3D Printing: The Next Technology Gold Rush - Future Factories and How to Capitalize on Distributed Manufacturing

293 Pages·2013·4.26 MB·English

by  Christopher D. Winnan

3D Printers - The Next Technology Goldrush

By Christopher D. Winnan
Table of Contents
Introduction

Part I

3D Printing Technology
Scanning Technology
Modeling Technology
Model and 3D Design Resources
Freelance Printing, Scanning and Designing

Part II

Designing New Products
Niche Markets
Untapped Markets
Three Pioneering Printers
Miniatures
Doll's Houses
Action Figures
Gaming Miniatures
Radio Controlled Scale Models
'Green' Products
Upcycling
Spares
Metaphysical
Skulls and Bones
Pets
Custom Items and Works of Art
Cosplay
Health
Crafts
Miscellaneous Ideas
Plastic Covers

Part III

Overcoming Negativity
Some Interesting Analogies
Printing on a Larger Scale
Printing Materials
Legal Issues
The Printed Gun Controversy
3D Printing in the Third World
The Disruptive Power of 3D Printers
The Future of 3D Printing - How Far Could All...
Part IV

Appendices
About The Author
Copyright © 2012 Christopher D. Winnan
All Rights Reserved
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or
transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise, without proper written permission from the author. The
only exception is a reviewer. A reviewer may quote brief passages in a review.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Kevin Hayward for his much needed editing skills and the section on
Legal Issues. Thanks also to Hannah Jones for her excellent proofreading skills
and to Karick (Karen Reynolds-James) for her tireless formatting abilities.
Thanks also to all that was kind enough to allow me to link to their images,
especially Tomasz Orzechowski, Co-Founder & Industrial Designer of TO DO
Product Design (http://to-do.com.pl/index.html) of whose design of a twenty
century modeler work station graces the front cover
Introduction

History repeats itself?
http://meerface.com/2012/01/3d-manufacturing-at-home/
If you are reading this, you already know that 3D printers are bringing about a
revolution in manufacturing. Much like the industrial and computer revolutions,
these amazing new machines will completely transform the face of
manufacturing, distribution and consumption. But, for the moment, that is all
just rhetoric, until current printer owners get up, lead the way and show where
all the profits lie. Resolutions are improving and costs are decreasing all the
time. Did you know for example, that 3D printing was used to create the suits of
armour in Iron Man and the Aston Martins in the latest Bond movie? Even so,
some people worry that we are still in the 'spend a lot or be disappointed' early-
adopter stage. The real question that most people want answered is this: “Can I
make a buck from these machines?” and the answer is a resounding yes, not only
a buck, but probably a couple of hundred bucks a day and maybe even a lot
more. This exciting new technology is destined to provide all kinds of exciting
new opportunities and employment.
If you have an interest in 3D printers at the moment, then you should be looking
at yourself as the twenty-first-century counterpart of pioneers like Bill Gates and
Steve Jobs, from the early computer homebrew clubs. It was guys like these who
first thought about how to monetize this technology, and went on to be the
earliest IT billionaires. If 3D printers really are the beginning of a game-
changing new technology, then there are going to be plenty of billionaires made
on the way, maybe even the world's first trillionaire, who knows?
3D printing is a technology on the cusp, and therefore it is essential that you be
fully prepared for its arrival. The only way to profit from great changes is to
anticipate them in the very early stages, and be ready to take advantage of the
opportunities that they create. We are still at the beginning phase today, but
major technical advances are already heralding enormous business opportunities.
This book is not just idle speculation. The material here has been meticulously
researched and combined with a uniquely specialised knowledge of overseas
manufacturing, niche markets and emerging economies. I was lucky enough to
spend much of the nineties in Seoul, observing the largest of the Asian Tigers
transform itself into an industrial powerhouse. The following decade was spent
in the Peoples' Republic of China, observing the dragon wake from it centuries
of slumber. Most recently, I have been on numerous trips to Myanmar, exploring
the key strategic regions of the Burma Road and the Indian Gulf. As a well-
established guide book writer, I am in a very good position to document these
areas, opening up paths for other entrepreneurs and investors to follow. In this
book I will be focussing not on one particular geographical area, but one specific
technology, that of additive manufacturing, better known as 3D printing.
Since the 3D printer patents expired in 2009, I have been watching this field
with great interest. Homebrew tinkerers and hackerspace gizmologists have
quietly been bringing the designs and capabilities of these amazing new
machines up to a level where they are almost ready to hit the mainstream. Back
in the seventies, it took more than five years before personal computers found
their first killer app, and another ten years before they were able to crack the
home market. Kurzweil's law of accelerating returns demonstrates very clearly
that the coming paradigm shift to digital manufacturing will take place even
faster than the seismic events of the previous digital revolution. The average Joe
still has only a very vague idea of what 3D printing actually is, let alone its
capabilities, its financial applications and its massive game changing potential. If
you want to play a role in the next industrial revolution, you will need to be a
good three steps ahead of everybody else, who are just now waking up and
paying attention to what 3D printing is all about.
This book is much more than a brainstorming of random ideas that might
eventually come into effect sometime in the next decade. I have actively tried to
steer clear of all the usual type of fantasy, tea-leaf predictions, 'move into toilet
paper and become a billionaire' thinking. This book is about opportunities and
markets that exist right now. This is not some cyberpunk fantasy of vague
speculation, but a detailed overview of everything that is relevant and important
in the 3D printing industry. Even now, this is a vast field, with new changes
taking place every single day. It will undoubtedly affect many areas of our
everyday lives with accordingly immense social impacts. This book shows you
how to successfully anticipate these developments, and how to surf the crest of
this technological tsunami, while everybody else is swallowed up and swept
away.
At the same time, this book is not a specialist MBA in digital entrepreneurship. I
have researched and presented the most relevant material available, but at the
same time this is not a book about niche marketing or online business. I have
obviously touched on these areas, as they will undoubtedly play an important
role, but this is not a dummies guide to setting up a 3D printing business in the
age of the internet. There are plenty of books out there about online selling and
internet marketing. If you are savvy enough to see that another industrial
revolution is about to take place, then it is also a fair bet that you already know
how to make tools like eBay, Etsy and Facebook work for you. To this end, I am
happy to share with you as much as I currently know about the current state of
digital manufacturing, but I will not be teaching you how to suck eggs.
While there are already hundreds, if not thousands of books out there on starting
and running a successful internet business, this book is something else
completely. This is a collection of cutting-edge knowledge that has not yet been
compiled elsewhere. In fact, parts of it are so specialised, that you would be hard
pushed to find large chunks of it just about anywhere. Despite their explosive
implications, few people are writing in any detail about the digital rights
management of physical objects, or the enormous varieties of scale in the
miniatures market, or state of the art advances in mixed-mesh modelling. Few
apart from the most avid collectors appreciate the field of 1/6 scale military
figures as an emerging art form, or the industrial applications of complex
geometries and spiral vortices, or even the rapid miniaturisation that is taking