It would appear the world of 3D printing takes one step closer to the home, another 5-10 years should be enough to ensure we have something nice for the model room (in that it will be cheap enough, and small enough!)
HP (Yes, the printer people) have agreed a deal with one of the 3D technology leaders to sell printers under the HP brand.
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/HP-Printer-3D-Stratasys-AutoCAD,news-5609.html
Should be released this year (2010) For $15,000 - $20,000 USD (so not quite pocket money!)
Stratasys Press Release >> Here << is it me or does the back of that engine look like a Whittle Jet Engine or is it a Dyson!? ;o)
Strtatsys also protoyped componants for the Tesla Electric Sports Car!
Until then, check out what Sweet has planned for February:
ReplyDeletewww.1999.co.jp/eng/10107797
cheers badger,
ReplyDeleteyou really know how to makes someones day!
:o)
the 1/44 bunkers advertised on Ebay were made with a Plastics printer - they have the characteristic roughened surface texture
ReplyDeleteI suspact wewill be seeing a lot more models made in this way
indeed CGD use shapeways to print those bunkers and other products he make.
ReplyDeleteI have someof htose pieces and tehy are pretty good considering where that market is at the moment.
I think this type of service could bethe interim or alternative option to 3D@Home.
There is another "personal" 3D printer called the uPrint already selling in the States for a touch under $US15K. See http://www.dimensionprinting.com/3d-printers/3d-printing-uprint.aspx.
ReplyDeleteMy employer in education has the commercial Dimension 1200es 3D printer from the same company and I am endeavouring to find out who in the organisation it is I have to suck up to in order to use it!
The other part of the equation is a suitable 3D CAD file in STL (stereo lithography) format. For those who can't use or haven't got 3D CAD software (e.g. me), there are libraries of 3D images available on the web, some great, some good, some ... well. Problem is that you often have to pay big bucks for them or submit your own 3D stuff in an exchange process.
I did find a good STL rendering of a Sea Vixen free on the Web some time back, but do you think I can find the damned thing now that I know about work's 3D printer?!
Re: the "roughened" surface, the amount of coarseness depends upon the grade of 3D resin used. My understanding, limited as it is, is that those which give finer detail tend also tend to be quite brittle. I have seen some items produced here at work and the surfaces range from something you could use as sandpaper to a bit better than the grade CGD appears to use.
The ability of these things to generate 3D objects is quite incredible. One of the models I saw here was a small scale rendering of an oil refinery, complete with pipes and valves.
CGD uses Shapeways to produce certian products and to produce master copies of others!
ReplyDeleteI am sure this is a market that will grow!! - I still think it could be the future for pro/am modellers and garage kits!?
Objet Geometries has just announced an extension to its trade-in program. They're offering up to $80,000 credit for an older Objet 3D printer as a trade-in when buying one of their Connex multi-material 3D printers or a newer Eden machine. And, they're offering some incentives for trade-ins of non-Objet 3D printers. Worth checking it all out – www.objet.com.
ReplyDeleteStill a bit rich for my pocket !
ReplyDelete