3D Printed Products
Contents
Strategies
Used wisely, 3D printing can produce a wide range of industrial products, based on these strategies:
- Planetary geardowns lend themselves well to 3D printing and are relevant for up to 1000 pound scale forces. Thus, any products that require high torque are feasible by applying the planetary geardown.
- Metal-Plastic Composites - we have built axes made of 3d printed parts with metal plates. The concept is using plates to sandwich or clad metal parts, to essentially provide the strength of metal while allowing 3D printed geometries to be used. For metal plastic composites - stock steel with a drill press will do - though we enable more complex geometries with the CNC torch table for cutting plates.
- Plastic-fiber composites - using 3D printed skeletons as forms for fiberglass or carbon fiber, we can attain the strength of high-performance composites by involving 3d printing.
- By using 3D printed parts with off-the-shelf electronics such as Arduinos, Raspberry Pies, LCD screens, and sensors - we can build a wide range of consumer-grade electronics.
- Local Economics - for all of the above - the enterprises that build them should be local, open source microfactories - which allow for local community economic development.
- Lifetime Design - a huge scourge of modern civilization is waste. If the above products are made by local microfactories using transparent, open source design - then a realistic option of cradle-to-cradle, closed-loop materials cycles emerges. Local companies can take back products at the end of their useful life to reuse valuable components. Products can be upgraded by replacing modular components. Products can be repaired as opposed to ending up in the trash bin. Plastics can be recycled fully using the Filament Maker to make 3D printing filament for further 3D printing. As such, we can increase the useful life of products significantly - gaining 10x on lifetime and 10x on resource efficiency of products. This will decrease our impact on the environment 10x.
Recycling 3D Printing
- 30% of wall modules (blocking + 2 interior studs out of 5.5 - 45% can be printed right now
- Geogrid - [1]
Products
- Multi-Color Pen
- Bluetooth headset
- Headphones
- 3D Printed Electric Bike with rubber tires
- Cordless drill
- Aerial drone
- Cell-phone controlled robotic arm
- Trainable robotic arm
- Raspberry Pi practical computer tablet
- Electric Motor, brushless. For multitude of applications. Build on the propriety Halbach version
- 3D printed bicycle or e-bike with 3D printed tires- like in Colorfabb Open Source Bike - hard to perfect
- Fittings, Space frame connectors for PVC domes. Buckyballs.
- Modular Materials organizing drawers with space frame connectors
- Open Source Vacuum Robot
- Open source washing machine
- Shoes. 3D Printed Sneaker with flexible, tubular sole. 3D Printed Shoes
- Paint brushes - brooms - [2]
- Dining utensils - [3]
- Rubber mallet
Tools
- Vise - by combining heavy plastic blocks with 1" bolt and nuts, and possibly removable metal plates and jaws, a high quality and heavy duty vise can be built. Given that minimum versions are $60 for a 6" at Harbor Freight [4] and $270 for a 10" on Amazon [5], this is a great business opportunity for a common workshop tool. The idea of metal-plastic composites is relevant here - screw-in plates that give the durability of steel tools at the cost of plastic.
Large Printer
- Chair
- Desk
- Roof shingles from thermoplastic elastomers
- Greenhouse glazing
