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what's the big deal about 3D printing guns or toy models?
Portability and costs aside, what can 3D printing do that can't be done by selling molds?
Is 3D printing only a big deal to the consumers who are currently stopped by manufacturers who don't like competition?
In other words, IF designers and model makers didn't care about licenses, intellectual property, or liability, couldn't they sell their molds to consumers and wholesalers, so consumers can make things today, faster, possibly cheaper, and most likely sturdier than 3D printing?
People seem to be fixated on the fact that 3d printed guns can be made without a trace of evidence, bypass metal detectors, but can't molds today use plastic or polymer too (let's say, assuming manufacturers don't care about losing money to competition)?
Isn't the 3D printing excitement just like the inkjet printer excitement, that something CAN be accessible to everybody, but it's still cheaper to BUY from a mass producer than to make one at home?
1 Answer
- RebeccaLv 58 years agoFavorite Answer
Intellectual property is only one part of the mix: there are already DRM-style standards for ensuring the rights holder gets their cut of any designs printed if that is the concern. The key attraction is the flexibility -a very wide range of things can be made with one tool. You can say the same thing about injection moulding but in that case you need a specific mould for each shape printed - that can range from costing a few hundred for a simple plastic design to several tens of thousands for a complex die for some structural or mechanical part. You don't need that for the 3D printer.
