# ...and you can make a T-800 skull, too.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-can-make-a-t-800-skull-too/640537>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [November 10, 2012, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-can-make-a-t-800-skull-too/640537 "2012-11-10T00:22:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-can-make-a-t-800-skull-too/640537/1 "2012-11-10T00:22:09Z")

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The more I read this article, the more I scooched up straight in my chair. Then I got to the last line and could only gasp… “Skynet!”

> **[US army builds its own 3D printer](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20269645)**
>
> The US military is developing its own 3D printer that it can use to produce spare parts for satellites and spacecraft.

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**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:** [November 10, 2012, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-can-make-a-t-800-skull-too/640537/2 "2012-11-10T05:01:30Z")

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> [@](#):
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> Parts for these systems break frequently, and many of them are produced overseas, so there’s a long lead time for replacement parts

Grand bull moose winner of the “Unclear on the Concept Award.”

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**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-can-make-a-t-800-skull-too/640537/3 "2012-11-10T16:17:48Z")

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> [@Ethilrist](#):
>
> Grand bull moose winner of the “Unclear on the Concept Award.”

Yeahhhhh, I kind of paused at that sentence, too. But the fact is that an awful lot of critical military equipment and supplies are made outside the US. Not sure what the solution is, there, but I am more afraid of using our own self-replicating 3D printers.