3D Printed Ping Pong Table and Paddles

[The_Critter]

I saw this and thought that I'd share. It's a 3D printed Ping Pong table and paddle by Janne Kyttanen, who works for 3D systems.



I'd like to know how long it took to print this and how much money in filament was spent.

[RobH2]

And if that's a full size table think about how heavy it must be. It makes me chuckle a bit when people make things out of the "wrong" material just because they can. It doesn't mean you should. Plywood, 2x4's and green and white paint make a much better, portable and light ping-pong table, albeit, not as "designerly." People build full scale cars from Legos too, they are fun to look at but that's as far as it goes. However, there is no problem doing something "because you can" if you have the time and money. Thanks Janne, now let's go make a prosthetic...

[Luv2Fight]

My question is why are there so many facets on the paddles? Aren't pingpong paddles supposed to be flat and double sided?

[RobH2]

Yea, that had me going too. It would be a nightmare to play with that paddle if you are a "paddle flipper." I'm no pro but I do use both sides of the paddle when I do a backhand.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a designer and I love to see people do things that are "out there." I does help to stimulate ideas and thoughts to do things like that. If nothing else, they learned a lot about the structural qualities of the material, warping and a host of other things that could have gone wrong. Look how flat the table top is. It must have been a challenge to get that. Taking lessons learned from "far out" projects like this can lead to techniques that can be successfully used on "real world" concepts. It seems odd initially to consider ever doing something like this but it is a valuable component of the design and experimentation process, and I think a necessary one.

While I am still chuckling about it, I'm also wondering what great things they learned about printing large objects. I still have trouble with warping on objects less than 100mm wide. So, maybe I should stop chuckling....hmmm....

[alex86]

As far as the table is concerned its quite eye catcy design and i have seen few table like this made by a company killerspin but i am not sure about the paddles as what i have seen in my research as a ping pong lover at http://www.pingpongarena.com most of the paddles they showed are quite flt and easy to hold which is the first requirement of the player so in this prospective these 3d paddles are not suitable untill and unless you are looking to place it in your showcase as a decorative item

[BruceN]

is it just a decorative table?

[jvonborstel]

What printer is capable of this? I hope to be able to purchase an industrial size printer one day but wow. That would be incredible. Less the paddles for the reasons above. If both sides were flat it could be usable. I too am a flipper and use both sides when playing.