8 Very Useful Products Made with 3D Printers

3D Printing has come on leaps and bounds over even the past three or four years. It’s become an activity that people can do in their own homes, and as a result, more and more crazy ideas and printed objects are being created. Therefore, we thought it would be fun to come up with a list of some of the most interesting things to be ever created with a 3d printer as it’ll be interesting to see what purposes people have for them. So let’s get into 8 interesting products made with 3d printers.

1:3 Scale Aston Martin DB5

One of the most beautiful cars ever made, and as a result, one of the most expensive and rare cars you can get your hands on is not something you should be making explode and setting on fire. Therefore, when the creators of Skyfall needed to do exactly that in a scene for the film, they recreated the Aston Martin DB5 in a 1:3 scale replica. This allowed them do all the crashes and stunts they needed without spending the hundreds of thousands of pounds on the real life cars.

Dinosaur Bones

Dinosaurs are arguably one of the greatest historical interests in the world. However, considering how many raptors and Tyrannosaurs Rex’s we’ve seen run across our screens, there’s in fact only ever been 12 Raptors found in the world and even less models of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Therefore, Dr. Kenneth Lacovara created a replica of a bone using a 3d printer to send off for analysis, allowing multiple people to work on the exact same structure.

Dead People’s Faces

3D Printing is even taking the place of clay-workers who spend hours perfecting the look of a person. When King Richard III was found in a Leicester car park, they used the skeletal remains of his skull to recreate what his exact face would have looked like via the use of 3d printing. This was a quicker and far more accurate portrayal than the likes of a clay-worker would have been able to muster. Such a clever use of the growing product.

Exoskeletons

Printed by Stratasys, a polymer exoskeleton was created for a young girl as a support device for a severe medical deformity she was born with. The girl was born with a birth defect that left her body twisted and so she required medical support. The 3d printed exoskeleton weighed far less than a usual metal one due to the material used. Plus, as the girl grows older, it will be far easier to accommodate for her new sizes by printing out exoskeletons as opposed to building metal ones.

Dental Mould

Another example of when 3d printing can come in handy due to the price advantage is the ability to 3d print dental moulds for people with less-than-perfect teeth. Not only is the polymer that is used cheaper but is also can be made quicker and produced faster than the traditional metal materials that were used before. It opens up the prospect of having cheaper dental care for both the patient and the government too.

Lego Bricks

One of the biggest problems that will surely come around in the next few years as 3d printing becomes more home-based and becomes easier to access will be the question of restrictions on what people can print. One of the first examples of this is that people have been 3d-printing Lego pieces to help finish their Lego builds without going out and buying a spare box of Legos. As aforementioend, this brings up the question as to what is legal and what isn’t when it comes to plagiarism of printing objects.

Scooters

3d Systems created a 3d-printed motorised scooter just to prove that it could be done and that transport manufacturing didn’t have to be the incredibly expensive business it is today. If we start at scooters, cutting down their costs to <$1000 then cars will surely drop too as 3d printing experiments more and works harder on bringing stronger and more car-safe materials to the pipeline. We could certainly see people printing off their own transportation at home. Or businesses offering you the service.

A Hydroelectric Generator

Scientists are constantly trying to find a permanent answer to replacing electricity. The 3D printing community have come up with an alternative, and it uses waves. The initial prototype, which was 3d-printed top to bottom, uses water to turn a dynamo that creates a charge. It’s a significant by small step towards renewable energy and a new form of energy that doesn’t rely solely on a technology that can easily explode.