Is DIY 3D Printing Becoming a Real Possibility?
April 18, 2012 by brennon
Well, once you watch the video above you can certain assume its not far off. Check it out and then learn a little more about the Veloso 3D Printer below...
The minds behind this quite astonishing creation have launched a Indiegogo campaign in order to get this from the prototype stage to something for home use. As with other Kickstarters not only can you fund this project but get your hands on some of the kit when its eventually released.
If the program and machine can produce something as intricate and detailed as this then it could seriously change the way in which we get hold of our miniatures. While major companies would probably jump on this if it became viable, the effect on the home user could be the big thing. Individuals could simply sell their pdf plans for models on the internet and you would print it off at home, a brand new model that quick.
As you can see here, it can handle a model at a much smaller scale and in incredible detail. Could this really be the future of the modelling process?
You can join in the chat on our forums here.
Or let me know what you think below...
Having this machine at home will take a looooong time though… It won’t be cheap!
” Individuals could simply sell their pdf plans for models on the internet and you would print it off at home, a brand new model that quick.”
While PDFs won’t do you much good in 3D printing this concept is indeed already out there;
1. First you need someone with a 3D printer to help you print out majority of components for your own printer (or you can buy/have them printed online);
http://reprap.org/wiki/RepRap (an open source project, no less)
2. Find shareware blueprints online.
3. Reap the fruits of your labour;
http://www.printers3d.com/gamesworkshopwarhammer.html
4. Or head over to Shapeways and have it done there;
http://www.shapeways.com/gallery/hobby/miniatures
RepRap is totally different and the quality result is very poor because it use a layers method that leaves lines around the miniature. Is nice to know that there are so many free models right now, but if you see the examples that you put you realize how bad the result is ( not even worth the efford, is more reasonable to buy from GW than to get that… thing O.o ) The Veloso one use a totally different method that don’t leave any lines ( maybe just the ones at the top but is nothing compared with any other… Read more »
The method of creating the layers is different but the model is still made out of very thin layers that can be noticed. Without seeing a print in reality you can’t say for sure that those lines are not noticeable but i also think that they will be small enough to not be annoying but the printing speed will be very slow for extreme detail.
I’ve looked at this kickstarter and a heated debate over what it can do and what it cost is is going on. But what I see is engineers claiming they can build this much cheeper than what the kickstarter group have priced it. The only problem with these bragging engineers is they don’t think of mass production and the cost of time in making tool and die and a system to make them fast and cheep. They might be able to make one cheeper but I like to see them push out 200+ a day just to go easy on… Read more »
Looks good and interesting, but I have to say it won’t sell well if it’s only compatible with a Mac.
That said, perhaps it could be a boon to upcoming model makers like, say, Miniwargaming? (end of shameless plug here)
Ehm… did you shamelessly throw that lie out of the blue ?
Please read the FAQ, is works on Windows and if it works on windows using PlayonLinux and PlayonMac you can make it work anywhere you want :
http://www.wix.com/3dprinterfaq/veloso3d#!software|c21kz
Eh, not entirely out of the blue for the comment on the Pc/Mac. I have friends in the art industry with graphic design, and there tends to be a split between people who love mac and PC. That, and I can recognize the format for Mac on the video.
To all people that like this to see succeed please donate or promote it, it’s not being funded fast enough ( they need at least 5000$ per day ).
I know it might not look cheap but this tech won’t exist in the future if this initiative continue to fail in the users market ( as far as i know only the MarkerBot was successful but it gives very bad results with anything with details )
Was I the only one who couldn’t get through the crap music?
This project may succeed or it may not but regardless, 3D printing will be good enough and cheap enough to replace resin casting some day. An industrial-grade machine that can produce the models above costs tens of thousands of dollars today. Less than ten years ago, the same technology cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and the results were of a lower quality. Ten years before that it was all laser-sintering and stereo lithography which cost more, took longer to produce a single model and to get results of this quality you had to use a very fragile material that… Read more »
In a decade I’m sure the form factor and quality will be enough that you’ll see these in peoples homes, I can even imagine places like GW selling very, very high quality minis but also selling the blueprints for models for people to just print them off at home.
You might be able to ‘pirate’ miniatures, (you sort of can already) I know plenty of people who’d dive on that concept, the swine!
Ilegal file sharing won’t be a problem if they use a fundraising method where the company is paid before doing the job.
Also a good example to study if that would be a hard problem is the papercraft terrain like Terralinks from WorldWorks or others very similar. It seems it’s not the case that it would be a very hard problem.
I wonder what the red button on the front of the 3D printer does?
http://youtu.be/vuamSKIvhcA