- What question/problem did you choose?
I chose to ask if I would be able to sustain a business by utilizing only a 3D printer, a computer, and electricity to run it.
- Tell why you chose this topic and why it matters to you.
I chose this topic because I am interested in the emancipation from normal career paths. The benefits that a normal 3D printer provide are significant and could perhaps be sufficient to develop thorough prototypes which could then be communicated to injection molding or even in-house production of products.
- Give some details on the problem/question—explain it in depth.
I am currently developing a shot glass mold that could be sold to people and businesses. This mold is something that I have been able to manufacture through use of a 3D print which has then been filled with liquid silicon. This would be the final product for consumers. I want to learn more about other methods of creating molds by oneself with limited access to resources. It would be a unique capacity of the business already established to be able to sell to foreign locations by setting up booths with product to be purchased by consumers. It would be another way of advertising while I would be able to travel.
Current 3D printers are inexpensive and require only basic CAD programs to develop complex products to be printed. There are 3D printers sold as low as $300 but these often are wrought with problems or lack of accuracy to the original CAD file. There is a new 3D printer technology developed that utilizes UV light and photopolymer to create 3D prints. These prints are very accurate, however the cost of the 3D printer is around $3,500. The time for a 3D print varies by size and complexity but often runs are less than 10 hours, or almost the amount of time I would be sleeping. What is unique about the ability to make 3D print molds is that production can increase without having to wait the 10 hours. It would be an interesting idea to explore this as an actual means of sustaining a business that had a variable location.
Even small rural villages that had electricity that could be utilized over long periods of time would be sufficient to run a business entirely based off of 3D printing and casting molds. This flexibility is something I do not think has been adequately explored yet.
- List out 10 tangible people/places/things that are associated with your question/problem. • In your post, plea
- UV 3D printer
- Inexpensive Printrbot 3D printer
- Mold for making a letter for a shot glass mold
- Other in-house molds
- Injection mold
- Rural community with electricity
- Spain with electricity
- Markets to sell products abroad
- Advertisement
- Exploration
- Borrow a strategy
Artist: Norton Flavell
Title: Lucky Country Sculpture
I intend to borrow the juxtaposition between beautiful location with a non-intuitive object; in the case of the photo it is a ball attached to a chain that is lifted off the ground.
