3D printing news -- housing, blood vessels, medicine and gun

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Anapan
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Joined: Mon Nov 17, 2008 11:15 am
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Re: 3D printing news -- housing, blood vessels, medicine and

Post by Anapan »

I've been following this for a couple of years and it's fascinating. 3D scanning + 3D printing can create failthul reproductions of objects down to the smallest detail in a matter of minutes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQHnMj6dxj4
Note - the wrench that was printed was a stock 3D model in their computer; The host made a followup response to explain that the scan could've been made to work, but there wasn't time to do the 3D touchups of the gear mechanism while they filmed the episode, then the video editors glossed over that part.
http://www.zcorp.com/en/Products/3D-Printers/spage.aspx
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Anapan
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Posts: 3946
Joined: Mon Nov 17, 2008 11:15 am
Location: BC, Canada

Re: 3D printing news -- housing, blood vessels, medicine and

Post by Anapan »

I decided to bump this post because I noticed that this stuff has gotten much cheaper than I thought it was.
Makerbot makes high-complexity (smooth to the touch output) 3D printers for under $2000.
Using open-source software and either a laser-level or a pico projector you can scan objects in reasonably high definition to be printed. Since I have a ShowWX I'm going to try this setup soon, tho I read that a Kinect works ok as well.
A growing community of users are uploading ready-to-print models of complex machines, and cool gadgets @ Thingiverse.
Who doesn't want an Octocat?

Printing our own CD tray gears and console housings may become commonplace soon.
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