Cheap Home 3D Printing: The Next Big Thing?

The New High-End, Low-Cost 3D
Printer from MIT

Tired of having to go out to the store to buy every little thing you need? Imagine being able to create the plastic piece that broke off of your expensive new television set, a pair of high heel shoes, a new bicycle, or even a hand gun in the comfort of your own home? Cheap 3D printing technology will soon allow you to do that, according to many experts.

"Personal" 3D printers are getting more powerful and less expensive every day. They've been used in industry for over 20 years but, up until very recently, they were way too costly to be accessible to most people. New technology innovations are changing that very quickly.

In fact, many experts believe that in-home 3D printers will become almost as common as normal inkjet paper printers eventually. Even "professional-grade" 3-dimensional printing technology is quickly becoming more affordable.

One group of engineers from MIT recently launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise money for a new type of very "high-resolution" 3D printer -- called the "Form 1" -- that will sell for less than $3,000... far less than the $30,000+ price tag high-end printers were selling for just a couple of years ago. The group has already raised over a million dollars for the project.

According to Formlabs engineer Maxim Labovsky:

"The product is definitely not targeted towards the mass consumer... It produces parts like you can't get anywhere else with any other low-cost machine... It's a complete package -- easy to use and well-designed -- and I think it's a first of its kind."

3D printing may not become a totally mainstream phenomenon for several more years. But already thousands of hobbyists, including many engineers and designers, are using the machines to create plastic products and metal parts. Some chefs are even using them to created very intricately detailed food products!

One of the companies leading the pack in the home 3D printing field is Makerbot. Their machines are very affordable (a new model, the "Replicator 2", recently went on sale for $2,200) and can use thousands of open-source, downloadable designs from the company's "Thingiverse" database.

Makerbot is planning to open stores where potential customers can see with their own eyes just how amazing this new, lower-cost technology is.

We say: We want one! If cheap home 3D printers will allow us to avoid making trip to Home Depot and Walmart we predict they will quickly become the best-selling consumer product in the world!

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Learn some mo': Home 3-D printing is getting affordable

And check out this cool video: