Not Only Luck.
An essay by John Melonakos

3D Printing

People talk about 3D printing as a major technology trend. The concept of 3D printing relies on an additive process (i.e. adding layers of material) rather than a subtractive process (i.e. cutting away material from a block) to build an object.

Here are some reasons why 3D printing is interesting:

  • Major forward technology thinker’s (like PC Magazine founder Michael Miller here and Gartner’s top 10 prediction) are discussing it
  • Paul Graham is a fan of hardware startups
  • It has potential to disrupt important aspects of the huge manufacturing industry
  • It has potential to open the doors to huge innovation by enabling consumers to manufacture

I’m curious in learning more about 3D printing startups. Here are some questions:

  • Will there be kiosks in local stores where you can print your homemade designs?
  • Will you be able to buy cheap designs for the rare parts of your appliances so that you don’t have to special order them and so local stores don’t have to maintain huge inventories?
  • Will 3D printers really be versatile enough to be useful?
  • Will the required input materials for 3D printers be few enough in number to be manageable?

What are the most interesting 3D printing startups? Any in Atlanta?

 

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From the conversation

Comments preserved from the original post.

daniel

Will there be kiosks in local stores where you can print your homemade designs? I have yet to see that, but you can buy the Cube 3D printers from Staples now. Of course, there’s Makerbot, now a Stratasys company, and their line of do it yourself printers.

Will you be able to buy cheap designs for the rare parts of your appliances so that you don’t have to special order them and so local stores don’t have to maintain huge inventories? As long as you have the CAD files, you can order the parts from any of the service bureaus like Quickparts. Even the engineering drawings of the part might be sufficient as there are many CAD conversion services from overseas for cheap.

Will 3D printers really be versatile enough to be useful? 3D-printed parts are already used for some time in various industries like the automotive industry. I remember seeing custom printed parts BMW used for fixtures down in an automotive assembly line. Then there’s Jay Leno using it to print himself an old, rusty automotive part.

Will the required input materials for 3D printers be few enough in number to be manageable? Not sure for your average consumer, but for service bureaus it’s no big deal.

What are the most interesting 3D printing startups? Any in Atlanta? Quickparts, a 3D systems company, is in Atlanta. Some other interesting 3D printing startups include Shapeways and Ponoko.