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Printable Weapons
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Case Studies/Drivers/Influencers
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A team of passionate designers and engineers
from MIT’s Media Lab founded Formlab in 2011
to develop a high-quality low-cost 3D printer
that enables designers and engineers alike
to create 3D forms at the touch of a button.
Form 1, an end-to-end package including
printer, software, and post-processing kit, was
delivered after just two years of research and
development.
3D printing for the designer, consumer and
manufacturer offers rich potential and is moving
rapidly into the mainstream. Significant improvements
are still to come in terms of quality, finish, speed and
variety of materials on offer. But it is clear that this
technology for printing low-cost everyday finished
goods or replacement parts for existing objects could
drive a third industrial revolution.
But 3D printing has potential pitfalls and critics.
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Printable weapons: Only parts have been
successfully printed so far, and it is illegal to print
a whole gun, But since US president Barack
Obama made a prominent speech calling for
tighter gun control in America, 150,000 patterns
have been downloaded.
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Copyright/piracy: The legal complexities
and challenges affecting 3D printing are vast.
Patents on products, printing processes and
the actual printers will act as a brake on the
development of 3D printing. But the huge
entrepreneur-driven nature of the technology
will continue to find ways around it.
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Sustainability: Bioplastics and various starch-
based thermoplastics are being used, as is
recycled paper. Filabot is in development as a
machine to melt down unwanted material, like
household waste, turning it into plastic filament.
However, the full ecological impact of 3D
printing is still to be determined.
•
Democratisation of design: The accessibility
of printers will create unprecedented freedom
for designing, in turn producing a fair amount of
junk. There is justified concern about the quality
and volume of content. Ultimately, it could
be argued that no machine can replace the
superiority of a handcrafted object: human skill,
technique and creativity will always be the most
valuable commodity.
Changing the Rules