3D Printing Is Big Business

[SgtRock]

Greetings EEVBees:

--See below link for an interesting run down of the business side of 3D printing.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/1907331-a-deep-look-at-the-3d-revolution-where-printing-money-is-a-reality?source=email_the_daily_dispatch&ifp=0

"The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' but 'That's funny...'
Isaac Asimov 1920 - 1992

Best Regards
Clear Ether

[notsob]

Here's one you probably haven't seen - probably will eventually put a big dent in the horse shoe industry

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-18/an-3d-printed-horseshoe-breakthrough-for-the-csiro/5164952

[ivaylo]

Wish consumer 3D printers become usable somehow in the next few years.

[SgtRock]

Greetings EEVBees:

--New 3D printer prints a layer at a time, with very good resolution. So far they are still printing pretty much useless trinkets, but the potential to do something useful like the titainium horse shoes, is looking better and better. See link below.

http://technabob.com/blog/2013/12/22/solidator-3d-printer/

"Say little about what you know and nothing at all about what you don't know."
Sadi Carnot 1796-1832
Best Regards
Clear Ether

[Galenbo]

Wish consumer 3D printers become usable somehow in the next few years.

It' impossible to say something useful about "3D printers"

First, most of all are 2,5D aka 2D5, because the foot has to be designed in function of what comes on top of it. Try printing a ball.
Then, printing thermoplastics really won't bring you far. If you spend 1M euro you can print metal. Really? Only sintered metal. Only 1 type per machine.

With exception of the DIY and artists community, you deal with people who don't know how to edit a black and white 2D image, and who would be completely lost if their 2D printer didn't come with the out-of-the-box scan and print button in the software.

Big opportunities are possible for B2C companies, where now it's only for B2B.
You click on an image or movie, choose dimension or choose the number/type of buttons, and 2 days later you have the item delivered.

In the ready-for-twitter-good-news-messages you can see that the articles are often made by people who can't count.
Why would a manufacturing process, limited by a movement of maximum of 200 mm/s and 1G points to print, be realistic?
Do they even know about other machines, what they're capable off, or only judge them based on their color or Web 2.0 appearance?