the future of miniatures

[Contrary Housewife]

http://www.wired.com/design/2012/09/formlabs-creates-a-low-cost-light-based-3-d-printer/

Imagine being able to "print" anything you can imagine, in miniature, at your desk.

[-defunct account-]

This tech is just going to keep improving and becoming more competitive. In 5 years from now it will be very affordable and mini vendors will be all over this. While it will never replace high end hand crafted pieces, it might be a great alternative for some metal cast, laser cut, or poured resin pieces

[chapchap73]

I remember someone on here posting that they had just gotten a 3-d printer. I don't remember who it was though.

It was Starfire..only took me half an hour to find out:-D

[jennymoomeow]

One of the branch libraries where I work has a 3D printer. They just got it a few months ago and it's been continually busy the entire time. I have heard talk of trying to find funding to buy another one for the Knowledge Center. I joked with my coworkers about making a pattern for a vintage GE electric range so I could get one "printed" for myself!

[Starfire]

Yes it was me and I am working on learning to do the 3D software so that I can use the printer. Unfortunately I have not had a lot of time to fool with it as DH has required a lot of my attention and just went into surgery today. Maybe I will be able to get back to this shortly.

[mesp2k]

...well I don't think I'll ever afford a 3D printer, but I did draw a small connecting part using free Sketchup software, then uploaded the file to Shapeways (a 3D printing service) & in two weeks I received my parts in the mail! I was very pleased with the finished product. I was thinking of using this service to make an original miniature object then by hand make a mold for it - which would be a much cheaper way to go - I think.

[pdlnpeabody]

That is the tricky part of a 3-D printer- you have to have a detailed autoCAD type program (and know how to use the software to draft objects) to input the design you want printed if its an original design that hasn't been produced already.

For a while I was learning how to use SolidWorks at work. It's a drafting program where you "draw" the object in 3-D first, then plot out the different sides of the object or assembly onto a traditional blueprint type format. Other Intellectual Property projects and litigation have kept me from working with it for so long that I have forgotten most of what I had learned. It is a very tedious program that takes up lots of memory, but is probably compatible with the 3D printer's software.