And there's no reason to suggest there'll be an "ever-levelling playing field". I'm not sure some people have a good idea of how mass production works... the only way you're going to save money is when they are charging hugely above the cost of production for some reason. Usually this means they consider that there is intellectual value in the design, in which case they can patent or copyright it.

As a mechanical engineer, I can assure you that it's probably farther out than 5-10 years before they're in most people's homes.The main reason, at least in my head, assuming you could knock out all of the actual scaling, convenience, and cost problems, is that if you want something unique and truly created by you, then you'd actually have to do the 3D modeling yourself, and that's not easy, nor cheap, nor time-forgiving! It might be shorter to order it and get it shipped Amazon Prime! 

If I wanted to make a custom chess set in Solidworks right now at work, it might take me a week to model exactly what I wanted, then I'd have to shoot it over to a very large, expensive machine that costs me a lot of money simply for the material/time, and I'd have to wait a day or two for it to actually create the pieces. Then, I'd have to walk over and throw all of them in a bath to dissolve the support structure that's necessary in helping the machine create the parts. If someone figures out how to speed it up, cheapen it up, shrink it down, and remove the 3D modeling cost, learning curve, and time to create all of the models in a decade, I'd be relatively impressed, but perhaps not stunned.

With all that said, I think the technology has enormous potential. HUGE, in fact. It's only a matter of time before you're downloading the solid models other people create off the web and popping out a sweet duck shaped coffee mug an hour or two later. 

Uhohspaghettio wrote on 02/07/13 at 05:42:08:


I wouldn't be so sure. When a consumer controls the means of production you're talking about an ever-leveling playing field.

GeneM wrote on 02/07/13 at 02:49:06:


This is my impression as well. 3D printers can already produce some sophisticated work, and it seems that the technology is quite scalable. Once high-end 3D printers aren't so prohibitively expensive (maybe 5-10 years time), it's entirely possible that most of the civilized world will have the ability to create nearly anything they can model from the comfort of their home.

There are some fascinating issues involved. For example, could a 3D printer eventually be used to replicate an intricate electronic device like a smartphone (they talk about this a bit in the video)? I'm not sure how Apple would feel about that. More scarily, could someone print a working firearm in a matter of minutes? Could a 3D printer print a 3D printer!? 

Ok, I'm getting a little off topic. I'd settle for being able to print a nice Staunton-style set right now

Thanks for the link.