3D PRINTSHOP OF THE FUTURE

Get ready to print car parts, robots, wedding cakes, and even yourself.

WRITTEN BY TOM BURTONWOOD

As 3D printers permeate homes and schools, the neighborhood 3D printshop can’t be far behind. What will it look like?

Like a bike shop, you’ll bring machines for repair, upgrades, and calibration. Like a skate shop, kids will congregate to hack DIY machines (and print custom gear). “Internet café” variants will specialize in 3D printing foodstuffs. Other functions I predict (some are already happening):

3D FEDEX/KINKO’S

Apartment buildings will have a printshop where residents can copy objects or pick up things their brother-in-law “3D-faxed” to them (see page 100), using complex, multimaterial machines that don’t fit in ...

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