On 29/04/2014 03:21 PM, scott wrote:
> Or surely you've heard about 3D printers recently? The materials they
> use (the professional ones, not the hobby ones) are state-of-the-art
> polymers to give the final piece properties as close as possible to
> traditional injection moulded plastics. It's not like those materials
> existed 30 years ago.

Granted I don't work in the manufacturing industry. But I would have 
expected that the market for rapid prototyping is utterly *tiny* 
compared to the market for actual finished goods.

Does anybody really use 3D printers much? I mean, I can imagine there 
are products for which this might be really useful, but if you're just 
making (for example) plastic sandwich boxes, do you really need to 
prototype that?

Also: I was given to believe that 3D printed objects have approximately 
the structural rigidity of jellybaby. It's strong enough to see if 
various printed parts will fit together right, but if you stare at it 
too hard you're gonna break it. But hey, it's only a *prototype*, right? 
It's not like the finished item will be made of the same gel...

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