3D Printing

[Mrlegoninja]

3D Printing sounds like a great idea, but I don't think that the technology is far enough yet.

Personal home 3D printers must cost at least a thousand dollars. In addition, you would have to replace nylon cartridges once they run out.

3D printed parts also wouldn't be ABS. They would by nylon. I am not sure how these would interact with regular Lego minifigures.

Finally, a personal one would not be detailed enough. You would have to learn how to sketch in 3D space with programs that are complex, and I don;t think I'd be committed enough to complete a project.

I think someday it could even become a part of our everyday lives, but for now, I think I'll stick to actual Lego, and professionals (i.e BrickArms) who know exactly what they're doing.

It is brilliant though. If only I had my own Shapeways machine.

[Alternator]

It's interesting - and I think will be good for Lego and for hobbyists... I don't see doom and gloom for TLG for these reasons:

1) Really the question for Lego is, will someone choose to print their own vs buying it from Lego, sure someone could go to the trouble of printing their own set, but there are still quite a few considerations:

- Length of time to print a set, lets say 200 pieces for a smaller set

- Getting good colouring for those parts

- Durability and longevity of the part (both material and colour)

- Tolerances and quality

- And then there is the biggy - Price... I can't picture a small scale production of a set to be cost competitive vs a large scale injection moulded run... after all there are plenty of costs involved with 3D printing (power, wear and tear, materials, aquiring schematics, etc)

Also 3D printers <> (~=, !=, do not) equal those magical replicators in Star Trek where something materialises in seconds and it's both a complex item and perfect.

2) If people want a slightly cheaper alternative or slightly different blocks, they can already buy Megablocks and the like, and some do, but a lot of us love Lego not the "I can't believe it's not Lego" variety.

3) A bit of an aside but I did see someone comment on printing a Star Trek set because Lego didn't make one - it would be cool to see Lego Star Trek sets, but we're in no way prevented from making Lego Star Trek models right now with existing Lego pieces. Although we could prefab bigger pieces of the build, that seems more like getting into the realm of hobby modelling rather than Lego modelling.

4) If 3D printing was able to offer comparable quality parts in a respectable time-frame and cost, I could picture Lego themselves operating an expanded Pick-A-Brick utilising this option... My prediction is that this would be about 5 yrs off, and even then I think that it would be more as an experiment by TLG to see what kind of results they could get from it.

What I'm curious of, is what has the experience been of people printing Lego parts currently? I mean there are plenty of people out there who already have 3D printers. I did see the link in this thread about the one off parts that were ordered, they were actually quite a bit better looking than I would've expected! But has anyone tried to go further and make pieces for a whole model?

Where I think this will be great is people printing those custom parts that solve a problem, or perhaps parts that Lego no longer make and are otherwise hard to acquire. Custom features and custom minifigs too!

On a similar topic what I'd like to see is the ability to replicate sticker sheets - I know it is doable now, and some businesses even offer it, I haven't tried myself yet though. But I would also like to see those sheets from official sets easier to replicate in the home (I'm not sure whether that is something TLG would be happy with or not??)

Edited May 30, 2013 by Alternator

[SpiderSpaceman]

As an engineering student on summer break, I'm working more hours and putting off some set collecting in order to buy a 3d printer by the end of June (been intent on doing so since at least last fall).

I WILL be prototyping with it, and I will definitely prototype lego parts, and I will most definitely be attempting to make a bucketful of original homebrew Bionicle figures. My expectations are obviously not to create production quality items, but I can create to my personal satisfaction.

The designer of Xevoz proved the concept of using 3d printing for production of ball jointed models: http://www.shapeways...hops/kidmechano

I'm a CAD addict, and I'd been searching for months for something akin to the program SolidWorks without need of a good computer or big money (I got a lot of use out of the educational downloads of Autodesk software ). One day it popped into my mind to check for a browser based CAD solution, and I found an excellent, intuitive, easy service. The big computing was done remotely (cloud service) and the developers/service providers were going to discontinue the whole site, but days ago Autodesk stepped in to purchase it and keep it running. Soooo I want to invite absolutely everyone to sign up on http://www.tinkercad.com for your computer modeling needs. Lego building (an intuition for combining shapes into things) is about all the experience required to use it.

https://tinkercad.com/things/gvNWM3OKVAK-minithug

https://tinkercad.com/things/0J0nRQXap8R-surprising-duup

https://tinkercad.com/things/1bgiWxT9lLH-batnaut-helm

Edited May 30, 2013 by SpiderSpaceman

[Omicron]

A lot of designers have been using Shapeways to bring their designs to fruition.

-Omi

Edited May 30, 2013 by Omicron

[Arigomi]

One thing that 3D printers will have trouble making are transparent parts. The process of printing an object layer by layer has a tendency to create visible streaks in the material.

[Daiman]

I have only read the breadth of this thread but can see some clearway to this subject. I think that Lego enthusiasts will always buy lego products,

also it would be a pain to wait about 1/2 hour per piece ( just guessing) when you can purchase around 200 in the same time.

3D printed parts are always likely to require a 'cleanup' time as the resolution to make them as smooth as a traditional part is unlikely ( I may be wrong)

3D printers do give us the ability to create our own parts which is great but TLC already produce enough to make anything as we have seen on MOC sites such as this.

TLG already faces stiff competition from companies basically making their designs so throw copyright out the window unless you reverse engineer LDD parts for that purpose.

So to sum up I think that while printers will enable us new personalized parts I think that the brick will live on, after all TLG has invested a lot of moola in their endevour...

[Omicron]

One thing that 3D printers will have trouble making are transparent parts. The process of printing an object layer by layer has a tendency to create visible streaks in the material.

Shapeways can do it. And BrickForge, BrickArms and Arealight have made trans clear parts.

-Omi

[JopieK]

but do they use 3D printing, the probably use moulds I think.

Lego is looking for a 3D printing specialist.

That is very interesting... they might want to use that as a way of rapid prototyping new parts of course!!!

[SpiderSpaceman]

also it would be a pain to wait about 1/2 hour per piece ( just guessing) when you can purchase around 200 in the same time.

You wouldn't print one part at a time though. You'd arrange as many parts as could fit on your build platform.

[Omicron]

but do they use 3D printing, the probably use moulds I think.

Shapeways doesn't.

BrickArms, BrickForge, and Arealight do use molding. But that doesn't take away from the fact they still use trans clear material.

-Omi

[lego fox]

it would be nice to make parts that you do not have, do not exist, or are modified from normal pices. I know that I would print out if I had the space and set up full ship halls and aircraft wings, but not really bulk parts.

[Holodoc]

For those who understand German, there is an interesting report about 3D-printing here.

All others use Google translate.

For me it's an easy thing: It's an improvement to be able to print whatever you like.

BUT if you transfer this to LEGO builing this isn't pure LEGO anymore.

What's the fun to just print what you don't have? I'd call it rather lazy in first place.

The clever builder uses the "limited" parts originally made from TLC and tricky MOCing solutions.

Here's what I saw on an exhibition in Cologne last year:

Good looking, no question, but clever?

[Superkalle]

The clever builder uses the "limited" parts originally made from TLC and tricky MOCing solutions.

+1

What you wrote Holodic, is exactly what LEGO is all about. If you start going away from that, you can just as well become a traditional model builder using clay, balsa wood or whatever.

OK, ranting over.

What 3D-printing could be used for:

- Testing ideas for new parts (typical TLG use)

- Testing market responsivness for new concepts (TLG use)

- Placeholders while waiting for real bricks to arrive (fan use)

- Minifig accessories (for those into that).

- Replacing lost bricks (typically for kids or parents replacing a few bricks.. But thinking about it, I guess they would then need the digital designs....and then it might be simpler to order from LEGO Customer Services or BL....but...maybe Toy-stores in the future can offer quality assured 3D-printed parts over the counter? Hm, tricky one).

What 3D-printing is not suitable for

- "True" MOC-ing. For the reasons given above.

- Replacement for normal bricks. The surface tolerances, colors and shape precision is not even close to molded parts, and probably won't be a for a long, long time. Also, safety aspects (toxic contests in plastic, sharp edges on breakage etc) can never be controlled in the same was as with real LEGO bricks. Just imagine the scenario with a DUPLO-printed part that breaks and parts get's stuck in a childs throat...and the legal consequences after that. Who is responsible, how will it affect the good reputation of LEGO as building toy, what will be the implications?

[GregoryBrick]

You wouldn't print one part at a time though. You'd arrange as many parts as could fit on your build platform.

The point is that there are significant production limitations, such as the printing area, which won't improve as quickly as resolution and price (for example), and will meet hard limits much sooner. You won't be printing 200 elements in one go very quickly. If you print ten parts at once instead of one, the print time will be longer, and the parts will still have to be prepped and treated after the fact. The gap between the time/effort to make 200 bricks and to order them from PAB or BL is a stubborn one.

So: it may be fun to tinker with, for one-offs or custom bricks, but it is hard to imagine it replacing current methods for acquiring lots of elements.

[poserverse]

A local hobby shop near where I live has a 3d printer. They use it to print parts that are missing for old model trains and for custom parts. I had asked the owner about printing up something for me and he said that he wouldn't do it because it was something that I could have ordered from him. He told me if it is on the shelf or can be ordered he won't print it.

[Dharkan]

Accessories? Yes.

Parts? No.

We (at least majority of Lego fans) always rejected using parts which has not produced by Lego. I don't think anything could or should ever change this.

[Debricker]

3d printing has to be a great help in starting a custom lego company I was planing of buying one

[Eccohawk]

I did a bit of research on this very topic a couple months back for a post on Quora. Figured it'd be good to link to it here. http://www.quora.com/LEGO/Will-3D-printing-eventually-put-LEGO-out-of-business

[James_T_Menendez]

My first 3D print:

[Superkalle]

I did a bit of research on this very topic a couple months back for a post on Quora. Figured it'd be good to link to it here. http://www.quora.com...out-of-business

Interesting read. Thanks for the link

[autorazr]

Theres a 3D printer at my job now, and our technologist tinkers with it all day and so far has managed to create uselss little baubles that fall apart and look really scruffy. I don't think the tech is there yet. At this point anything you model may require sanding, filling and painting if you want more than one color and for it to look good. With something as small as a lego piece, it might be impossible to sand fill paint and have it retain its buildability. Theres also the time it takes to print, the energy requirements (pretty sure they aren't energy star certified) and the wasting of materials used in experiementation, and let me tell you, everytime you use that thing its an experiment, in fact it says right on it "experimental 3D Printer." So I dont think its cost effective anyway. Having some experience with both 3D printing and molding, I say for custom lego, go with molding for now.

[Holodoc]

My first 3D print:

NIce idea! Why didn't you do it in some dark gray colour?

Anyway - is it working?

[James_T_Menendez]

Yesssss!!!, the next week I will have one roll.

Only printed this, provided with the machine, for practice.

The local provider don't have it.

And yes, It works!!!!

The proble is the support material because its a lage surface and tiny and clean it very carefully to don´t break. I don´t have te tools but in Wensday solve this problem and take images of it.

Edited June 10, 2013 by James_T_Menendez

[gsky9]

Hi All

New member here. I was searching for 3d printing of Lego bricks when I came across this thread. Was interesting to read through all the posts. Just to let you guys know, in case you had not heard, there is a new 3d printer out... and it's less than US$500!!

Check out this news: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57587371-1/home-3d-printer-for-under-$500-excites-kickstarter/

Home 3D printer for under $500 excites Kickstarter

[James_T_Menendez]

Very cool look but use propietary technology, and in my case the ABS or PLA standar is based in filament bobines, much cheaper and not dependant of maker's machine.

I compared with laser and ink printing technologies in term of printing cost of course.

This printer is the equivalent of ink print, cheap in short period of time and low production.

It's a technology very young with much potential.