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HP to release a 3D printer
THE MAKER OF PRINTER INK that is more expensive than human blood, Hewlett-Packard (HP) is hoping to take its charges to a whole new dimension by creating a 3D printer with Stratasys.
Under the cunning plan Stratasys will make a 3D printer that HP will release later in the year. This printer is not designed for everyday consumer use, but will be designed for architecture and component prototyping.
This printer will not be cheap, we don't think you will get much change out of $20,000, but HP tells us the market timing is right for the machine. Actually it has been on the company's drawing boards for a while.
It will not be the sort of printer that you can use to print stills from Avatar or Jaws 3D, but will build 3D models layer-by-layer using ABS plastic, one of the most widely used thermoplastics in today's injection-molded products. 3D printers allow users to evaluate design concepts and test models for functionality, form and fit.
Still it will make some interesting copies of peoples' bottoms at the office Christmas party. µ
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It will be men doing the 3d pron download and print 3d plastic-fantastic.
What I am looking forward to is being able to make replacement parts for stuff that breaks.
Can you imagine people releasing the plans for new sunglasses then being able to make them?
Wow, just thinking about this for 1 minute and I'm really excited about this!
Copy your own keys, headphones break then just print off a new part, blind can print off books/newspapers etc.
If you could recycle the plastic we already have and remould that would be cool.
If you could scan the original product and adjust it to fit you better, like a remote control, gadget etc.
Inventors will love it.
when 3d printers will be as cheap as inkjets are today, the hottest output coming from the machines will be for ladies downloading dildo designs via pirateBay and printing them with thier 3d printer. It will put us 3 legs out of a job, and severely impact the natural development of the human genome in developed countries...
I've seen parts printed from starch, various plastics, cellulose, and titanium. Many of these items were constructed in ways that is impossible for traditional methods with having to make and assembly lots of sub parts.
The important thing here is that HP's enterance into the market causes the development on 3D printing technology to take off. There is a need for higher resolution, more diverse printing materials, the ability to print structural parts, etc.
I've read articles on printing with living human cells to make tissue and organs, of printing with nano particles to make new materials, of printing semiconductors, of printing food.
The end goal here is to reach a point where nearly anything can be printed. Just download the instructions and print.
$20K for a device that would allow a company to build prototypes in hours sounds like a great deal. Look at the alternative: 1) sending the plans off to a manufacturer so they can tool up to build a prototype that may be flawed (usually costs several thousand dollars per part); or b) having an in-house artisan build one. I imagine those people aren't cheap.
Scott, the world doesn't revolve around you. Some products were invented to be used by contributing members of society.
I hadn't seen the reprap before. Looks interesting. I think I'd take that over the maker, althought the maker looks easier. Just watched the reprap videos and the tool change option looks good too..
Again, thanks for the link.
Back to the HP, well I guess we'll have to wait and see what comes out of it. Commerical outfits won't supply a linear dollar increase in quality over the open source outfits - licensing and profits stand in the way.
The reprap exists already ($500 for the parts), but I think there are worlds between a minimal printer, which needs some time until it is done and what you can achieve with $20,000. The last price I heard of for a 3d printer was around $30,000 so it could be interesting.
Actually Ryan, I'd say it is quite high. At CES (South Hall) a small company was demoing a 3D Printer of their own that they flat pack and ship for assembly by the customer.
It was a 'hobby' styled printer and somehow they figured the 3D 'resolution' was 300DPI (I didn't believe it though, especially after examining the results), however the price was more in the $950USD area. Same concept - thermo-plastic goes in, gets melted and printed layer by layer in to meat space.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwBkoAC_AZs
The HP printer better be pretty damned big and precise for that price.
Actually Scott, a 3D printer for $20k isn't bad. About 14 years ago I toured a manufacturing plant for stereolithography equipment (think 3D printers) and they had a number of their higher end machines in the 300-500k range. Sadly they needed all kinds of electricity, water cooling, air venting, etc. They were just starting production of a newer, lower end system that could make parts out of cheaper plastic & wax (like a printer) for about 100-200k.
The engineering, product design and manufacturing industries can really use 3D printers. In some cases, they can even make production capable parts (versus prototypes) on them, in dozens of different materials (sometimes even metal).
Not everyone can meet their needs on dot matrix & 'draft' mode :-)
Should I buy a HP printer, or A NEW CAR
DOH!!!!!!!
Are we ever going to get past the overpriced and stupid stuff an get something worthwhile and affordable?