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by gonzo41 1390 days ago
And all 11 of those will still be in landfill when your childrens children are old and dying. It's a pity they didn't make them out of metals that could be easily recycled.
1 comments

Just curious what metals would be affordable and durable that would not bring the cost of cheap printers up too high?
All of them, Aluminium is 2.49 USD per KG, steel is like 4 times cheaper.

We use plastics because they can be moulded into any shape in seconds. Aluminium is used for premium products instead of steel because it's easier to manufacture into shape - you can cut an aluminium beam as large as your arm with a hacksaw in a minute or two. If that was structural steel, you would batrely make a dent in hours. This reflects on wear of cutting and shaping equipment in factories too.

Stainless steel is the king of materials, but a bitch to work with, that's why you only ever see simple shapes made out of it.

An oxy/acetylene torch can cut steel in seconds. Plasma also.
There really aren't any sadly. Maybe cast magnesium, like in sewing machines. It'd be better if the printer was built out of some bio-polymer plastic so it just fell apart after 20 years. But we're rapidly getting to a paperless society so give it 10-20 years it'll be less of an issue.