3D Printing

[Riverwolf]

This might belong in the tech forum?
I had never heard of this before today and at first thought it was a joke.
It is real. Very cool, and kinda scary too.

YouTube - ‪3D Printer‬‏

 

[handy]

That is amazing!!!!!!

 

[Mike]

I have got to buy stock in the company yesterday! The implications of this technology seem to be incredible. Wow!

 

[Free]

These have been around for a number of years but the technology and what they can print have gotten substantially better.

 

[yoamocuy]

Lots of Uni's have 3d printer's now. It's pretty cool. You can design something in a 3d CAD program like solidworks or autodesk inventor and then print it off with a 3d printer. Some of my friends who are Mechanical Engineering majors have had to use it for some projects here and there.

 

[handy]

I'm just really amazed by it. I shouldn't be...having grown up in the "Star Trek" era...but nonetheless.

 

[Bob Carabbio]

Partially true, partially "Marketing"

There are various versions of "3-D lithography" including some that deposit metal directly. It's called "Additive manufacturing" (as opposed to normal "machining" which is "Subtractive Manufacturing"). The technology is probably 10-15 years old, and NOT QUITE "production ready" beyond the production of "prototypes".

In the video, the "Marketing" misrepresentation comes in when it's obvious that the part MADE, isn't even CLOSE to the the part that was "Scanned" at all, so that's a "Sales Misrepresentation" of the process. "Marketing" is nothing more that creative "lying" about what you're selling to make it more "Attractive" than the actual reality.

You can't "Scan" objects that have "Moving parts" and "just print them" as the video leads you to believe. However, you CAN absolutely make "1 piece assmblies" with moving parts by inputting a prepared 3-D DRAWING of the assembly.

The Company - "Z Corporation" is apparently NOT a particularly "reputable" vender based on the video.