3D Printing - Hi-Fi Applications?

[The Grand Wazoo]

I was reading about 3D printing today and it occurred to me to wonder what the properties of the material that's printed could be like.

I did a little poking around in the w's & I found this.

So if it's possible to print a house with a material that's apparently indistinguishable from marble, can we build a better hi-fi with such (or other) materials?

And if we can, will it be cheaper or not?

[Macca]

I'd never heard of 3d printers but I now see your point Chris - Speaker cabs of any shape and size, look like marble, solid as concrete, hmmm....

[snuffbox]

And if we can, will it be cheaper or not?

[The Grand Wazoo]

I first heard about it a couple of years ago & it seems to be a pretty fast moving technology. Fascinating.

The first big news, I suppose was when they printed a bike:

[The Black Adder]

Yep, I saw the Bike thing on telly a while back. It looked a bit shaky but bloody amazing.

[YNWaN]

I am familiar with 3D printers (I have used one). Although a range of plastics can be printed, there is a limit (it may look like marble, for example, but it is not actually marble). 3D printing is usually used for fast prototyping.

However, Ortofon recently used 3D printing technique to produce the A90 cartridge body:



This technique is at the cutting edge of 3D printing technology. Instead of printing a pure polymer a metallic loaded polymer is used, this is then sintered, fusing the metallic content. This allows very complex shapes to be made but the disadvantage is that the finished item is likely to be brittle and have a very granular grain structure.

[bobbasrah]

Some time ago I remember a video of a flute being constructed using the same technique, pretty sure it was on youtube or similar. The professional player who used it was impressed.
Because it is being built up at such a miniscule scale, it's use in small complex forms is where the technique excels, but is very time consuming....

[Macca]

I am familiar with 3D printers (I have used one). Although a range of plastics can be printed, there is a limit (it may look like marble, for example, but it is not actually marble). .

From the link Chris supplied:

'The D-Shape is potentially capable of printing a two story building - complete with stairs, partition walls, columns, domes, and piping cavities - using only ordinary sand and an inorganic binder. The resulting material is said to be indistinguishable from marble, and exhibits the same physical properties, with durability highly superior to that of masonry and reinforced concrete'

[The Grand Wazoo]

However, Ortofon recently used 3D printing technique to produce the A90 cartridge body...

Oh, OK, so Ortofon are having a go at it. I was thinking bigger structures like enclosures and slabs, but that's a start, eh?

....the disadvantage is that the finished item is likely to be brittle and have a very granular grain structure.

The thing I linked to in the first post might imply that this is not insurmountable.

[YNWaN]

From the link Chris supplied:

'The D-Shape is potentially capable of printing a two story building - complete with stairs, partition walls, columns, domes, and piping cavities - using only ordinary sand and an inorganic binder. The resulting material is said to be indistinguishable from marble, and exhibits the same physical properties, with durability highly superior to that of masonry and reinforced concrete'

I only speak from my own 'first hand' experience. Size is not so much an issue - you just make the printer bigger (you could probably print Corian type materials (these are a bit like marble).

It might be 'possible' to print a house - it would be quicker (and cheaper) to build one though.

The thing I linked to in the first post might imply that this is not insurmountable.

I'm sure such issues can be overcome, the technology is stillquite new. You can buy a 3D printer kit for about £400.