The advent of 3D printing is enabling consumers and businesses to create everything from intricate metal jewellery to customised plastic iPod cases, but the ease with which designs can be turned into objects holds open a door to a new wave of digital piracy.
3D printing involves the gradual layering and bonding of materials such as plastics, ceramics and metals to build up a 3D object. It has been used in manufacturing for rapid prototyping, where its convenience has outweighed its high cost.
Now the technology is poised to go mainstream in the production of parts and consumable items. The German 3D printer manufacturer EOS, for instance, is now able to create metal objects as robust as cast parts, and often as strong as forged parts. More than half of its printers are sold for production manufacturing, rather than prototyping, with strong interest from the aerospace industry due to the complexity and lightweight nature of printed parts.
3D printing: saviour or piracy tool? | Stuff.co.nz
And we should all unite to smite theese terrarists!
I.O. They must be doing something right.