[sf-lug] Any interest in 3D printing?

[Bobbie Sellers]

On 10/15/2011 11:33 PM, Eric P. Scott wrote:
> Your timing was impeccable.  ;-)
>
> Criminals find novel uses for 3D printing
> <http://www.macworld.com/article/162988/2011/10/criminals_find_novel_uses_for_3d_printing.html>
>
> 					-=EPS=-

     Indeed criminals find their own uses for any new tech that comes 
along and making hand
cuff keys is novel certainly but the cuffs are made so that a hairpin 
could pick them.

     As for making parts of guns I would care to fire such weapon unless 
the part duplicated
was the stock and the material used for printing out could equal wood in 
strength.  As for
receivers and other stressed metal parts there is a reason that they are 
usually made from
high quality machined or forged steel.  I doubt much that the sintered 
material used in
the printers I have seen demoed are up to that strength.
     The exploit with the ATM card recording machine has been in use for 
years and the
doing it by of a 3D printer saves a little time which is certainly a 
negligible advantage.

     If the stock used in the Printer could be recycled then we might 
have a very useful
way to produce items used once and discarded.   If it can be made with 
adequate
strength then weapons used by criminals could be destroyed.  Looks like 
credit/debit
and passkey cards could be duplicated which could be used for lawful and 
unlawful
purposes.
     You might want to look at the Super Notes story if you want to see 
what old tech is
capable of.  $100 bills with only 2 small imperfections which so far 
only specialized
machines have been able to detect.  The imperfection relate to two 
printed letters
not being the proper distance apart and a color changing ink which 
deviates in performance
from the standard.  It is supposed to look green to black but instead is 
a green to magenta.

     Bobbie Sellers