# 3D printing ...what are the limits **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 26, 2013, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printing-what-are-the-limits/648460 "2013-01-26T19:14:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bones\_Daley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@Bones\_Daley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bones_Daley)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printing-what-are-the-limits/648460/1 "2013-01-26T19:14:33Z")
I keep reading stuff about how 3D printing is going to totally revolutionise the industrialised world, and free the USA from dependence on far eastern imports …but how much of this is fact, and how much is hogwash ? I see videos of 3D printers creating plastic prototypes …great …but how is that going to change anything ? Is it ever going to be feasible to print, repetitively, high quality end user artefacts in metal ? Becoz if not …then this is just another temporary fad IMO …( and I really do hope I am wrong…) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printing-what-are-the-limits/648460/2 "2013-01-26T19:32:45Z")
It’s unlikely that the technology in its current state is going to revolutionizing anything. However, 3D printers will evolve over time to be integrated with other automated manufacturing processes to eventually produce almost anything. They may never be able to create something using a material that has the same physical properties of cast steel, but automated milling machines are already forming many steel parts. In the near future, small, low cost 3D printers will be limited to materials like plastics and sintered metal compounds which are just reaching the lower end of physical properties required to replace metal parts. Over time better materials, and more capable printers will develop. In order to have more practical applications printers will need to be able to do more than lay 3D pixels, such as intergrating long fibers into the printing material. And of course they will need to get faster and be able to print at higher resolution. ---
**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:** [January 26, 2013, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printing-what-are-the-limits/648460/3 "2013-01-26T19:36:17Z")
I’m wondering whether something will come out of semi left field with 3D printing. What if the experiments in printing human tissue are successful? What if we can print food? Would it be possible to print new materials that can’t be made any other way? ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printing-what-are-the-limits/648460/4 "2013-01-26T19:44:20Z")
3D printing in [different materials](http://www.shapeways.com/materials) already exists. As resolution gets finer, detail gets better and better, to the point where the average consumer will someday be able to afford a machine that doesn’t just print a rough prototype, but a finalized object. One application that’s extremely exciting is medical implants. You can design a perfectly customized bone implant for a patient for a fraction of the cost of molding or casting it, without having to accept a less exact fit from a standardized model. Another advantage of printing is you can print hollow objects, with no seams or holes from external milling or drilling. You could print a metal object with a spongelike lattice structure, and reduce the amount of material used, without sacrificing strength. Again, this could be a very good thing for medical implants, that bone can grow into and not just around like a solid post. You currently can’t cast an object like that. There’s a TED video somewhere from a few months back that explains these points in more detail. ---
**Author:** ![Bones\_Daley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@Bones\_Daley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bones_Daley)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printing-what-are-the-limits/648460/5 "2013-01-26T20:00:33Z")
> [@Jenaroph](#): > > Another advantage of printing is you can print hollow objects, with no seams or holes from external milling or drilling. You could print a metal object with a spongelike lattice structure, and reduce the amount of material used, without sacrificing strength. Again, this could be a very good thing for medical implants, that bone can grow into and not just around like a solid post. You currently can’t cast an object like that. This is exactly the sort of thing which is of course theoretically possible, but …is it a practical proposition …? The ideal material for bone to grow into and round is titanium ( or so my dentist tells me ..) is it possible to 3D print titanium ? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printing-what-are-the-limits/648460/6 "2013-01-26T21:46:49Z")
> [@Bones\_Daley](#): > > This is exactly the sort of thing which is of course theoretically possible, but …is it a practical proposition …? The ideal material for bone to grow into and round is titanium ( or so my dentist tells me ..) is it possible to 3D print titanium ? Probably not in a way that matches cast or machined metal right now, but titanium may be the ideal material for bone growth _at this time_. Printing technology may develop better materials. 3D printers could end up creating materials we have no other means of producing currently. Og: Sharp rock never replace pointy stick. No good cost/benefit analysis. ---
**Author:** ![Fluffy\_PickleSniffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/77aa72/32.png) [@Fluffy\_PickleSniffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fluffy_PickleSniffer)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printing-what-are-the-limits/648460/7 "2013-01-26T22:48:05Z")
Well, there’s an architect who’s planning to [Print a house](http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/22/tech/innovation/building-3-d-printer/index.html?hpt=hp_bn5) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printing-what-are-the-limits/648460/8 "2013-01-26T22:48:43Z")
Currently, the way the technology is going, 3D printing will not revolutionize manufacturing, per se, but rather fabricating. If you want to make a million copies of some object, it will generally be easier to use molds, dies, and machine tools, like what we do now. The real advantage come in when you don’t want to make a million of something, but rather to make one of a very specific thing, like the custom-shaped bones **Jenaroph** mentioned. For comparison, think about 2-D printing. Most of us have, or at least have access to, a device that can produce any 2-D image we want on a piece of paper. This is very good for, for instance, printing out family photos, or the essay you need to turn in for class. But even though you could print out a novel on a home laser printer, that’s not generally how novels are manufactured: When they’re making a great many copies of the same thing, there are cheaper ways to do it. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printing-what-are-the-limits/648460/9 "2013-01-26T23:34:22Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Currently, the way the technology is going, 3D printing will not revolutionize manufacturing, per se, but rather fabricating. If you want to make a million copies of some object, it will generally be easier to use molds, dies, and machine tools, like what we do now. The real advantage come in when you don’t want to make a million of something, but rather to make one of a very specific thing, like the custom-shaped bones **Jenaroph** mentioned. > > For comparison, think about 2-D printing. Most of us have, or at least have access to, a device that can produce any 2-D image we want on a piece of paper. This is very good for, for instance, printing out family photos, or the essay you need to turn in for class. But even though you could print out a novel on a home laser printer, that’s not generally how novels are manufactured: When they’re making a great many copies of the same thing, there are cheaper ways to do it. Well, the interesting thing about this is: I agree with your conclusion, but I disagree with your example. Print-on-demand is now fast enough, high enough quality, cheap enough that it’s practical to do short-run publishing using laser printer technology. It’s still true that it’s better to use conventional printing methods to do large runs, but I can see the publishing industry moving more and more to this type of technology, especially with the overall decline of printed materials. But, 3D printing is nowhere close to that level of maturity. And, even if it was, there’s a fundamental difference - print-on-demand is still _printing_ - the process uses ink or toner, so the end result has few compromises. 3D printing is (so far) unable to use the same materials that the target object is supposed to be made from (unless it’s plastic, and even that comes with limitations), so it’s an inherently inferior process. Will it ever be able to make high-strength objects? Maybe, but I don’t see it happening anytime soon. So, just like laser and water-jet machines didn’t replace other cutting technologies, 3D printing will end up with it’s own niche, and is unlikely to ever replace conventional high-volume manufacturing. (IMHO) ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printing-what-are-the-limits/648460/10 "2013-01-26T23:39:42Z")
What I want to know is why they’re calling it _printing_, a word with undeniable 2-D connotations. Wouldn’t a StarTrek-type word – replicator, for instance – be much better, both in meaning and for marketing? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printing-what-are-the-limits/648460/11 "2013-01-26T23:49:59Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > What I want to know is why they’re calling it _printing_, a word with undeniable 2-D connotations. Wouldn’t a StarTrek-type word – replicator, for instance – be much better, both in meaning and for marketing? Because, it’s using ink-jet printing technology. Building and object dot-by-dot, layer-by-layer. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printing-what-are-the-limits/648460/12 "2013-01-26T23:56:38Z")
Another application that may work well in the long run is putting a 3d printer on a space station; that way, they just need the printer and a big vat of materials, rather than multiple copies of every replacement part that might be needed. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printing-what-are-the-limits/648460/13 "2013-01-27T00:20:54Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Another application that may work well in the long run is putting a 3d printer on a space station; that way, they just need the printer and a big vat of materials, rather than multiple copies of every replacement part that might be needed. There’s enormous potential for replacement parts anywhere. Replacement parts are already expensive because they need to be made and stored for a long time before they are sold, and they frequently are in short supply while waiting for new production runs. It might not be long before all sorts of plastic replacement parts, knobs, trim, lids, etc., are produced locally by printers based on the manufacturers specifications. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printing-what-are-the-limits/648460/14 "2013-01-27T00:35:15Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > There’s enormous potential for replacement parts anywhere. Replacement parts are already expensive because they need to be made and stored for a long time before they are sold, and they frequently are in short supply while waiting for new production runs. It might not be long before all sorts of plastic replacement parts, knobs, trim, lids, etc., are produced locally by printers based on the manufacturers specifications. I wouldn’t hold your breath… ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printing-what-are-the-limits/648460/15 "2013-01-27T01:04:47Z")
Well, you can let your breath out a little now: [http://www.techspot.com/news/51377-nokia-intros-3d-printer-kit-create-custom-shell-for-lumia-820.html](http://www.techspot.com/news/51377-nokia-intros-3d-printer-kit-create-custom-shell-for-lumia-820.html) ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printing-what-are-the-limits/648460/16 "2013-01-27T01:11:09Z")
> [@Bones\_Daley](#): > > is it possible to 3D print titanium ? Keep in mind that the 3D printing does not have to be the final step of the process. Shapeways silver pieces are done by printing a wax model and then use a lost wax technique to convert to silver. I don’t know if lost wax can be applied to titanium with sufficient fidelity, but it does expand the range of materials a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printing-what-are-the-limits/648460/17 "2013-01-27T01:17:26Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Another application that may work well in the long run is putting a 3d printer on a space station; that way, they just need the printer and a big vat of materials, rather than multiple copies of every replacement part that might be needed. Perhaps this is wishful thinking but being able to use moon rock as a material to print with could make a lunar base a much more attractive and viable proposition. [3D printers could use Moon rocks, say scientists - BBC News](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20542496) ---
**Author:** ![cguide](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@cguide](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cguide)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printing-what-are-the-limits/648460/18 "2013-01-27T02:58:33Z")
> [@Bones\_Daley](#): > > This is exactly the sort of thing which is of course theoretically possible, but …is it a practical proposition …? The ideal material for bone to grow into and round is titanium ( or so my dentist tells me ..) is it possible to 3D print titanium ? There was an old lady in the news who had to get her jaw replaced. They implanted a 3d printed titanium jaw. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printing-what-are-the-limits/648460/19 "2013-01-27T03:09:10Z")
Am I the only one hearing that in a Cave Johnson voice? EDIT: That is, the thing about the moon rocks. ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printing-what-are-the-limits/648460/20 "2013-01-27T03:12:58Z")
[Here’s](http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/140084-nasa-3d-prints-rocket-parts-with-steel-not-plastic) a 3D printed rocket engine part. I’m slightly unclear on the technique, though it _is_ clear this isn’t a consumer type product at this point. OTOH, IMHO plastic 3D printer technology is advancing as fast as consumer computer technology was 15 years ago, with a similar dropping of price. I don’t think it’s inconceivable that some day you could pick up your 3D model along with your printed photos at London Drugs or whatever. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printing-what-are-the-limits/648460.md?page=2)