3D printing: the new, bottom-up industrial revolution

The London Telegraph ^ | May 7, 2013 | Allister Heath

[2ndDivisionVet]

When Joseph Schumpeter described capitalism as a process of creative destruction more than 70 years ago, he couldn’t have conceived of the miracle that is 3D printing.

Yet this hair-raising technology is about to tear apart existing structures in a way that would undoubtedly have shocked even Schumpeter, a great economist struck by the free market’s revolutionary, anti-conservative tendencies.

Remarkably, 3D printing allows actual objects to be designed and created (or “printed”) surprisingly quickly with a computer connected to a printer-like device, using special material (often plastic, but increasingly almost anything) as “ink” and “paper”. With the costs of the machinery nearing mass-market levels, 3D printing is poised to take off, blurring the distinction between digital and physical realms, democratising manufacturing and turning large chunks of the global economy upside-down.

Yet the news that the first workable gun has been produced with a 3D printer will have reawakened the inner Luddite in many Britons....

[DariusBane]

3D printing is the ultimate challenge to the elites. Once again the middle class merchant has a chance. Must crush him quickly.

[chesty_puller]

Does anyone know what material they used to make that small human liver? I’m lost on that one.

[null and void]

3-D Printer Ping!

[Vince Ferrer]

Eventually, even governments will be threatened by the 3D printing revolution. In a world of endless choice, who will put up with one size fits all public services and flawed, bureaucratic decision making?

They have just been cut out of the loop, and know it.

[bigbob]

More over-hype from non-technical writers about the technology which has great potential, and limitations.

[relictele]

Concurrent story today about a web site with gun plans that the Feds have shut down.

We can expect huge excise taxes on the raw resin material and possibly a mysterious ‘shortage’ as the usual DC control freakery takes hold.

[chesty_puller]

I found how they made the liver....way over my head. I have a GED from Da Nang and 2 years of Jr college. Not exactly a rocket surgeon.

[Still Thinking]

Yet the news that the first workable gun has been produced with a 3D printer will have reawakened the inner Luddite in many Britons....

And the inner William Wallace in others. Or is that thought to horrible for you to contemplate? Make your widdle panties all 'tinky?

[uncommonsense]

Here's a quality video on 3D printing:

Lisa Harouni: A primer on 3D printing | Video on TED.com

I'd be interested in what part you think is hype.

Also - Materials from i.materalize

8 Titanium: Light and the strongest 3D printing material in the world
9 Stainless steel: Not your grandmother’s stainless steel
10 Silver: Sterling silver
11 Gold: 14 carat solid gold
12 Prime gray: Very smooth, detailed and “luxurious” to the touch
13 Brass: Copper and Zinc, united as one
14 Bronze: What did you expect after gold and silver?
15 Ceramics: A food safe material that shines like no other
16 High detailed stainless steel: High grade stainless steel with a superb level of detail

[JRandomFreeper]

Folks are already building home recycling units to recycle most of the easy thermoplastics. That plastic coke bottle in the trash is tomorrow's bathtub stopper.

/johnny

[MattinNJ]

The net, fracking, and now 3D printing have foiled the elites attempt to control humanity....for now. We have been lucky.

[Bobalu]

3D printing is currently at a very crude scale.

Nano-tech will eventually allow 3D printers to operate at a molecular level. When the tech allows manipulation at the nano scale the items created will be the highest quality ever achieved.

3D printers will morph into desktop assemblers able to make drugs, guns, food, biological tissue, extremely complex electronic devices and things we can’t even imagine yet. They will of course be able to create copies of themselves... so a single desktop assembler could spawn a world filling supply of assemblers.

Liberals/progressives/socialists/communists will all be against this technology since it liberates ordinary people (the unwashed masses) from any dependence on central government.

[JRandomFreeper]

“There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.” — Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp. (DEC), maker of big business mainframe computers, arguing against the PC in 1977.

Just saying. '77 wasn't that long ago.

/johnny

[TArcher]

Heh. I’m gonna print myself a Tea set.

[naturalborn]

Will I be able to print a Silver American Eagle someday?

[molson209]

The Obama Admin will try to ban 3D Printing and the rest of the World will advance

[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

“Filabot is a desktop extruding system, capable of grinding various types of plastics, to make spools of plastic filament for 3D printers. Not only is it user friendly, but it is also environmentally friendly. The Filabot can process things such as: milk jugs, soda bottles, various other types of plastics, and bad prints, to make new filament for a future print. Filabot will bring the real power of sustainability to 3D printing, allowing for a one stop shop to make anything.”

http://filabot.com/

[Bobalu]

I’m afraid that in a world where finished products have a negligible value that precious metals will have greatly diminished worth.

What would you buy with the proceeds of selling a silver coin anyway? I mean, when you can create pretty much anything for almost nothing.

Everything will change, few will need to work. Large economies built on low-wage labor will be transformed when the labor is no longer of value.

It won’t be socialism.... no need to steal from the rich and spread the wealth... just crank out whatever you need.

Computers are amplifiers for the human mind. Once they were created we were set on a path leading to full automation.

Just a mere 100 years from now the world will be very different... many here on this forum will still be alive to see it IMO.