As noted in our ETCentric CES coverage, the cost of 3D printing is coming down and may soon be entering mainstream adoption.
For example: “The price has come down enough that Ted Griffiths offers 3D printing services at his Buckley mailroom business, one of the first examples of a retail 3D printing,” reports the Bonney Lake-Sumner Courier Herald in Washington.
“I’m working very closely with (printer manufacturer) 3D Systems,” said Griffiths, the owner of Diane’s Mailroom. “They have equipment that costs in the millions of dollars. I’m networked with them, so if anyone comes in with a really big 3D modeling job, I can just upload it to them and they’ll ship it out.”
Griffiths has an in-house 3D printer in the back corner of the store, and maintains a computer station with 3D modeling programs (including Blender and AutoCAD). Customers can rent time at the station for $15 an hour.
“I think what we’re going to see here is some Do-It-Yourself engineers who come in to work on their designs on our station,” Griffith said. “And they can build the prototype right here from our printer.”
ETCentric staffer Philip Lelyveld predicts that there will soon be a Kinkos-like national service for 3D printing.
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