3d printers... The endless possibilities :)

[AptaMer]

Just thought I'd mention that there are 3D printers that print in metal.

They're very expensive, though. Only the ones that print in plastic are affordable enough to buy for personal use.

There's a cool place here in Toronto now that has 3D printers set up that you can come in and use, kind of organized like a cooperative. http://site3.ca/classes

Also- this is very cool IMO, they have a laser cutter, and you can make all kinds of intricate cuts and etchings on materials like plastic, rubber and metal!

Some of the more creative mer manufacturers might be able to use laser cutters to make some very beautiful mer accessories?

[Mermaid Wesley]

Now don't forget that you could 3d print the MOLD for the stuff, or instead of sculpting, 3d print your original.


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[SweeteSiren]

Someone's already beat us to the punch: http://3dprint.com/22221/elle-swimming-prosthetic/

[Echidna]

That's pretty cool!

I wonder what the adamant fin-naysayers at pools will do if someone with such a prosthetic shows up for a swim

[Raayvhen]

I think I saw a kickstarter for an attachment for silicone printing.

[selkie13]

The LARP community must love the 3D printer.
And think about artefacts and other fragile old stuff, they could be replicated so we don't loose them to time and decay! Imagine the sphinx with a nose ;P

[HamptonsMermaid]

I think I saw a kickstarter for an attachment for silicone printing.

I noticed it's been over a year since someone mentioned this kickstarted, but I was looking into 3D printing and it seems that this product, the Discov3ry Extruder is now on the market and you can order it for $399 (website says lead time of shipment is currently 8-12 weeks)

"The Discov3ry is an affordable paste extruder that can easily be added to almost any existing 3D printer. It will expand the range of materials beyond molten plastic, to include a wide range of pastes. The Discov3ry will work with almost any desktop 3D printer system that uses fused deposition modelling (FDM). That is, if your printer uses plastic filament, it is almost certainly compatible with the Discov3ry."

It can print silicone (likely will work with dragonskin) and even prints edibles (one of the kickstarter rewards was a photo of you in nutella!)

Silicone Shoe Insole:


Silicone iPhone Case:


Here's a review I found on Amazon:
"I love my Discov3ry and have for a long time. I was one of the beta backers for the Kickstarter campaign that launched the product. From the very first units this product has delivered on its promises. I work with kids in a mobile science and technology lab teaching STEM based projects and demoing this is always a huge hit. Printing in edible pastes and experimenting with new materials (like Glitter Glue!) gets the kids excited about the future even when 3D printing is becoming passe. Working with materials like silicone gets me excited about my maker projects (both personal and professional) and shopping for "filament" at the hardware store is great for my budget."

Soooooo... I think the ideal use of this technology as applied to mermaiding would be to 3D print individual scales. Printing a whole tail would probably be possible as well, but I'm guessing the size of a tail would be an additional obstacle to overcome. To easily print hundreds of individual scales would greatly minimize the time investment in making the most realistic of tails. Flukes and fins might be a size that can be printed as well. Main thing I see that would need to be worked out would be printing in a way that doesn't leave an undesirable crosshatched pattern on the surface. The shoe orthotic pictured above seems like it's printed using curved lines, which looks more realistic for scales and flukes. But I'm not sure how you could get a completely smooth surface texture?

This company (using their own printers) is already 3D printing prosthetics eyes, noses and faces for trauma victims with amazing quality! I don't think you can buy his technology for home use, but it shows that it can be done!


What are your thoughts? I don't have a 3D printer myself but my brother is in an engineering program in college and I'm wondering if I he could use the school's printers to help me with a little mermaid project

[Mermaid Jaffa]

You can use a 3D printer to cut a thick solid sheet of rubber to create you own monofin???

That would be so cool. Imagine having an arsenal of monofins that you can use based on your moods...

Scary fin today or classical fish fluke?

[merstorm]

wow to create a tail with this nice idea

[Mermaid Jaffa]

When 3D printers start using rubber as the source material, I'll be the first one in the queue!

[MermanOliver]

Well, technically it shouldn't be a problem. Actually there are rubber-like materials already printable. They are most of the time a kind of thermoplastic elastomer (ok, that's Nerd for "rubber that melts when heated instead of burning up" ), and that's probably too stiff for tails, but flexible enough for accessories.
Another possible solution would be actually printing silicone. As that is a two-component material and more or less paste-like it should be printable by paste extruders already existing. Maybe something like two big syringes with a mixing tube, mounted instead of the heated filament extruder on ordinary printers.
Then you only need to make sure the silicone cures fast enough and that it doesn't sag under it's own weight. Dragonskin 10 Fast cure, maybe with a small heated fan, could work maybe. And with a dual head (i.e. two extruders on one print head, like the colors in an inkjet printer) one could even print support structures to counter the sagging.
Well, I guess I lost most of you up until now, but that was my inner Nerd speaking. Couldn't help it
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[HamptonsMermaid]

If you look at my post a couple posts up I described what I found out about the 3D printer attachment that is now on the market and prints silicone. I'm wondering about printing individual scales to make a tail... Should be totally doable. There's even 3D printers at the public library that anyone can use. You would just have to buy the attachment for $300.

[MermanOliver]

Sorry, missed that post completely.
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