Staples Now Selling 3-D Printers...

[grnidone]

Who's gonna be the first to buy?  RC?


http://money.cnn.com/2013/05/03/technology/innovation/staples-3d-printer/index.html

[rcjordan]

Oh, I'm going to buy one  and one of those mini-cnc mills. Some day.

It's kind of ironic that you posted the now mass-marketing of a 3-d printer to the unwashed public.  I just finished this article:


http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/05/03/this-is-the-worlds-first-entirely-3d-printed-gun-photos/

I'm not interested in producing this but I  do have the unsettling feeling that the world is not going to be prepared for this particular convergence of technologies   ...countries like the UK, which (until now) had a somewhat effective ban on handguns may face a flood of homebrewed Saturday Night Specials.

[Drastic]

Interesting that they made the barrel work from plastic, though it is super thick. That looks like a .22, I wonder how thick the barrel would be for a .38 or larger.

And they *still* needed a metal firing pin.

Printing guns and carrying printed guns to be illegal in 3...2...1...

[rcjordan]

an engineer with the group distributing the plans did an interview thread on reddit.  the specs are even more under-the-radar than you'd think

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1dnwmj/im_an_engineer_at_defense_distributed_makers_of/

>barrel
engineer says it's good for 10 shots.

>3-2-1

too late. this is the internet.

[grnidone]

I still can't believe there isn't a "design your own shoe" out of this...I could see little girls -- and not-so-little-girls -- totally going to town with this.

[littleman]

>10 shots

I wouldn't want to be the one to pull the 10th trigger -- that sounds dangerous.   I think the trick will be to be able to use a common pipe for the barrel.

[buckworks]

"design your own shoe"

ShoesOfPrey.com

[Chunkford]

Disposable guns are going to be the rage.

[Drastic]

So I guess a .50 barrel would be about the size of a 55 gallon drum.

[rcjordan]

>this is the internet

http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-takes-over-distribution-of-censored-3d-printable-gun-130510/

[Brad]

OT

I love how this thread highlights the great divide between men and women. We have a 3D printer all the men want to make a gun and the women want to make shoes.   

/OT

[rcjordan]

>shoes

I have 4 daughters. Back in the 80s some genius came up with the idea of making girls' summer pumps out of a decent quality soft plastic in a few colors.  They were $2/pair and far more useful than flip-flops as they were nice enough to wear to school or restaurant.  Brand was Jellies.  We bought those things by the truckload and used them for everything including swim shoes for the river.  A few months back, I went to see if they were still made  --yeah, but they are retro chic now an are pretty pricey

I'm eventually going to buy one of these printers just for the hell of it. Maybe I'll be able to print my own Crocs.

[Rooftop]

The thing that everyone overlooks with 3D printing is the role that the materials play.  

We're doing work with 2 3D printing companies. There are some incredible resolution printers now when you step out of the home print market.  (I had a 3D printed model of a ship, complete with full rigging, balanced on my finger last week).    However the interest is really in the materials as these dictate what you can make.  

The press seems to blindly overlook this fact.  If you read most press about 3D printing then you'd believe you can take a $3000 printer, one refill and print anything from human ears to firearms.  

One of the groups of materials that I think has the broadest potential are the wax resins.  You can print something with incredible detail in wax, form a mould around it, melt the wax away and end up with the ability to be able to cast something of amazing detail.  This is being used a lot in a new wave of bespoke jewellery, where precious metals are cast in a process similar to traditional sand-casting by using a mould designed CAD & printed.  However I can see that process being used to all manner of metal objects... probably including all the parts required to make a far more sophisticated weapon.

The point that will probably be of more interest to people here though is that all the money will be in materials.  I'd imagine that it will be a lot harder for firms to enter the replacement refills market than it was with injet ink (and the manufacturers seem to be doing their best to ensure that is the case!), but I think that is going to be an interesting market.

[Rooftop]

Just found a picture we took of the 3D printed ship :  https://www.dropbox.com/s/l20ylnidlvh71iy/DSC_8489.JPG

The coin is a (grubby) British 5p - the same size as a US Dime. 

[Chunkford]

WOW that is pretty neat.
I see a new wave of Kinder Surprise toys hitting the market!