3D Printing - FrequencyCast Transcript
We have touched on 3D printing in the past, but for show 103, we looked at how far away we are from every home being about to print in 3D
Listen to, or download, FrequencyCast Show 103 (30 mins) |
A fresh look at 3D Printing:
Transcript from Show 103 - A look at 3D printing for the home or small office
Pete:
Focus time. Hello there, Kelly.
Kelly:
Hi, Pete – how are you?
Pete:
Not too bad, glad it's a little bit cooler. It was a little bit too hot for me when we were recording last month, but it seems to have cooled down a bit now.
Kelly:
That's true, though I'm really cold.
Pete:
Well, shall I warm you up with a good dose of Focus?
Kelly:
Oh, go on, then!
Pete:
Well, the first thing we're going to talk about is 3D printing. As you remember, Kelly, from the last show, we talked about this idea of, instead of having to get a locksmith to break in, you can get a 3D printed version of your key. What do you think of that idea?
Kelly:
Well, to be honest, for someone like me, it's quite a good thing. I often forget mine, so it would be really, really useful.
Pete:
So the idea is, you take a 3D scan of your key, upload it somewhere secure, then you can go to a local locksmith with a 3D printer, and print it out. We've had quite a lot of feedback. We had one from Mike Lawson. This is what Mike had to say.
Kelly:
"An interesting article on cloning door keys, using 3D printers. Presumably, this works on car keys too. How long before we all have 3D printers at home, and what else can we get up to with them?"
Pete:
Well, there's a thought. If you had a 3D printer, what would you want to print?
Kelly:
I don't know.
Pete:
A little model of me, for your desk.
Kelly:
I feel that may be a little bit extreme. Door keys are a really really good one. Window keys would be the first port of call, I think; maybe even a couple of extra wine glasses, when I have too many people over as well.
Pete:
That's a thought. Apparently, in a recent survey, the things most people want them for is, personalised mobile phone cases, or personalised mugs, not quite what I was thinking, but they apparently are the favourite things that people print.
Kelly:
I'm not too sure about the mugs, but phone cases, I can understand.
Pete:
If you remember, we talked way back in show 93 about something Asda were trialling, where you can go into one of their supermarkets, and they do a whole body scan of you, and then you come back a little later, and pick up a little model. You're quite keen on that idea, aren't you?
Kelly:
No, not at all. I think it's so self-indulgent, though the idea of me having a super-hero one once was quite amazing, but no, I don't think I'd be going into Asda, and actually purchasing one.
Pete:
You know, I thought you'd bring up that super-hero thing. You did get very upset about that, didn't you? Let's see if we can find the audio clip of that. That was at a sci-fi convention that we went to a few years ago, where we spoke to a chap called Paul from Firebox about their technology, and how they use 3D printing.
Paul:
We've come up with a product where the customer uploads two photos of themselves, sort of passport style, one head shot, both side and straight on. We then turn that into a 3D render, and print it on a fancy 3D printer, which then allows the customer to pop it onto any actual figure they want to be, so they can be Superman, or Wonder Woman or Spiderman.
Get your 3D head on the superhero of your choice with a Firebox Superhero
Pete:
And how are these done? - you say, on a printer. Now obviously, these are three-dimensional. My printer is only two-dimensional. How are doing that, then?
Paul:
There's this amazing technology that's been around for a little while called 3D printing, which is just like a desktop printer you get at home, which is like an inkjet, but instead of printing on the paper, it builds up layers of ink, and this kind of powdered material in different colours as well, and we turn it into full colour heads. It's quite amazing - even NASA are looking into this, for putting into the orbiting space stations, so if NASA loses a spanner, NASA can email them a new spanner, which just blows my mind, every time I think about it.
Pete:
Oh, I like the idea of that. I'm assuming these printers aren't £99 at PC World though, are they?
Paul:
No, they're a little bit more expensive. Their price range is on how many colours you want. If you want colour, then they can go up to any sort of amount you can imagine really, but they're designed to work in the office. They're the size of a couple of filing cabinets, right down to actually desktop ones, which will just sit there and do three colours, three basic colours. But yes, they're not cheap, but they are amazing.
Pete:
There you go, so to answer Mike's question, how far away do you think we are from the days when we'll have our 3D printers at home?
Kelly:
I don't know, only about a couple of years, I'd think.
Pete:
Well, according to the survey that I've been reading, in five years, we'll all be printing in 3D at home.
Kelly:
Ooh, that's not too far away.
Pete:
Hmm, getting there, isn't it? – and the prices are coming down. When we first looked at these, the prices were sort of in the £10,000 mark, but now you can go to Currys, and pick up a Cubify 3D printer for £1,000.
Kelly:
Hmm, that's still a bit expensive, though. I can't imagine the average household is going to own one any time soon at that price.
Pete:
Although, if you're into kit building, you could build your own 3D printer with a Vellaman kit, which you can buy from Maplin – good old Maplin, £700, you could build your own.
 Velleman K8200 at Maplin |
 CUBIFY Cube 3D Printer at Currys |
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Kelly:
I think I'd wait for the real deal. I can't imagine that that would go down very well in our house. I'd end up with almost like the Picasso of models, kind of being put together all round the wrong way, upside-down. It'd be a nightmare.
Pete:
And not cheap on the ink, I'm guessing, either?
Kelly:
No, I'd guess not. The standard printer ink's bad enough, let alone a 3D printer. So go on then, how much does it cost?
Pete:
Well, if we're looking at this Maplin one, which does seem to be the cheapest way you can do it, you actually buy the ink on a reel, so it's like sort of a thin string, and they do it in different colours. It's £30 for a 1 kilogramme real, and that's just for one colour.
Kelly:
And my guess is, it's going to take up quite a lot of ink to create a 3D model.
Pete:
And that's the other thing, of course, is you've got to learn the software to get the modelling right, to get what you want printed. So yes, not overly cheap yet, but it is getting there. The interesting thing is, there are two different types of ink, I suppose, for want of a better word. The Maplin one uses something called PLA, which is polylactic acid – I'm sure you're very familiar with that.
Kelly:
Of course, yes. I just keep a spare lot in my back cupboard, just in case.
Pete:
Well, you never know. That one is apparently biodegradable and compostable, so if you are into saving the environment, you can do a 3D print and compost it, and it'll biodegrade over the years. The other sort you can get, which is possibly the more common one, is the ABS plastic – that's that sort of more strong, durable stuff, but that, of course, is also recyclable, so you'll be doing recyclable 3D printing.
Kelly:
Let's just hope the cost of the ink comes down at the same rate the cost of the printers does.
Pete:
Fingers crossed, let's hope so. Let's get printing.
Transcript Continues: 360 Degree Photo Taking
Listen to, or download, FrequencyCast Show 103 (30 mins) |
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