How 3D Printing Will Save American Manufacturing (opens in new tab)

(3dprinter.net)

20 pointspittsburgh14y ago32 comments

32 comments

> and there is no nation on earth with the inventiveness found on such a massive scale as in America.

Citation needed? This sentence and the next just made me stop reading. It's borderline supremacism. Whether the rest of the article has valid points or not such a sweeping statement can not be taken seriously.

xiaoma14y ago

Since the 1950's, the US has won over half the Nobel Prizes awarded in physics, chemistry and medicine. The car, airplane, internet, laser, sequencing of the human genome, manned lunar landings and a host of humanity's other technological triumphs each came from America. So did the modern PC, the web, and most likely the search engines and social networking sites you use.

I sense some bruised ego and a dash of nationalism, but if that line keeps you from reading the article because you want citations, then I have a couple of suggestions for where you can find them: Google and Wikipedia.

Nick_C14y ago

I'm sympathetic to the thrust of your argument, but you might like to rethink the airplane, the car, and the Web.

1 more reply

meow14y ago

So is this statement : "Creative and industrious Americans will no longer be challenged by the low-cost assembly line workers of Southeast Asia and third world countries."

It almost feels like political speech.

seclorum14y ago

Whatever it feels like, the fact remains that the economy is being crippled by cheap plastic crap made on the other side of the planet and shipped - with much cost - to consumers who only play with it for 0.0000001% of the time that most of these things will be sitting there, forever, out in some landfill somewhere.

I say, bring on the 3D printing revolution. First order for my 3D printer: make me a 3D component shredder that spits out more reusable pellets for my printer!

tjmc14y ago

Breathless speculation penned by yet another 3D printing evangelist with less consideration of material science than your average ant. Wake me up when you know what Young's Modulus is.

pittsburghOP14y ago

I am not the author of the article, just the submitter. However, I'll run with your comment anyway...

Tensile Modulus (aka Young's Modulus) is a measure of how stiff a material is. Specifically, it's a measure of how much a material stretches under load. (Diamond has a very high tensile modulus while rubber has a very low tensile modulus.)

Ten years ago, people were 3D printing in plastics with a tensile modulus of under 1,000 MPa and they were happy with that. Today you can print in DSM Somos NanoTool which has a tensile modulus of 11,400 MPa. Keep in mind this is a plastic. ( Source: http://www.dsm.com/en_US/downloads/dsms/NanoTooleng_10.09.pd... )

If you need even stronger materials then you should consider using an SLS (selective laser sintering) printer that can build products in titanium, aluminum or steel. Imagine how many ants could safely walk across a bridge 3D printed in any of these!

1 more reply

extension14y ago

"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers" - former IBM president Thomas J. Watson

(it's a misquote, incidentally, but you get the point)

alexhaefner14y ago

I guess I'm not convinced. Can someone explain the utility of 3D printing beyond rapidly building prototypes? Can it really reach scale and quality to do mass manufacturing? And what types of products could not in any way be manufactured with 3D printers? Which could?

pittsburghOP14y ago

3D printing isn't feasible for the the mass manufacturing of everything yet, but it's feasible for certain types of products today, and it is improving. Here are some ways in which 3D printing has moved closer in the last few years:

* Stronger materials, such as Somos NeXt resin: http://www.dsm.com/en_US/html/dsms/next.htm

* Cheaper materials

* BioCompatible materials, such as Med610 which just came out last week: http://www.objet.com/3D-Printing-Materials/Overview/Bio-Comp...

* The ability to print in more than one material at a time, as shown in these human feet: http://www.objetblog.com/2011/09/21/a-table-of-3d-printed-fe...

* Higher resolution printing, such as the Objet Eden500V which can print detail as small as 0.0006”: http://www.objet.com/3D-Printer/Objet_Eden500V/

Examples of consumer products currently being made with the help of 3D printers include:

* Invisalign braces: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVQq9joOS_4

* Hearing aids: http://i.materialise.com/blog/entry/3d-printing-in-medicine-...

* Jewelry: http://www.summerized.com/jewelry/

Things will really take off for 3D printing when printers can simultaneously print in multiple materials like plastic, metal, and rubber, and in multiple colors per part. Until then, you're right that 3D printers will continue to be used primarily for rapid prototyping, but this will change within a few years as the technology continues to improve and the cost continues to fall.

seclorum14y ago

You forgot http://thingiverse.com/ .. spend an hour browsing that site and you'll see exactly why 3D printing is a concept whose time has definitely come.

illumen14y ago

Take those little 3d printers and then make it the side of a 4 story house. Now make it print using sand/glass/metal all in one pass. Now increase the resolution up to 5000dpi or so.

tonye14y ago

There is some research going on the UK (I can't remember the University now) to do with printing buildings. The potential for reducing raw material and labour costs must be huge.

1 more reply

aoporto14y ago

The big question: how long will it take for this form of manufacturing to achieve the cost effectiveness of current methods? The bottom line for everyone, including consumers, is cost. Don't forget about quality control.

Let's also not assume that we will always be the most innovative. We have to make sure that the current and next generation of students get the quality education they need in math and science to keep us dominant in Tech. Interesting article but lots of assumptions and unanswered questions.

1 more reply

jbarham14y ago

Forget AutoCAD, use Tinkercad (http://www.tinkercad.com/) which lets you do solid modelling in your browser using WebGL.

(I have no association w/ Tinkercad; just think it's very cool technology w/ WebGL in the front end and Go in the back end.)

seclorum14y ago

Forget Tinkercad; use OpenSCAD! (http://www.openscad.org/)

Its the Programmers Solid 3D CAD Modeller! :)

(Disclaimer: I'm a huge fan of the OpenSCAD team, and daily watch their efforts to subvert 3D printing - i.e. make it available to all and sundry for a good price using Open Source methods .. http://thingiverse.com/ ftw!)

chubs14y ago

First cab off the rank is affordable laser cutting. I've got several projects i'd love to do once that becomes feasible. Then CNC mills, and 3d printing... the future is bright!

jayfuerstenberg14y ago

This could put IKEA out of business.

I wonder how long it'll be until companies start suing.

dagw14y ago

The cost, per unit, of printing a chair will be orders of magnitude higher than the cost of making millions of the same chair in huge factories specifically tooled for the job. IKEA has nothing to worry about.

ovi25614y ago

What you cite is the manufacturing cost. Then you have distribution and retail cost. The huge factories and stores need capital, so financing cost as well.

2 more replies

koushikn14y ago

When will a 3D printer print itself?

nicpottier14y ago

I believe you are looking for this: http://reprap.org/wiki/Main_Page

shareme14y ago

Sorry no, the reason for the decline of American Manufacturing is due to the miss-use of horizontal integration as opposed to vertical integration within in manufacturing..I cite SpaceX as an example of vertical manufacturing/engineering..

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

32 comments

dolbz14y ago

> and there is no nation on earth with the inventiveness found on such a massive scale as in America.

xiaoma14y ago

Nick_C14y ago

I'm sympathetic to the thrust of your argument, but you might like to rethink the airplane, the car, and the Web.

1 more reply

meow14y ago

So is this statement : "Creative and industrious Americans will no longer be challenged by the low-cost assembly line workers of Southeast Asia and third world countries."

It almost feels like political speech.

seclorum14y ago

I say, bring on the 3D printing revolution. First order for my 3D printer: make me a 3D component shredder that spits out more reusable pellets for my printer!

tjmc14y ago

Breathless speculation penned by yet another 3D printing evangelist with less consideration of material science than your average ant. Wake me up when you know what Young's Modulus is.

pittsburghOP14y ago

I am not the author of the article, just the submitter. However, I'll run with your comment anyway...

1 more reply

extension14y ago

"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers" - former IBM president Thomas J. Watson

(it's a misquote, incidentally, but you get the point)

alexhaefner14y ago

pittsburghOP14y ago

* Stronger materials, such as Somos NeXt resin: http://www.dsm.com/en_US/html/dsms/next.htm

* Cheaper materials

* BioCompatible materials, such as Med610 which just came out last week: http://www.objet.com/3D-Printing-Materials/Overview/Bio-Comp...

* The ability to print in more than one material at a time, as shown in these human feet: http://www.objetblog.com/2011/09/21/a-table-of-3d-printed-fe...

* Higher resolution printing, such as the Objet Eden500V which can print detail as small as 0.0006”: http://www.objet.com/3D-Printer/Objet_Eden500V/

Examples of consumer products currently being made with the help of 3D printers include:

* Invisalign braces: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVQq9joOS_4

* Hearing aids: http://i.materialise.com/blog/entry/3d-printing-in-medicine-...

* Jewelry: http://www.summerized.com/jewelry/

seclorum14y ago

You forgot http://thingiverse.com/ .. spend an hour browsing that site and you'll see exactly why 3D printing is a concept whose time has definitely come.

illumen14y ago

Take those little 3d printers and then make it the side of a 4 story house. Now make it print using sand/glass/metal all in one pass. Now increase the resolution up to 5000dpi or so.

tonye14y ago

There is some research going on the UK (I can't remember the University now) to do with printing buildings. The potential for reducing raw material and labour costs must be huge.

1 more reply

aoporto14y ago

1 more reply

jbarham14y ago

Forget AutoCAD, use Tinkercad (http://www.tinkercad.com/) which lets you do solid modelling in your browser using WebGL.

(I have no association w/ Tinkercad; just think it's very cool technology w/ WebGL in the front end and Go in the back end.)

seclorum14y ago

Forget Tinkercad; use OpenSCAD! (http://www.openscad.org/)

Its the Programmers Solid 3D CAD Modeller! :)

chubs14y ago

First cab off the rank is affordable laser cutting. I've got several projects i'd love to do once that becomes feasible. Then CNC mills, and 3d printing... the future is bright!

jayfuerstenberg14y ago

This could put IKEA out of business.

I wonder how long it'll be until companies start suing.

dagw14y ago

ovi25614y ago

What you cite is the manufacturing cost. Then you have distribution and retail cost. The huge factories and stores need capital, so financing cost as well.

2 more replies

koushikn14y ago

When will a 3D printer print itself?

nicpottier14y ago

I believe you are looking for this: http://reprap.org/wiki/Main_Page

shareme14y ago

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse