Lord of the Rings Junkie
It would almost be like having a simple Star Trek replecator:D
Hmmm now how about a printer that uses organic compounds, then I could print a pepperonie with extra cheese:eek::D:eek:.
Ken
you americans really have no respect for real food, ha? 
thx to all 
and special thx to cekuhnen, your explanation really helped
Seams to be quite great what can be done with such printers.
Could be, but he is from the UK 
AMERICAN!!! How dare you sir, I am a true blooded Englishman.
Ken
you americans really have no respect for real food, ha?
Yes, we do, we eat every meal like itās our last.
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One other technology that cekuhnen didnāt mention is SLA. To quote from one website:
ā¦ a process in which liquid plastic (light-sensitive liquid polymer) is solidified in precise patterns by a computer controlled UV laser beam, resulting in a solid epoxy realization of 3D copies of CAD models.
Iāve seen this one in action, and its pretty coolā¦
I have had bad luck with normal printers. I donāt want to risk it with the expensive 3d kind.
we use such printers at work for prototypes, and while those are very handy, the materials used are always much more fragile than their molded or milled counterparts.
but then, you can create a silicon mold of that and end with a real part.
also there is few very precise printers (and those are very expensive both to buy and run, especially in liquid+laser form) so the finish are generally a bit rough, due to the layers. The last generations ones use vere fine layers but are expensive.
mh i never used the liquid plastic one.
thats a quite new one.
SLA stands for Stereo LithogrAphy.
What you mean is SLS Selective Laser Sintering.
The 3D printer is a SLS Printer.
However some sides also talk about this as SLA.
It is kinda confusing.
the wax, powder, and plastic printers are more economic
for schools, at least for non-elite school are those who have
not a direct arm to the industry.
i found that each printer has their own strength and weaknesses.
The starch one isnt that precise but the surface is much smoother
that plastic printer and also you do not need any support structures.
a lot of metal schools like Tyler (temple.edu) use those printer
because they allow quickly to print what you modeled with build-in
mechanical elements. great to play with. after the model is socked
in epoxy glue you can use sand paper and smooth out the surface
with ease.
my old design school in germany uses the same printer for their interface
design. they focus mainly on model making and casing designs.
(body for a cd player, body for a radio, etc ā¦)
however the plastic printer, having more work to finish, also are more stronger. but very fine organic details are difficult to make with them, when not impossible depending on the model.
they are quite excellent to use for making hard models you will put together and than work with them. they hardly break (as long as the shell isnāt to thin)
Thats why you also mainly find plastic printer in engineering and starch printer in more design orientated environments.
The really cool thing about SLA is here we only talk about starch or plastic models.
However what I do with a coal forge and a hammer, forging damascus steel
you can DO WITH THOSE PRINTERS AS WELL. yep you can print metal and melt the
metal particles together not only making a good and perfect textured bladed but also
having the nearly the same , when not the same material qualities of a real piece.
that also applies to the more modern 3d printers which use plastic.
you can not only make a model but with the materials also create a model which uses
the same material and thus also has the same material characters, flexibility etc. ā¦
Sorry for the English man, I hope you knew I was kidding anyway