

3D printing

A third-world dimension

A new manufacturing technique could help poor countries as well as rich ones

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Readers' comments



Beyond the techno-utopia official ideology of this newspaper 3D is just part of the process of automation of machines manufacturing other machines and throwing humans out of work, as the new blue robot collars and white pc collar workers show; But as machines, organisms of metal, evolve and displace and extinguish man, humans will enjoy their extinction cheering their masters, 'four legs, four legs'.


Kudos to the students for innovating around the rules to gain audience for something bigger. Reminds me of when the Indianapolis 500 was nearly won by a car powered by a gas turbine. They changed the rules the next year.
As far as 3D printing, I suspect it would make more sense to recycle the waste into low-quality sheet plastic, then teach the villagers how to make forms from clay, sand, trees (hopefully not endangered ones) etc. and thermo-form,rivet, tape, staple, etc. the finished product together. Much lower tech and more likely to work. Rain collectors? Doesn't sound like a suitable 3D printing sweet spot. Toilets don't either.
As another comment said, people who want to make commodity items in low income places using high-tech haven't been close enough to manufacturing.
I think 3D printing will have valid applications. They already do in prototyping, short-run tooling, and some very high-tech part making where weight or form are the key issues (and the raw materials are not waste milk jugs). Making the same thing over and over again doesn't seem like it would be anywhere near the top of the list for this technology in the near future.

Jim Bullis

Three dimensional printing is exciting for students, politicians, and news reporters, and others of naivity who have never been involved in manufacturing much of anything. Even digital technology giants flock to a new 'killer ap' that might sound technologyish.
Ok, I am being too harsh. Maybe a toilet? Nope, not even that makes much sense. Has anyone checked the price of a toilet at Home Depot, where they sell mold casted clay products are stamped out quickly for next to nothing. Does anyone think polyethylene competes with teak as to strength and durability? At least the bucket was dismissed by our correspondent.
I struggle to think of anything serious that can be manufactured by printing plastic. Does it compete with injection molding? Nope, hardly ever. Does it compete with stamped metal? Nope, you have to be kidding. How about welded steel, a cheap and very useful technology? Nope, not even close.
Chinese junks (great ships that is) are marvelous uses of teak technology, though I doubt building these was ever thought of as easy labor.
I still line up with President Obama, but his attempt to sound industrial by announcing a grant etc. for 3-D pringing development in Eastern Ohio shows how he lacks both sense and staff that understands such things.
I am waiting for Candidate Romney to organize a conglomerate around this 3-D stuff and sell it to China, though he would surely retain marketing franchises in the USA so he could claim to be creating jobs.
We are just now testing a personal tractor (Get it, like the personal computer?) to make farm labor something reasonable for a human to do. Look at youtube to see it as Miastrada Dragon. For a demonstration model we used welded sheet metal, though in mass production the steel could be mostly stamped out in dies in a factory for peanut money. I struggle to find a use for 3-D printing anywhere in this machine.
Ok, maybe a liner for the battery tray. Nope, just cut that out of sheet plastic with three seconds of labor.
Perhaps the excitement over 3-D printing shows we are washed up as a manufacturing nation. Poorer countries (like China) must be laughing themselves silly as they stoke up to build real products.


3D printers is apparently becoming the new way of manufacturing, according to this article. But they can only produce a single item at a time and each item takes time. It is great for the complex forms that could not be made earlier, but for manufacturing it might not be the best solution. Another method seen a couple months ago, though only used for complex designs and art, is to use sand as the modelling material. It is something that can be found everywhere in the world. Also, using them in third world may not be the best use for these techniques. The printers have to be run by a computer and the designs are made in a 3D design software. In the thirds world, they might not have the resources and knowledge to run the independently for an extended period of time.


3D printing is still using the plotter paradigm - I apologize for this big word. The jet heads need to be able to rotate, "print" in any plane, not just horizontal planes, and be able to move around freely. Once they do that the size issue disappears. There are probably companies out there designing the next generation of 3D printers. The ultimate goal could be the printer robot, which could do things like paint your house or splash a copy of a picture on a wall. Too bad I can't rent one right now, instead of spending the next week painting our living room... and probably making a big mess. Oh well...


Great article. Congrats to the UW team.

But, dear Sirs, "third world"? Seriously? I'm hoping it was just because you wanted to be all clever about the threes.


And another thing, you missed the point. People in remote villages don't have access to a supply chain or DIY store that would have buckets available. Hence the printer, to make most things that they would have no access to.

Matt Rogge

Hi, I'd like to make a clarification. The boat that the WOOF group printed for the Milk Carton Derby was worked on by a larger student group. Three other students in particular that made equally large contributions to the project are Adam Commons, Mark Hanson and Brandon Pomeroy.


-Matt Rogge


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