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'3d-printing a screw' is a way to describe how AI integration is stupid most of the time
(lemmy.dbzer0.com)
this post was submitted on 31 Aug 2025
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Showerthoughts
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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The most popular seem to be lighthearted clever little truths, hidden in daily life.
Here are some examples to inspire your own showerthoughts:
- Both “200” and “160” are 2 minutes in microwave math
- When you’re a kid, you don’t realize you’re also watching your mom and dad grow up.
- More dreams have been destroyed by alarm clocks than anything else
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Getting a little theoretical here
With the current state of the technology, 3d printing lags behind some traditional manufacturing techniques like machining and in terms of speed, cost, quality, available materials, etc. except for some relatively niche cases.
However, that gap is closing a bit every day, it may or may not ever catch up completely or surpass the old technique in those aspects
But if it does ever get close, I could very much see 3d printing being a preferred method
Subtractive manufacturing like machining, by design, creates a lot of waste, all of the chips and off cuts that are removed from the stock are either discarded or require additional energy and/or materials to recycle.
And things like injection molding require custom molds that wear out over time, and can be expensive to design and manufacture
And in either case, you're largely locked into making one thing on an assembly line at a time, and to switch over to a different product you're probably going to need to switch out a lot of the molds and tooling, recalibrate everything, etc. which can be time consuming.
With 3d printing, you could theoretically use only the amount of material that's actually in the finished product (if you design it that it doesn't require any external supports ) you don't need any custom tooling or mold, just generic, interchangeable nozzles (for FDM, LCD screens or lasers or whatever the equivalent is for other printing technologies) and you could switch production from one item to another by just hitting print on a different file.
Again, we're not there, may never be there, but it's a cool thing to think about
There are a lot of things that FDM printing will likely never be better than say injection moulding, and the main thing is speed, as in quantity over time. A single 3d printer might be able to make a plate full of maybe a dozen widgets in a few hours, and in that time, the injection moulding machine will have tens of thousands produced at a higher quality.
On top, 3d printing would require more staff to troubleshoot, clean, re-start prints, remove scaffolding from finished items, sand/polish to remove the layer lines, etc.
What it's great for in an industrial setting, is prototyping. For example, a case for something can be printed, and the plate can be filled with several variants. If a flaw is found or changes needed, then a new batch can get whipped up on the same printer. Once a design is found that is acceptable, the CAD drawings get sent to have moulds created.
Yeah injection molding blows 3d printing costs out of the water if you reach above 10000 units production. Below that 3d printing can make sense, its just not as efficient time wise. You also have to deal with filament parts having different stelrength in different print orientations.