Is printing Dying out…

[The Hat]

It’s come to my attention that very few, to no one, is buying a new 3D printer, not even second hand, the lure of lovely coloured photos maybe compelling but once you try the 3rd dimension there’s nothing like the trill of it, there’re also great for anyone with growing or adult kids…

 

[stratman]

growing or adult kids

I'm both of these. Thrills are verboten as it leads to cash outlay and tax time is approaching.

 

[The Hat]

Thrills are verboten as it leads to cash outlay and tax time is approaching

Put it down as a legitimate expense and say it’s from another dimension...

 

[Nifty]

With my kids being older, the need for printing (especially in color) has decreased dramatically... but the need for 3D printing (for myself and others) has been pretty dang constant!

 

[Illusiveimage]

I'm currently waiting for my Snapmaker 2.0 Laser cutter, CNC mill, and 3D Printer combo to replace my current 3D printer.

3D Printing went through a fad phase. Everyone was interested. Then the reality set in. If you want to print something in 3D first someone has to design it. Sure you can always find a cute trinket to print. Occasionally you might find something useful. But if you are printing other peoples designs the average person is better off just buying the part they need. Whether that is 3D printed or mass produced.

My opinion if you don't plan to design something you can't buy there is very little reason to buy a 3D printer. Even people that have great ideas get stuck on the learning curve for software like Blender, or Solidworks.

 

[The Hat]

My opinion if you don't plan to design something you can't buy there is very little reason to buy a 3D printer. Even people that have great ideas get stuck on the learning curve for software like Blender, or Solidworks.

On the contrary, the only thing stopping guys from learning new things are themselves, and that’s where a 3D printer comes in and helps out, it make you want to design your own stuff and helps you to create the ability you never knew you had.

I suffer with Dyslexia and it hinders my abilities in many ways and I couldn’t type this response without the help of Spell Checker, but it doesn’t stop me. I won't let it..

I am now doing things with my 3D printers that I never taught were possible, you only got to look at inkjet printing !, most don’t know how they work but everyone becomes an expert by just clicking on print…

Design just one thing for your 3D printer and you deserve the accolade…
P. S. Blender and Solidworks are not much good for the home designer..

 

[Illusiveimage]

On the contrary, the only thing stopping guys from learning new things are themselves, and that’s where a 3D printer comes in and helps out, it make you want to design your own stuff and helps you to create the ability you never knew you had...

I don't disagree. My experience is that most people won't put in the effort.

3 or 4 years ago I belonged to a maker group that had a weekly 3D printer meetup, hosted by Whitney Potter and Andy Cohen of the podcast 3D Printing Today. The meetings were pretty much packed with people every week. All with the same 2 questions, What printer should I buy and why can't I get this thing-a-verse model to print. Most people went to a few meeting then disappeared. The meetup went from weekly, to by-weekly, to monthly. Because Whitney and Andy were about the only people actually creating new things and they got tired of answering the same old questions for a new group of people. I gave up on it, I don't know if they still do the meet-up, It's possible that after the fad died down a core group of real makers survived. It's just not for everyone.

Design just one thing for your 3D printer and you deserve the accolade…

This is pretty much my point. It takes a special kind of person to create things.

P. S. Blender and Solidworks are not much good for the home designer..

Can you make some suggestions? I had learned Solidworks, Inventor, AutoCAD, and a few less well know CAD packages for another hobby in the '00s. Which led to me working as a mechanical designer for quite a few years. Inventor is still my go-to program. I still haven't managed to learn Blender. If you have a better choice for modeling software it looks like I'm going to have a lot of time to learn new things in the next month or two.

Sorry for being so negative. 3D printing can be a lot of fun. I just don't see it becoming main-stream just yet.