tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1723342246366700898.post4989465687201292204..comments2023-05-25T11:51:00.982-04:00Comments on A Nest Amid Thorns: 3D PrintingSusan Humestonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14374042568634619411noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1723342246366700898.post-10775083914313444312013-03-04T10:00:07.279-05:002013-03-04T10:00:07.279-05:00Hi, 3D printers produce a real solid object, but a...Hi, 3D printers produce a real solid object, but as you suspect there is a catch in that you can only print a limited number of materials, and only certain very special printers allow you to mix multi materials in one same print; furthermore the materials available often do not correspond to what you would want. So, you guessed right, it's a big limitation of 3D printing. However, you can print any SHAPE you want. So, if you have a beautiful wood chair, you can print it in 3D, but it will be made of plastic, not wood, because no printer exists as far as I know that prints wood. In fact, no printer exists that prints fibrous materials at all; so, no fiberglass, no wood, you get the drift.High quality metals, suprisingly, CAN be 3D printed, so you can make for example a medical prosthesis out of aeronautical titanium with a 3D printer. In that case, what goes in the printer is a fine titanium powder, which gets melted in the printer to produce the shape. gottingenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16793834070000105487noreply@blogger.com