Not an advertisement, but 3D printers for sale to the general public?

[mfcorey1]

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=s9_dnav_bw_ir01_s?node=16310091,!16310161,6066126011,6066127011&search-alias=industrial&bbn=6066126011&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-4&pf_rd_r=07DJ9Z8577CN7FXBVWFS&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1639445702&pf_rd_i=6066126011

[eShirl]

1. good morning :)

http://3d-printers.toptenreviews.com/

[mfcorey1]

3. Thanks. Very interesting breakdown.

[Fumesucker]

2. 3D printers are absolutely useless without considerable skill in multiple fields

As someone who has been trying to develop those skills I can confidently state that 3D printing is not for everyone at the moment.

[eShirl]

5. one doesn't necessarily have to create designs from scratch, though

http://www.thingiverse.com/categories

[Fumesucker]

6. Much cheaper and far less frustrating just to buy the things you want

If the design is available then someone is more than likely already selling the piece for far less than the cost of a 3D printer.

3D printers are like regular printers on meth and steroids, often finicky and trouble prone with software and hardware issues galore and the supplies are ridiculously overpriced.

I spent a couple of hours just yesterday helping a neighbor/friend get their wifi enabled inkjet printer/scanner to connect with their AT&T wireless router. Turns out that AT&T does not offer any sort of manual for their wireless router so that you must deal with their "technical help line" which (surprise!) turns out to be mostly useless. I finally found the answer to the problem in an online forum but it took considerable searching just to find the IP address to get into the router's setup screens. Anyone who didn't already have considerable experience with wireless routers wouldn't have had a prayer.

[eShirl]

10. fine then, but it is still not "absolutely useless"

[hobbit709]

12. AT&T's 2-Wire modem/router combos are the most useless POSs I've ever dealt with.

[EOTE]

18. The Pirate Bay has an entire section devoted to open sourced 3d objects.

There are a considerable amount of tech savvy people out there who would love to purchase something like that just to play around with all the neat things they can do. I have an acquaintance who has one and I was able to make a reasonably professional looking dash insert for my car using Autocad and I have almost zilch experience with the software. This is going to become commonplace technology very soon.

[FreakinDJ]

7. Much less skills required then 3D milling

Which btw is going on in garages all over the country

[Fumesucker]

8. Indeed..

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1128467#post7

[FreakinDJ]

9. I don't get the "Warm Fuzzies" over Mach III and Gecko Drives

Running Mastercam on a Dyna 50 upgraded Hurco here - but that's just me

Remember the guy who had 3D printer plans for guns up on the web and they made him take it down

[Fumesucker]

15. I don't like Mastercam, it's not at all intuitive for me

I'm using Meshcam Art for generating my Gcode since mostly I'm doing artistic type stuff and Meshcam Art is really good at that.

The old servos on the machine still worked but interfacing the position feedback with modern electronics was well beyond my pay grade.

[FreakinDJ]

19. Would be for me too

Mine was originally set up for Proto Type work A bit slower but more accurate. It has rotory encoders as well as glass scales on the axis

[bowens43]

11. Cell phones aren't for everyone at the moment.....new technology creeps in from the fringes.

starts with geeks (like me) and spreads to the general population. It will become cheaper,easier and more reliable very quickly.

[Fumesucker]

16. I'm going to quote myself here

" 3D printing is not for everyone at the moment."

[Javaman]

17. While that is true to an extent, the idea that they are useless is ridiculous.

there are now blueprints available on the net for the novice user who just needs to print something out without having to learn AutoCAD or any 3D developing software.

[Recursion]

4. Williams Sonoma has a chocolate 3D printer

(That is, it shapes chocolate; it's not a 3D printer made out of chocolate.)

If I had $2500 to spare...

[Marrah_G]

13. Yup

On Project Runway one of the designers used one in his final collection to create accessories. It was pretty cool.

[Lex]

14. I don't even get why they are called "printers." They are like little manufacturing machines.

Print is print.

[Jenoch]

20. Is there a reason 3D 'printers' should not be sold to the general public?

[The Straight Story]

21. Some would say because you can print guns with them, and only corporations/govt should

have that right and ability (I believe, in many ways, we trust them more than one another - which is something they are quite delighted about and have worked hard on).

[Jenoch]

23. The whole 'printing guns' deal is 99% bullshit.

[jsr]

22. Can it print an omelette, or just guns and bullets?