Somewhere in this NG there was a discussion on the maturity of 3-D printing - but I can't find it.
To cut to the chase: The Economist mag had an article on it fairly recently:
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3-D Printing
May 25, 2016
3 Replies
The problem with most is the cost of the "ink". I thought of "printing" some replacement casters for our refrigerator but it would have been way too costly (for something so "generic") and hard to get the smoothness that an injection molded part could afford.
OTOH, if you're going to be someplace where raw materials are hard to come by and/or stock (e.g., ISS), then being able to use one feed stock for a wide variety of products can be a HUGE win!
Sometimes you need to consider the 3d printed part more as a casting than a finished part - some minor finish machining necessary.
Isn't there a law against that?
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