name: We got a 3D printer. Now what!? class: middle, center
I'm sorry to tell you, we're not early adopters on this one.
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3D printing has been around since the 80s. The thing that's changed recently is price, which translates to access.
- Not a terrible first step
- That is far from the limit of the technology
- How many plastic parts does your car have?
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While it's true the first thing people tend ot print are trinkets, that's far from the limits of these devices. I think it's a good strategy to learning by becoming a decent technician before attempting design. As such, in my first year of owning a 3d printer, I mostly printed models made by others that I knew to be "printable". Good news! You don't need to do that, the tech team will be your support staff. I've set up sensible defaults on our print server so you can use those until you develop your own opinions.
- Model
- Slice
ProfitPrint
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It's a little more complicated than that, but that's a pretty good way to frame it.
- Thingiverse
- MyMiniFactory
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G1 X1.2 F25
Y2.3
X0.0 F10
Y0.0
Etsy for 3D printers (also, people sell 3D prints on etsy)
- High Quality Prints
- Materials we can't print
- Stainless Steel
- Ceramic
- Gold
- etc
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This is far from disrupting commerce, but when has it ever been so easy to make custom physical good?
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3D printers enable a new avenue for open source hardware.