickster can join them? It’s okay, I can do good **twickster** impression. Similar threads merged. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printer/588042/48 "2011-07-09T11:09:59Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > It’s okay, I can do good **twickster** impression. Wow. Those printers really \*are \*everywhere! ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printer/588042/49 "2011-07-09T16:24:50Z")
Could you print a 3D printer on one of these things? (Kind of reminds me of the great idea I had when I was a kid - there was a photocopier in the library and I remember thinking, hey, if you were ever short of paper you could just take one blank sheet of paper and copy it!) ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printer/588042/50 "2011-07-09T16:31:17Z")
For some reason, a client of mine sent me this link this morning. The annoying part is that they cut out the many hours needed to actually make the piece. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printer/588042/51 "2011-07-09T17:13:14Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Could you print a 3D printer on one of these things? This is the Holy Grail of the fabricator movement: to build a fabricator that can make another fabricator. Considering the wide variety of types of materials needed, this may be a while, though they may be able to slide by by defining complex items such as integrated circuits, for example, as ‘raw materials’. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printer/588042/52 "2011-07-09T22:14:01Z")
The teaching hospital in Maastricht (Netherlands) uses this technique to scan tissues inside a human body, for instance a persons skull suffering from a deformity. [Then they print the skull and study it and practice on it before they operate on the actual person.](http://www.ablesw.com/3d-doctor/rapid.html) [Medication is also printed for better application.](http://web.mit.edu/tdp/www/medical.html). I want to come up with idea’s to plan a little exhibition on 3D printing here in my hometown. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printer/588042/53 "2011-07-09T22:15:21Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > The teaching hospital in Maastricht (Netherlands) uses this technique to scan tissues inside a human body, for instance a persons skull suffering from a deformity. Then they print the skull and study it and practice on it before they operate on the actual person. In the TED link I posted earlier about 9 minutes into it the speaker was discussing the concept of having a full body printer over a hospital bed to put down layers of cells directly onto a wound. I have no idea how long that would be before it was realistic and through with clinical trials, but it is a neat idea. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printer/588042/54 "2011-07-11T01:05:27Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > [http://www.ted.com/talks/neil\_gershenfeld\_on\_fab\_labs.html](http://www.ted.com/talks/neil_gershenfeld_on_fab_labs.html) Neil should switch to decaf. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printer/588042/55 "2011-07-11T20:55:44Z")
> [@lukeinva](#): > > Neil should switch to decaf. All TED talks have a time limit, so it tends to compel speakers to talk rapidly. ---
**Author:** ![Panurge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@Panurge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panurge)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printer/588042/56 "2011-07-12T19:11:23Z")
I SO want a [3d print of one of Theo Jansen’s _Strandbeests_](http://scribescopycentre.co.uk/ScribesDigitalPrintBlog/?p=1557). ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printer/588042/57 "2011-07-12T20:11:03Z")
You can print in stainless steel now. This site offers it for $10/cm^3: [Steel 3D Printing Material Information - Shapeways](http://www.shapeways.com/themes/stainless_steel_3dprinting_gallery) ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printer/588042/58 "2011-07-12T20:28:32Z")
If you want some serious metal fabrication check out this [5-axis milling machine](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnIvhlKT7SY). Far different than a 3-D printer to be sure but still cool as hell and can produce some remarkably complex and cool products in one go. ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printer/588042/59 "2011-07-12T20:56:46Z")
Man, I want some of this stuff like the thorn dice set and companion cube d6 just to improve my nerd cred. They offer so many materials, it’s so hard to pick! ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printer/588042/60 "2011-07-13T14:33:28Z")
Randall must read the dope: [Today’s xkcd](http://xkcd.com/924/) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printer/588042.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printer/588042.md?page=4)