Exponential production

[dobermanmacleod]

http://thelapine.ca/man-with-3-d-pri...s-3-d-printer/

There is no greater subject for 3D printing than the potential for exponential production.

Using mined extraterrestrial material for toner, we could theoretically set up an exponential production line, where initially one 3D printer and some mining equipment could produce toner that would be used to print more 3D printers and mining equipment. This isn't pie-in-the-sky, but realistic and almost mind-blowingly powerful.

In fact, you could launch a 3D printer and by the time it got to the extraterrestrial location the technology of what to print could have dramatically improved, transmitted digitally to the production line from the home base.

http://coldfusionnow.org/exponential...d-3d-printing/

Here is another explanation, using LENT, another emerging technology.

[kengineer]

I like the concept.
I recently saw a "printer" that fused sand into a glass like material and thought that if someone like SpaceX could shoot one of these to Mars, by the time they get their people there, they may be able to have a fabricated tool shed, patio, parking garage or something else waiting for them.

The idea of getting a printer that could use sand for media and sun for power, transported to a place with lots of sand and sunshine (the unit I saw was solar powered)and let it go is really intriguing.

Maybe it could print a landing pad for the next ship to arrive? Even if it only paved a landing strip with fused sand to reduce the need for risky landing schemes, it would be valuable. Even if it only printed bricks of fused sand that people could fabricate into something useful it would be valuable. Maybe it could print a gun? (Not really). How about a giant Lego set out of fused matter?

How about a heliostat frame, so that when people arrive they just unfurl the mirror?

[Hugues]

...on line, where initially one 3D printer and some mining equipment could produce toner that would be used to print more 3D printers and mining equipment. This isn't pie-in-the-sky, but realistic and almost mind-blowingly powerful....

Cool. In the universe where I live, demand is driven by consumers, not by the production equipment.
Must be a great place where you live.

[kengineer]

Hugues,

What's going on in Switzerland? Is Mars in your universe? Does this relate to the post?

The original link at the top of the first post was satire FYI

[Geoff]

I loved this one... it made me chuckle.. hehe talk about hamming it up

TORONTO — Unemployed auto mechanic Trevor Braithwaite couldn’t afford a new 3-D printer, so he had to get creative.
“I went to Costco and bought a $5,000 3-D printer on MasterCard,” he told the Toronto Star.
“Then I went home and unpacked it, keeping all the bubble wrap and so on. Within five hours I had printed my own 3-D printer with $47 worth of ink and plastic glop, repackaged the original and returned it to the store for a refund.”
And his creativity didn’t stop there.
“With my new printer I printed another,” he continued, “and then set the two of them printing two more. I’m going into the 3-D printer business. I’ll undercut Costco by a few hundred bucks and make a fortune. ”

“They’re breeding like rabbits in my basement.”