The gift I received for Xmas and a glimpse of the future

So this Christmas I received a 3d printed gift. Totally cool and I absolutely loved it.
It is something utilitarian and something I will use for a very long time.

As I held it in my hand it made me think about how fast thing are changing.

It gave me the same feeling I had in 1994. I was in a Chat room talking to someone in Chicago.
I was showing my friend how the internet works. He was dumbfounded. 3d printing is still pretty new
and not many people have it in their homes, but I can totally see it being a staple. Need a new doorknob - print one out.
Need a part for your furnace, print one out... So many possibilities.

I put this tread in fragile earth, because I really don't know if 3d printing will help the environment more or hurt it more.
Right now printing is done with a lot of different plastics, which is bad. It does greatly reduce packaging, shipping etc.

a reply to: JAGStorm

The future is coming:

Affordable house can be 3D printed for $4,000 in less than 24 hours

a reply to: JAGStorm

It would help if the plastic used was recycled. If in the future we had something that could take our plastic bags, bottles, etc and turn it into what the printer could use that would even be better .

Otherwise you are creating something plastic that will eventually fill our landfills. Maybe the printer could eventually use other material that would be more recycable.

To take things a step further in the future. My daughter just got anexbox game called subnatucia. In the game there is a replicator/printer that can produce anything from food to materials to produce an underwater base.

originally posted by: Mystery_Lady
a reply to: JAGStorm

It would help if the plastic used was recycled. If in the future we had something that could take our plastic bags, bottles, etc and turn it into what the printer could use that would even be better .

Otherwise you are creating something plastic that will eventually fill our landfills. Maybe the printer could eventually use other material that would be more recycable.

To take things a step further in the future. My daughter just got anexbox game called subnatucia. In the game there is a replicator/printer that can produce anything from food to materials to produce an underwater base.

There are printers that print metal, but they are very expensive

originally posted by: Mystery_Lady
a reply to: JAGStorm

It would help if the plastic used was recycled. If in the future we had something that could take our plastic bags, bottles, etc and turn it into what the printer could use that would even be better .

Otherwise you are creating something plastic that will eventually fill our landfills. Maybe the printer could eventually use other material that would be more recycable.

To take things a step further in the future. My daughter just got anexbox game called subnatucia. In the game there is a replicator/printer that can produce anything from food to materials to produce an underwater base.

almost no plastic is recycled

it cost less to make new plastic than to remelt the old

originally posted by: dfnj2015
a reply to: JAGStorm

The future is coming:

Affordable house can be 3D printed for $4,000 in less than 24 hours

Thank you so much for sharing, that is absolutely AMAZING!

These 3D printed structures not only reduce labour costs, construction time and material wastage, they are also quite durable and more disaster-resistant, says Ballard:

a reply to: dfnj2015

I could build a six hundred sq foot house shell on a cement slab better than that one for five grand in one week. That is materials only. It includes the roof trusses, the windows and a door. Basically the whole shell, including the slab.

That price is deceptive in the article, that is the price of the walls. No windows or roof or doors. It takes about three days for three guys to build a garage that size, complete with siding and walls but it takes the other two days to put in the slab and block. That is way too high a price for that building.

a reply to: Mystery_Lady

The plastic used can be recycled!

For the actual printed piece, this isn't a huge deal, but there is still some waste in 3d printing from rafts to temporary supports. Even though its minimal, its still there.

This comes into use especially with the more expensive materials and/or the tricky ones. Personally, I think it should come standard whenever someone buys a printer.

But, the thing to remember is that, like a cheap lathe, mill, or CNC machine, a 3d printer is one of those tools where the end user is expected to improve the "experience" through the tool itself. For those unfamiliar with such tools, they can be unaware that such a process even exists.

Jag, did you ask how long your present took to print?

originally posted by: dfnj2015
a reply to: JAGStorm

The future is coming:

Affordable house can be 3D printed for $4,000 in less than 24 hours

How much to add in everything else like gas, electrical, plumbing etc. ?

The future is a hyped up ad like always.

originally posted by: rickymouse
a reply to: dfnj2015

I could build a six hundred sq foot house shell on a cement slab better than that one for five grand in one week. That is materials only. It includes the roof trusses, the windows and a door. Basically the whole shell, including the slab.

That price is deceptive in the article, that is the price of the walls. No windows or roof or doors. It takes about three days for three guys to build a garage that size, complete with siding and walls but it takes the other two days to put in the slab and block. That is way too high a price for that building.

I have no doubt a human/you could build a better house, but we are talking about labor costs and time. For the most part, materials are affordable, it's the labor that is killing everyone. I'm not sure this will go "mainstream" anytime soon, but I can see it being useful for so many applications. Temporary shelter, fixing damage from storms, bridge repair, etc. Right now the costs may seem expensive, but remember when VHS players used to cost a fortune, then DVD players etc. As prices come down and as printers are in the reach of consumers this could be a real game changer.

I don't like that most of the printers that are "affordable" are printing plastics. When metal printers, glass printers, and concrete printers are affordable (or maybe rentable?) the skies will be the limit!

a reply to: JAGStorm

So, someone prints a bunch of houses with extremely expensive machinery and puts hundreds of mason's out of work. That printed concrete structure is not much better than a house made of cement blocks, the price of laying blocks labor included is not that high. If you were going to pour the walls of a structure that high, it wouldn't be that expensive overall either, I had a company pour the foundation and slab for a house I built, the house was 40 foot x 60 foot, and there was an attached four 30 times thirty garage with a two foot high wall and that had a four foot deep footing. That ran sixteen grand and for the same price they could have poured probably six of those structures in that picture, complete including slab.

a reply to: rickymouse

puts hundreds of mason's out of work

That part sucks (and btw my son was a mason), but technology will put lots of people out of work, and it will also create some new jobs.

I don't know about labor/supplies in your area, but a very fair price for a separate two car garage on a slab in my area is 25K. It seem like this type of concrete printing could beat that price easily.

a reply to: dfnj2015

I am so doing this.

a reply to: JAGStorm

I wouldn't want to live in that concrete shack but I suppose it's better than a mud hut. Get the price down to 6 chickens and a goat, you might have something.

originally posted by: toms54
a reply to: JAGStorm

I wouldn't want to live in that concrete shack but I suppose it's better than a mud hut. Get the price down to 6 chickens and a goat, you might have something.

concrete shack today, but concrete mcmansion tomorrow?

a reply to: dfnj2015

And it's made with concrete. That would be a sturdy little bugger.