Who hasn't heard about 3D printers? Put down your hand, it's a rhetorical question. Until quite recently, creating things at home meant a shop full of tools and all the time you could spare. Thanks to relatively cheap home 3D printing machines, it is now possible to 'print' an object of practically any shape at home without a tool in sight.
How does it work? The video below makes it clear, but a basic description goes like this: An inkjet printer does it's thing by passing line by line over the paper, spraying ink where the computer commands. In 3D printing the exact same method is used, with a print head moving over a platform and depositing material where commanded. When each layer is done, the platform moves down a click and another layer is built upon the last. Like this device called Makerbot:
This device can use 2 different plastic materials and several colors are available in each. The process is slow, taking several hours to make a finely detailed object. However, slow is relative - it would take hours or even days to complete a similar model by hand. Materials are limited at present, but we may expect that to change as the technology advances.
Even at this stage, the benefits are clear. Obsolete parts, 3D art, and rapid prototyping are just a few of the possible uses. And with a growing library of downloadable object files, you don't need to be an engineer to create useful objects or unique gifts. Talk about your DIY; this is the bomb!
Wait, that was rhetorical; don't build a bomb, please.
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