Reader Bert found this, and in his function as an engineer, he comments:
It may not be obvious at first, but 3D printing is the only way to make the game pieces shown in that article. At least some of the pieces are impossible to mold, no matter what technique would be used. And those pieces that could be molded would end up being very expensive because they would have to be made as multiple parts, each part requiring a complex and expensive mold, and then assembled by hand.
But since we're not talking of your typical 10$ board game, 3D printing is a viable option even for production (a single 25K$ printer could make a few dozen pieces every day).
True mass-production of the game would require the pieces to be greatly simplified and reduced in size; that certainly would no longer be art...
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What allows them to do this is the software that combines multiple images of an object and produces a 3D description which can then be fed to a printer.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is that it allows anyone to easily duplicate any small sculptures. Shapeways will even turn them into some very nice silver pieces.
Ja jeg har da selv spekuleret over hvad hulen man skulle bruge sådan en 3d-printer til, udover plastik armbånd... Sally
ReplyDeleteSally, we are only scraping the surface of what 3D will be used for. I just saw an article about it being used on space stations to make things which otherwise might not ever get there. And it twenty years it might built parts for a *whole* space station, in orbit!!
ReplyDeleteIt can print in iron or silver too, not just plastic.