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Old 09-07-2017, 04:39 AM   #16
vicky_molokh
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Default Re: How hard is it to acquire raw materials for 3D printing?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil Masters View Post
Has minifacturing canonically displaced traditional systems in most cases? I don't recall that, and it seems unlikely. Specialist production systems will surely always be more efficient for any given single task than generalised systems, so anything for which there's reasonably reliable substantial demand will be produced by conventional factories, which can out-compete the minifactories.
It's on its way, and currently is described as having displaced 'part' of it:
Quote:
Originally Posted by TS69
This technology has partially replaced conven-
tional brick-and-mortar distribution and retailing with
“print on demand” goods.
Producing using traditional means may be cheaper if you brute-force through the roof of a certain scale, but it's also often worse quality than minifactoring:
Quote:
Originally Posted by TS69
3D printers are able to produce very complex or
durable materials (often lighter or stronger than those pro-
duced by conventional casting or forging), since it is sim-
ple for the layering process to arrange the microstructure
of materials for maximum strength.
Also, the operation/feedstock aren't the bottleneck for 3D printers:
Quote:
Originally Posted by TS69
Although
a multipurpose 3D printer can be expensive, the primary
operating cost is licensing the software.
Finally, the tech is good enough to make computers, and computers tend to be pretty close to the edge of miniaturization for any given TL:
Quote:
Originally Posted by TS69-70
The creation of
complicated devices (such as a modern computer)
requires programs of high complexity, as their construc-
tion can require hundreds of thousands (or more) of indi-
vidual layers.
[ . . . ]
Nanotechnology is a broad range of technologies and
products whose characteristic dimensions are less than
about 1,000 nanometers. In short, nanotechnology is the
engineering of individual molecules and atoms.
[ . . . ]
Nanofabrication
This is the ultimate version of 3D printing (see
Minifacturing, p. 69).
[ . . . ]
These include
molecular computers, self-assembling “smart ink” used by
3D printers, and various types of nanomachines.
I have to say that this is one of those time when I get the feeling that the radical-hard-SF Transhuman Space TL is being dragged back down to safetech/less-radical assumptions of microtech on the forum.
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