One crafter's perspective of 3D printers

My daughter works for a 3D printer company in USA, so I have picked up a fair bit of knowledge over the years and hopefully can give a brief crafting perspective on their use. I hope she doesn't read this, but here are my thoughts, in craft layman terms! I am not an expert by any means, so there may be mistakes, but this is how I see the current situation.

Have a look on Youtube to see 3D printers actually making items. Be aware that even a small chess piece may take 2 hours to be made. this is not like popping a sheet of paper in your printer!

There are basically two types of 3D printing system:

1. The extrusion method which melts a plastic filament held on a large roll. These are the cheaper units such as Makerbot and Ultimaker. My local fabrication lab (fab lab) Make-Aberdeen has several Ultimakers.
   
2.  Sterolithography, in which a laser beam solidifies the design within a container of liquid polymer resin. The first method is cheaper, but cannot give fine detail on an object. For folk who truly need a 3D printer for making fine detailed prototypes, stereolithography is the way to go, and desktop devices such as Formlabs, are amazing.

If you feel a pull to get one, ask yourself the following:

1. Can I make a 3D design myself using computer software? If not you will need to get someone to do this for you.
2. Am I wanting to make a lot of the same piece e.g. small rose embellishment? Am I wanting to make a one of a kind piece, just once? If you want to make lots of something small, detailed and low cost, forget it. I hate to say it, but the chances are you can buy something similar from China at a fraction of the cost. If you are a designer making one of a kind jewellery pieces, or moulds for jewellery, then the outlay cost to final production piece makes sense. 3D printers are brilliant for making a prototype, but not for mass production. 
3. Is there an easier and cheaper way to make the item that I want, without a 3D printer?
4. I don't know about the simpler extrusion devices, but I know that stereolithography designs need knowledge and understanding of how to tweak the software and the machine in relationship to what you are printing. When the item finishes printing, there are still finishing off steps that need to be carried out to remove support struts etc. 

You don't think you can manage the drawing design stage? There are other options to making the design yourself. There are services out there with talented CAD (Computer Aided Design) designers. Google them.

You can't afford a machine but have an idea you want made that you can't get any other way? Then find out if there is a fabrication lab near you that has a machine you can be taught to use. I pay a yearly fee to use all the machines at Make-Aberdeen including 3D printers, a router, an industrial vinyl cutter, an embroidery machine and 2 laser cutters.

 I suspect that the development of 3D printers may be akin to the industrial revolution. 3D printers have moved way beyond only printing with plastic. With suspended substrates you can now print in many different substances e.g. ceramic and metal. In 2014 it became possible to 3D print human tissue! I think all school children should be introduced to the concept from an early age, and the general public should embrace the new technology, not simply for the decorative arts, but for amazing advances in medical technology. Sure, there is the downside of folk being able to 3D print fully working plastic guns, but one has to be optimistic that the positives will far outweigh the negatives of his revolutionary technological advance.