MY MANIFESTO

MY MANIFESTO

DRAFT.

3D PRINTING

Nowadays technology seems to overtake the art of craft. In their book “Fabricated: The New World of 3D Printing” Lipson and Curman describe the sensation of the first time lecturer announced the news about 3d printing. Indeed 3d printing tends to be a very fascinating new technology that takes production to a whole new level.

However is it really that great? Despite all its advantages 3d printing also has its drawbacks.

IT IS NOT FULLY AUTOMATIC

Of course 3d printers have a lot of potential for future development, though it’s abilities shouldn’t be overestimated. 3d printer does not do everything for you. Almost never the desired object will come out of the printer as we see it on the monitor as if it was done with a magic wand. Most of the objects require supporting structure. This structure normally has to be broken off by hand and after that object has to be sandpapered and polished.

PRINTING IMPERFECTIONS

In "(Affective) Craft Manifesto" author talks about the availability and features of material in terms of craft. Plastic is a cheap and available but not perfect in some scenes. Sp another important thing is that the plastic used for 3d printing is pretty fragile and cannot be used for very fine objects. Thin and delicate details of the 3d printed objects will simply break off as the supporting structure is removed. Sometimes it is required to modify and print an object couple of times before it finally meets the author’s expectations.

ENVIRONMENT

Also we should not forget that broken off pieces of plastic that remain after removing the supporting structure are nothing but waste. If we imagine for a second that in 10 years every family will be able to afford having a 3d printer at home, imagine how much plastic waste they will produce per day!

POTENTIAL & CURRENT STATE

The technology is developing and scientists are currently working on the 3d printers that can use recycled plastic, however it is not yet available for the general public. 3d printers have potential to become a great tool for production in future, however at the moment they are imperfect and mass sale of 3d printers to the general public is a great threat to environment.

REFERENCES

(Affective) Craft Manifesto, (2013) the Journal of Modern Craft
Lipson, H., & Kurman, M. (2013). Fabricated: The new world of 3D printing. John Wiley & Sons.