[cdtwoaway]

Agreed. We (engineering department in a medium scale scientific facility) use 3D printing for rapid prototyping and as temporary solutions.

Quite often, people walk into my office and need data acquisition /measurement / control solutions for completely random problems. Quite often, that requires me to build solutions to mount sensors/actuators to random equipment, or I want to pack everything into a neat box. For this, 3D printing is ideal (we have a Stratasys printer). The inhouse metal workshop is too slow (and requires more sophisticatated drwings), 3D printing can deliver within hours.. and I can iteratively change things. I don't use sophisticated tools, software like Google Sketchup is trivial to use.

Still. 3D printed solutions are rarely permanent. The durability is limited and cleanliness is an issue (the surface quality is bad, and I'm worried about outgassing). So in the end, I end up replacing most parts with aluminium & steel. I have thought about "3D printed metal" (shapeways etc) as a second step, but haven't tried that yet.

[new299]

I've started experimenting with 3D printed ceramics (on the Form2). It seems like a useful material for a number of applications (less thermal expansion than the resins, and less than aluminium).

Firing is a pain, and you need to compensate for shrinkage. But it could be interesting.