3D printing seems to be all over the media lately. I already mentioned it in my previous blog post ‘FULL PRINT3D’, but everyone writing these articles seems to be showing only a glimpse of what the technology is capable of. So why not write a series of blog posts to show the versatility of 3D printing? That’s what I thought. I’d like to start with the subject of furniture because I believe 3D printing is taking furniture design to a whole other level. Just ask French designer Patrick Jouin, who actually created the first large scale scale furniture pieces through 3D printing technology together with. MGX. It’s no surprise Materialise’s big mammoth stereolithography 3D printers had something to do with it. Here are, in no particular order, 5 amazing furniture piece made with 3D printing.

The Dutch rapid-prototyping juggernaut recently acquired a shiny new selective laser sintering machine capable of popping out stuff that’s more than twice the size of what you could make before. The printer, which works by building 3-D objects layer by layer, manufactures pieces that are up to 28 inches wide by 23 inches tall and 15 inches deep -- about as big as a fish tank.

That’s a huge deal for Shapeways’s designers. Used to be, if you wanted to SLS something much larger than a shoebox, you had to print it out in pieces then somehow paste 'em all together. Now, you can create objects, whether a lamp or the world’s biggest 3-D printed Rubik’s Cube, that are totally seamless. It’s also perfect for architects, who can rapid-prototype complete 3-D models quickly and easily (instead of forcing the poor intern to do everything by hand).

Urbee is the first prototype car ever to have its entire body 3D printed with an additive process. All exterior components – including the glass panel prototypes – were created using Dimension 3D Printers and Fortus 3D Production Systems at Stratasys' digital manufacturing service – RedEye on Demand.

FDM lets us eliminate tooling, machining, and handwork, and it brings incredible efficiency when a design change is needed. If you can get to a pilot run without any tooling, you have advantages."

Making creation simpler. Everyone writes about 3-D printing, and the first question is always, When is the first printer on your desktop?' It’s not the right question. Yes, it will be on your desk. But what are you going to make with it? Either you have to learn 3-D software, which is hard and most people cannot learn it because it’s complex. I, for one, cannot. Or you need to find a way to make content accessible. A customization platform is something people would love to use because they get whatever they want in an easy way. Our only rule about what we make is: We like to keep it decent and no weapons. Everything else is possible.

Notons comment son objectif est de travailler pour le client.

We have 3-D movies and 3-D TV prototypes, so when are the 3-D printers coming? In actuality, 3-D printers have been around for awhile--they're used by product designers and architects to create 3-D plastic models from 3-D digital designs. And now with this week's announcement that 3-D printer manufacturer Stratasys has teamed up with Hewlett-Packard to make an HP-branded model later this year, the printers could finally come down in price.
The HP model will still be expensive, of course. Stratsys' cheapest model, the uPrint 3-D, costs $14,900 and can print objects up to eight inches by six inches by six inches. HP isn't announcing details about its line until mid-2010, but we're guessing that they will be on the less expensive side. In a statement, Stratasys CEO Scott Crump said, "We believe the time is right for 3-D printing to become mainstream." Even though Crump was talking about becoming mainstream in the design market (not the home market), prices will still have to be lowered a bit before the printers can become mainstream in any market.
There are already options for enterprising designers and tinkerers who can't afford a Stratasys model. MakerBot Industries offers its own open-source DIY 3-D printer. The basic kit costs just $750 and the deluxe model costs $950--much more accessible than professionally-assembled 3-D printers. MakerBot uses similar technology to Stratasys, but so far it only ships approximately 1,800 units a year. Once HP brings 3-D printing to the masses, how long could it possibly be before people discover that MakerBot offers the same technology on the cheap?

Rapid Prototyping goes home. It's not the machine, it's the possibilities!