Into Fabrication: Are 3D Printers The Bee's Knees?

You know that scene in 1989 Batman, where he grabs Vicki Vale,
points what looks like a weapon at Joker, presses the trigger, the weapon does something utterly useless,

and then as they fly out the door with Ms. Vale fake screaming...
the unhinged Joker goes: "Where does he get these wonderful toys?"

To answer the question,
he designs them himself.

Useless and strange functionality,
like a red button, in the sea of yellow, lies at the heart, of actually owning something for real.

That is my vision of a reasonable wallet,
it comes with a dangerous looking button.

That upon a press, extends its wings,
the wings just happen to hold the bolts of the locking mechanism.

I am happy with a 3D printed plastic version,
but it is possible to print it as wax, and then cast it in Aluminum.

Unless you design something yourself,
the true owners are the Artists, Designers, and Engineers that created it.

The Pink Elephant in the Industrial Design room,
is the fact that people can only own copies of the product.

Not only should we own 3D printers, desktop laser cutters and milling machines,
but we also need to learn the software.

There is nothing more fascinating than learning how to build a hinge for your Purse or Wallet,
plus it maybe something that people who just like knickknacks, maybe interested in purchasing.

Not to mention building your favorite gadgets inside out, at sub millimeter precision scale,
and spending a whole half hour examining the magnificence of your first mechanical device - yikes!

3D printers are not just about printing other people's designs from the internet,
but creating your own, so that you can actually truly own them.

You know how you go to a museum,
and you don't really know what style, or period, or even type of thing you are into?

Once you start designing your own products, you will snap into your own style, period, type, genre, and every other category there is,
your own designs, are your reference point, to every other piece of art - to your own class and style.

I am not much of a car person, precisely because the only people that can really own a car,
are the Artists and Engineers that made it.

But for the first time in my life, I clicked on Automania over at the Museum of Modern Art in New York,
I've3 been staring at the 1960 Airstream Bambi Travel Trailer, deeply unhappy about the square windows.

My goodness, can you imagine the Bambi with with beautiful Yacht-like portholes, what a piece of art that would be,
I wouldn't have noticed the atrocity, if I wasn't examining the fancy round corners for my own product designs.

And High School, where individuality and originality still maters, thank goodness,
once the Highschoolers figure out how easy it is to become an Industrial Product Designers.

They will realize that Maclemore, was actually warning them in his Thrift Shop song,
that paying extra for other peoples designs, is just getting tricked by a business.

Blender modeling tutorials and 3D printers, are not only essential for a Highschooler,
they are critical, because that is the difference between getting tricked and being original - and they are already getting tricked by the crappy education they are getting.

3D Modeling original creations and printing them out on 3D printers,
creates an interesting career path.

High school diploma, and college debt is supposed to lead us to a career,
but in the modern age it just takes a few hours of tutorials to get ready to sell things on online.

It is possible to just sell 3D models, like a modern armored Batman for $3,
or printed models like ugly $20 wallets, or $25 cosplay masks, or $200 futuristic cannons with LED lights.

What is incredible about this,
that nothing needs to be printed until it is actually sold.

Online stores often have a number of sales listed,
the simple Cosplay mask I was looking at sold 7,913 copies which at $24 comes to $189,912.

It maybe rare to make that much money from 3D printed models,
but it is a fine entry point into the world of business - and it certainly makes for powerful daydreams that crush the threat of poverty.

In closing, I would like to add that creating products is not just about 3D modeling, and 3D printers,
it is about learning, and prototyping.

Once a person learns the work-flow and prototypes some BASIC models, they can then pay an experienced designer to create something that they completely understand,
giving the 3D modeler instructions on the subject of decorations, hinges, even texture - and taking that model to an online store that will do the printing for them.

Understanding 3D printing, also marks the comprehension of fabrication, at this point CNC milling machines are a matter of an email to a designer,
moving from plastic to metal takes no effort, and here high quality products can be shipped at high prices.

Not all products require weeks of assembly, the tinkerers are quite satisfied buying kits that are yet to be assembled,
such could be the case with a wallet that comes with a dozen of components and is pure delight to put together with little screw drivers and fancy brass screws.

Creating a metallic terminator skeleton kit, which sells for about $1,000 to $3,000 and probably beyond,
can certainly get a company started.

And what great joy for a young person would it be to both receive shipments of metal or resin terminator skeleton components for painting and sale,
and have a small army in the garage for those who wish to have it shipped overnight - mark my words; any expedition into the world of Fabrication is Bee's Knees.