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Originally Posted by oil pan 4
Ok so nothing expiring that will effect the price of what most of us are using.
The liquid one looks kind of neat but how strong is it?
But 3D printing stuff with metal would be kind of cool.
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The epoxy used in the printers is strong enough to be handled but it is brittle in comparison to working polymers. Also, it needs to be coated/painted as it continues to yellow and weaken in direct or indirect sunlight.
The Powder Printing Patents ( yes the alliteration is real ) that expire this year are the keys to useful parts printers. Hopefully they do become common place and as low cost as a good welder. 150 Watt Diode lasers and micro powders are common place and should be coming down in price. The key patent mechanisms that will allow powder printing are the only real barriers to driving down the price to where small shops and entrepreneurial individuals could afford them.