What would you like your 3D Printer to have and look like?

Dear Shapeways Community,

We all in Shapeways are in touch with a 3D printer and 3D printing somehow right?
3D printing technology is becoming common nowadays and so many 3D printers are already in the market. They come in different shapes, sizes, and functions.

My question is:
If you want to buy your own 3D Printer, What would you like it to have? I mean like special and new functions, or specifications that current 3D printers lack.
and how would you like it to look like?

It's interesting to know what people wish to see in the future regarding 3D printing technology. I believe we as a community are the ones shaping the future of 3D printing, don't you agree?

Regards

Mixed Metal+Plastic+Sandstone so that I can print electric/electronic circuits.

Think of a LED socket on the end of a long spindly lamp post.
or even better yet, a functioning motor.. printed inside of an object.

I want a 3D printer that can print ANYTHING! From MEMS devices to something like the size of a microwave oven. I don't ever want to ship another item to my house again. HAHAHA!

Sound too far fetched? Well, I'm working on that very printer, as I'm sure a lot of other inventors are as well.

I like to think about how society would be effected if everyone had printers like this at home. Think about it. EVERYTHING AROUND YOU IS MANUFACTURED! So what's going to happen to society? How will companies secure non-tangible data? How will we deal with some kid who gets mad at their teacher and prints out tomahawk cruise missiles they downloaded from online and bombs their whole city? And you think, yeah, but how would they get the explosives? Well, he'd download the machine that synthesizes the explosives from ordinary household chemicals. And don't stop there! How about machines that synthesize biological and chemical weapons? Even nuclear weapons! And one might think, yeah, but where would one get the fusible materials? YOU WOULD MINE IT! Via autonomous machines that are programmed to go to areas where there is uranium and secretly mine for uranium and then hand it over to centrifuge machines to refine it down. All via downloading it from online!

We'll see soon I think.

Yeah. Cause you know. People can afford secret mining robots.


I'd personally just like a printer that costs less than $500, and can make top quality prints without hours of tinkering and adjustments.

I find this type of question totally unacceptable , this is Shapeway's forum , paid for and maintained by Shapeway's for the benefit of Shapeway's and their customers , current and prospective.
I cannot understand the mentality , not to mention the cheek , of people who think it is ok to advertise alternate services to those provided by Shapeways,
whether it be actual printing services or printers , would you go on to a Ford site and push GM products ?
The very fact that you do this and have no qualms about it makes you , in my book , an untrustworthy person who should be steered well clear of.
There are several 3D forums on the net which are not related to a particular company , go there and stop filling this forum with crap.

^ HAHAHA!

But wait! Two things. Firstly, with a machine like that and open source data one would only pay for the materials. So the first materials one would probably buy would be going into printing a recycling machine, which would recycle metals and plastics. That then would get one into the materials needed to print out mining machines of various types that go out and scour the planet for materials. So once one got going they wouldn't actually have to pay for anything.

Secondly, most people would already know someone who had already acquired a printer and they'd ask to have one printed out for themselves FOR FREE! ALONG WITH A FREE MATERIALS PACKAGE FOR PRINTING THEIR OWN MINING EQUIPMENT! HAHAHA!

And that's another bizarre aspect too! Once a printer like that is produce, it will spread to users all over the world EXPONENTIALLY! Because, it would be capable of printing its self and so the cost of acquiring one would only be the cost of the materials.

Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! I don't see any advertisements here.

I think it's a very pertinent topic being that most of the people here have our own printers. We're not talking about printers that cost upwards of a million dollars US like Shapeways operates. hehehe

But wait, how do others feel about this? Is this topic not good for Shapeways Forum? Lets have a vote!

I vote that the topic is fine.

Dear Sir,

Thanks for your message.

I'm not advertising any product and I don't work for any company related to 3D printing. I never built a 3D printer in my life. Actually I'm new to 3D printing, I'm just a person who is interested in 3D printing technology and how fast it's growing. I just wanted to share the joy of seeing the growth of 3D printing industry.

Like I said, we as users are the ones who shape the future of this industry (as I believe), and thats why I asked this question, to jump into the future and see how does it look like.

Anyway thanks for the message, it shows how much you are caring for shapeways community and for 3D printing as a whole.

Regards.

This is simply not true. I would suspect that most SW users do not have their own printers. I know I don't.

I don't feel strongly about the OP one way or the other, live and let live, but I'm not interested in getting a printer any time soon.

Well, I don't have a huge EOS SLS machine sitting in my garage, but I do have a little FFF machine siting on my computer desk. I thought just about all Shapeways users had one of this type. Interesting. I wonder what the actual ratio is?

I saw Bart say to a forum goer once that Shapeways does not like people creating polls on the forum. Otherwise I'd create a pole and get an idea of what the ratio is.

It is an interesting question. My instinct/guess would be less than 5% have their own machine.

But who knows....?

HAHAHA! Mitchell is one of the LUCKEY ONES!

5%? Whoa! That would make me wayyyy off. Now I'm dieing to find out who's right here!

Let's armwrestle...

NO! I'm old! You might break my arm off! HAHA!

13,000 Shapeways shops - I doubt you'd find even 1% that have their own printer.

Personally, there's no point in having my own printer, when I can "borrow" Mitchell's. <GRIN>

There is certainly a group of people for whom it makes sense to have a desktop printer.

You can rapidly try something out at home, then send it to SHapeways to get it printed in a consumer-ready material.

I see the two as complementary, as they serve totally different needs, and different types of people.

I never want to worry about the heat of the build tray, or tinkering with hardware, I just want to design, then hold it in my hand via a Shapeways box...but I know for Duann for instance, the "tinkering" part of the process is a fun challenge.

So, to each his own!

And cheers to 3D printing in general

I'm feeling like I'm one of the elites now!

Ok, I guess you guys are right about that. It's good to know.

I've actually got a B9Creator here - still not working! It arrived about two or three months ago and I assembled it immediately, but then college reared its ugly head and left me no time to get it calibrated and tweaked. UNTIL NOW: Christmas break = printer time! Already got it calibrated and oiled up, all that's left to do is wait on my computer parts (I have an almost completed computer already, just needs RAM and and a PSU, so I just figured I'd buy those two things and give the printer a dedicated machine rather than tying up my main computer with printing all the time).

If I could have add a feature to a printer, though.... my head is spinning with all kinds of SciFi possibilities, but I'll keep my idea grounded in reality. I would love a metal printer that's as much 'Press and Print' as some of the plastic machines are. Hell, even if it's not, I'd take the time to learn so long as there was one that was safe to use at home and, you know, not hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars, if available at all xD

Look like? I want a printer with the shape of a huge dinosaur head that throws up the stuff it's made. Or panda shaped. Than the material (assuming it's cheap and the material is plastic wire) will go in through it mouth like bamboo. The panda is holding a bamboo stick where the wire is coming out. And when you tingle its tail, the belly opens up and the printed object can be taken out.

Neh. I just want a very accurate 3D scanner and a lot of clay. That way, I could just sculpture the objects instead of 3D modelling it. Printer would be nice, but I would want to print metal and I don't have a million dollars nor the skills and space to operate such facility,