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3D Printer Opinions

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3D Printer Opinions

from JoeUser Forums

3D Printing seems to have crossed a major mile stone in that a start-up, called Defense Distributed, has used a 3D printer to create a working gun. It’s still mostly a curiosity since the cost to make such a gun and that it isn’t yet very robust still keeps it firmly in the early adopter era.

So here’s what I’ve found out so far :

No matter which printer you get, the materials for it are currently over $100 a pound. To me, that makes it fairly impractical for most uses. I could imagine taking a Galactic Civilizations ship design and letting it be printable, that might be interesting (and enough to…you know, justify buying one).

The cost of printers is coming down rapidly. The Makerbot Replicator goes for about $1800. The going rate for the higher end but still consumer models is around $2200.

So what do you think? Do you see 3D printing in your future?

163,889 views 63 replies
Reply #52 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting Jafo, reply 50

Quoting Cruxador, reply 49This is a myth.

Not quite....but can you spell 'amorphous solid'? ....

No, I can't, so I am relieved that you can. ;)

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Reply #53 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
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Reply #54 from WinCustomize Forums Top

There's a group working on how to print skin for burn victims ...

Reply #55 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

Didn't they develop regrowable skin a while back (like, a long while back)? I remember reading about growing it in pans way back in the late 1990s/early 2000s. Due to the age, I don't have the article, but I remember it pretty well because it was one of the things that first got Little Scoutdog interested in science.

Reply #56 from WinCustomize Forums Top

They have, there is also spray on skin for burn victims. I'm assuming the printing of skin is faster than growing it, I'm looking forward to when they are able 'print' bones and muscles.

Reply #58 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

I'm wandering further and further out of my actual field here, but I wonder if there's any reason why they couldn't do bones with just metal/plastic and a mold. Metal seems to work fine for my mom's hip. I know there's marrow involved, but I don't think there's a lot of said tissue in the skull, and I doubt it's possible to replicate marrow with ANY technology now extant.

Reply #59 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting Scoutdog, reply 55

Didn't they develop regrowable skin a while back (like, a long while back)? I remember reading about growing it in pans way back in the late 1990s/early 2000s. Due to the age, I don't have the article, but I remember it pretty well because it was one of the things that first got Little Scoutdog interested in science.

 

Fiona Wood , a Perth doctor developed Cellspray which she used on the Bali bombing victims....pretty sure that's who you mean.

 

http://www.biotechnology-innovation.com.au/innovations/pharmaceuticals/spray_on_skin.html


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiona_Wood


 

 

Reply #60 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting tazgecko, reply 54

There's a group working on how to print skin for burn victims ...

 

Using a 3D scanner on a burn cavity and then mapping out the same area using that individual's adult stem cells mixed with skin cells and then using a 3d printer (spray mechanism) to apply the mixture to the area has already been done last year in 2012 and proven to work. It also has had limited success in regrowing muscle tissue as well underneath the area where the printed skin was applied. Best part though of the printed 3d skin, scarring goes way down whereas traditional skin graft methods leave a certain amount of scarring or tissue discoloration. I'd expect this to start becoming mainstream in 2-4 years in which case the media will likely jump all over it. 

Reply #61 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

Quoting sydneysiders, reply 59
Fiona Wood , a Perth doctor developed Cellspray which she used on the Bali bombing victims....pretty sure that's who you mean.
Yes. That's the stuff. I remember more than anything a picture of it with the same weird lavender/pink color (maybe regular skin is that color without any tissue underneath?).

 

Quoting boshimi336, reply 60
Using a 3D scanner on a burn cavity and then mapping out the same area using that individual's adult stem cells mixed with skin cells and then using a 3d printer (spray mechanism) to apply the mixture to the area has already been done last year in 2012 and proven to work. It also has had limited success in regrowing muscle tissue as well underneath the area where the printed skin was applied. Best part though of the printed 3d skin, scarring goes way down whereas traditional skin graft methods leave a certain amount of scarring or tissue discoloration. I'd expect this to start becoming mainstream in 2-4 years in which case the media will likely jump all over it.
Amazing technology, but I'm not really sure if the 3-D printer is an integral part of this (or for that matter if this qualifies as 3-D printing at all). It seems like the real technology here is the stem-cell-based duplicate skin, not necessarily the spray-on application. That said, it is pretty damn cool... I wonder if it works for other types of injury?

Reply #62 from Elemental Forums Top

sorry about the necro on this thread,

but there is a kickstarter for a kossel type delta 3d printer at Kossel Clear - Let's build a full sized delta 3D printer! by Blue Eagle Labs — Kickstarter. it looked so good that I put a bid in and it already has over 1000% of the goal amount which suggests that it should be deliverable, and has both PLA and ABS versions as well as kitform AND built and tested.

harpo