Hi Kurt,

As someone who does 3D printing, I can attest that the designs are the tricky part and it sort of depends on what you’re doing. If I’m designing miniature figures or terrain/building items, I can usually get by with something like Blender3D because I’m only concerned with the outside, as it were. On things that I need to do that are more geared towards precision manufacturing I go to something like Fusion360 because I need to deal with tolerances, fit, etc., as well as potentially needing to run simulations.

I don’t really see the design part getting any simpler, and to be honest, most folks would rather pay for a license for designs than do their own, so you’re likely spot on that there would be design firms who simply license their designs. More interesting is that I used to consult at a large defense contractor that has been delving into 3D printing (laser sintering) for quite some time and my acquaintances who are there assure me that design is a huge part of what they do.

Licensing, of course, is always the issue and usually subject to negotiation like everything else, and yes, there are people who will simply steal the work of others. That might make for an interesting set of scenarios should one want to run essentially a corporate espionage game. However, I don’t see licensing as a drawback, but rather just part of the system.

Best regards,

Chuck

> On May 1, 2024, at 8:10 PM, Kurt Feltenberger - kurt at thepaw.org (via tml list) <xxxxxx@simplelists.com> wrote:
>
> I was watching a video on the current issue of GW once again pissing off a vast number of very vocal players and one of the commenters said, "I'm not going to buy their overpriced stuff anymore, I'll just 3D print it".  That got me to thinking about how disruptive additive manufacturing could be to trade in the 3I.  With a basic amount of technology, you can run printers that will make pretty much anything that can be designed from polymers, metals, and other compounds, and that's just today.  In the past three years I've watched home printers (SLA/resin) go from 1k resolution to 12k, and there's no evidence that the rush is anywhere close to slowing down.  Even sound suppressors are being 3d printed so it's clear that (again, even today) the technology is capable of producing products capable of precision, strength, and durability.  Some printers can even mix production materials.
>
> The biggest drawback I could see would be licensing the actual designs, though I'm sure a licensing fee could be negotiated or the end user just pirated the design.
>
> Thoughts?
>
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> Kurt Feltenberger
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> “Before today, I was scared to live, after today, I'm scared I'm not living enough." - Me
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