Desktop Printer

Desktop Printer

Desktop Factory Makes 3D Printing Available To Households

The concept of 3D printing has been in existence for more than a decade and yet its usage is still not that popular outside the fields of engineering, architecture and manufacturing. The fact that this concept is slowly creeping into the world of art, medicine and education in recent years does not answer the basic question of when 3D printing will be available to the ordinary household consumer.

That day may come sooner than we think. Certainly most industrial-grade 3D printers are still too expensive at around $15,000 a pop to be brought into ordinary households. Homemade 3D printers created using open source plans downloaded from fabber websites may be a lot cheaper and exciting to build for geeks, but the layman will have trouble building them.

What then is the solution? A company called Idealab came up with a cheaper alternative to industrial-grade 3D printers that do not require DIY stunts which is the only way a fabber would work. This alternative is called the Desktop Factory.

What Is the Desktop Factory?

The Desktop Factory is a 3D printer that you can put right on your desktop. At 25 x 20 x 20 inches, it is rather bigger than your ordinary desktop inkjet printer, but you definitely would not need an extra table for it unless you really have to. It is also quite a heavy gadget, weighing approximately 90 lbs.

Just like with 3D printers made with fabbing, you can make almost anything with the Desktop Factory as long as the raw materials you need are just plastic. Right now, plastic is the only raw material that the Desktop Factory can work with. The parts you can make with this 3D printing machine can have a maximum dimension of 5 x 5 x 5 inches, but this does not mean that you cannot glue these parts together to build a larger scale model later on.

The Potential of 3D Printing at Home

The idea of being able to print 3D objects of your own at home opens a lot of wonderful possibilities. Remember that you can make almost anything with a 3D printer. For instance, you can spoil your child by making the toys that he or she wants straight out of your printer. You can design and make your own plastic dinnerware that you can use on picnics and backyard barbecues. You can make your own plastic fashion accessories. If you are into arts and crafts, having the components of your project made using a 3D printer can save you a trip to the craft supplies store.

There are just so many possibilities that the idea of being able to create 3D objects using a desktop printer can open. Of course you may wonder about the cost of having such a 3D printer like the Desktop Factory around. Right now, the Desktop Factory is priced at a little less than $5,000. It is still a bit too expensive for most householders, but this price tag certainly brings 3D printing closer to home.

About the Author

John C Arkin from printcountry.com the contributor of PrintCountry Articles. More information on the subject is at Desktop Factory Makes 3D Printing Available to Households, and related resources can be found at Dell Printer Cartridges.

Brother Desktop Barcode Printer TD4000 $270.45 Brother Desktop Barcode Printer TD4000

Brother TD4000 Direct Thermal Printer - Monochrome - Desktop - Label $531.14 Desktop Barcode Printer

Brother TD-4100N Direct Thermal Printer - Monochrome - Desktop - Labe $695.37 Desktop Barcode Printer

Primera LX200 Desktop Label Printer (74271) $845 Primera LX200 Desktop Label Printer (74271)

Sanford DYMO Desktop Mailing Label Printer 69270 $141.5 Sanford DYMO Desktop Mailing Label Printer 69270

Intelligent Printer Switch switch - 7 ports - desktop $447.99 Intelligent Printer Switch - Switch - 7 x parallel - desktop

Intelligent Printer Switch switch - 4 ports - desktop $365.99 Black Box Intelligent Printer Switch - Switch - 4 x parallel - desktop

Intelligent Printer Switch switch - 2 ports - desktop $243.99 Intelligent Printer Switch - Switch - 2 x parallel - desktop

Brother HL-4570CDWT Laser Printer - Color - Plain Paper Print - Desktop HL4570CDWT $641.9 Brother HL-4570CDWT Laser Printer - Color - Plain Paper Print - Desktop HL4570CDWT

Dell 1250C LED Printer - Color - Plain Paper Print - Desktop $201.32 Dell 1250C LED Printer - Color - Plain Paper Print - Desktop

Dell 1350CNW LED Printer - Color - Plain Paper Print - Desktop $244.03 Dell 1350CNW LED Printer - Color - Plain Paper Print - Desktop

Dell 2150CDN Laser Printer - Color - Plain Paper Print - Desktop $359.23 Dell 2150CDN Laser Printer - Color - Plain Paper Print - Desktop

Dell 2155CN Laser Multifunction Printer - Color - Plain Paper Print - Desktop $562.44 Dell 2155CN Laser Multifunction Printer - Color - Plain Paper Print - Desktop

Dell 3115CN Laser Multifunction Printer - Color - Plain Paper Print - Desktop $874.18 Dell 3115CN Laser Multifunction Printer - Color - Plain Paper Print - Desktop

Dell 5130CDN Laser Printer - Color - Plain Paper Print - Desktop $1418.92 Dell 5130CDN Laser Printer - Color - Plain Paper Print - Desktop

Samsung CLP-325W Laser Printer - Color - Plain Paper Print - Desktop CLP325W $232.3 Samsung CLP-325W Laser Printer - Color - Plain Paper Print - Desktop CLP325W

Dell 1130N Laser Printer - Monochrome - Plain Paper Print - Desktop $151.21 Dell 1130N Laser Printer - Monochrome - Plain Paper Print - Desktop

Wasp WPL305 Desktop Thermal Printer $669.39 Wpl305 Thermal Label Printer Prnt5In Od 203Dpi 5Ips

Brother DCP-7060D Laser Multifunction Printer - Monochrome - Plain Paper Print - Desktop - Copier, Scanner, Printer - 24ppm ... $190.89 Brother DCP-7060D Laser Multifunction Printer - Monochrome - Plain Paper Print - Desktop - Copier, Scanner, Printer - 24ppm ...

HP LaserJet M1212NF Laser MultiFunction Printer Monochrome Plain Paper Print Desktop Fax Copier Printer Scanner 19pp $203.54 HP LaserJet M1212NF Laser MultiFunction Printer Monochrome Plain Paper Print Desktop Fax Copier Printer Scanner 19pp

Ricoh Aficio SP4410SF Laser Multifunction Printer - Monochrome - Plain Paper Print - Desktop - Printer, Copier, Scanner, Fax... $1265.78 Ricoh Aficio SP4410SF Laser Multifunction Printer - Monochrome - Plain Paper Print - Desktop - Printer, Copier, Scanner, Fax...

Ricoh Aficio SP 5210SF Laser Multifunction Printer - Monochrome - Plain Paper Print - Desktop - Printer, Scanner, Copier, Fa... $3432.06 Ricoh Aficio SP 5210SF Laser Multifunction Printer - Monochrome - Plain Paper Print - Desktop - Printer, Scanner, Copier, Fa...

Xerox WorkCentre 3550 Laser Multifunction Printer - Monochrome - Plain Paper Print - Desktop Printer, Copier, Scanner, Fax - 35 $1078.27 Xerox WorkCentre 3550 Laser Multifunction Printer - Monochrome - Plain Paper Print - Desktop Printer, Copier, Scanner, Fax - 35

Canon imageCLASS MF5950DW Laser Multifunction Printer - Monochrome - Plain Paper Print - Desktop - Printer, Scanner, Copier,... $445.2 Canon imageCLASS MF5950DW Laser Multifunction Printer - Monochrome - Plain Paper Print - Desktop - Printer, Scanner, Copier,...

Lexmark X654DE Laser Multifunction Printer - Monochrome - Plain Paper Print - Desktop - Printer, Scanner, Copier, Fax - 55pp... $3336.18 Lexmark X654DE Laser Multifunction Printer - Monochrome - Plain Paper Print - Desktop - Printer, Scanner, Copier, Fax - 55pp...

Brother MFC-J825DW Inkjet Multifunction Printer - Color - Photo/Disc Print - Desktop - Printer, Copier, Scanner, Fax - 35ppm... $178.26 Brother MFC-J825DW Inkjet Multifunction Printer - Color - Photo/Disc Print - Desktop - Printer, Copier, Scanner, Fax - 35ppm...

Canon imageCLASS D1370 Laser Multifunction Printer - Monochrome - Photo/Disc Print - Desktop - Printer, Scanner, Copier, Fax... $866.58 Canon imageCLASS D1370 Laser Multifunction Printer - Monochrome - Photo/Disc Print - Desktop - Printer, Scanner, Copier, Fax...

Canon imageCLASS D1350 Laser Multifunction Printer - Monochrome - Plain Paper Print - Desktop - Printer, Scanner, Copier, Fa... $660.77 Canon imageCLASS D1350 Laser Multifunction Printer - Monochrome - Plain Paper Print - Desktop - Printer, Scanner, Copier, Fa...

Canon imageCLASS D1320 Laser Multifunction Printer - Monochrome - Plain Paper Print - Desktop - Printer, Copier, Scanner - 3... $587.9 Canon imageCLASS D1320 Laser Multifunction Printer - Monochrome - Plain Paper Print - Desktop - Printer, Copier, Scanner - 3...

Panasonic Panafax UF-5500 Laser Multifunction Printer - Monochrome - Plain Paper Print - Desktop - Printer, Copier, Scanner... $534.02 Panasonic Panafax UF-5500 Laser Multifunction Printer - Monochrome - Plain Paper Print - Desktop - Printer, Copier, Scanner...

Canon imageCLASS MF3010 Laser Multifunction Printer - Monochrome - Plain Paper Print - Desktop - Printer, Scanner, Copier - ... $174.31 Canon imageCLASS MF3010 Laser Multifunction Printer - Monochrome - Plain Paper Print - Desktop - Printer, Scanner, Copier - ...

Lexmark X548DTE Laser Multifunction Printer - Color - Plain Paper Print - Desktop - Printer, Copier, Scanner, Fax - 25ppm Mo... $1890.87 Lexmark X548DTE Laser Multifunction Printer - Color - Plain Paper Print - Desktop - Printer, Copier, Scanner, Fax - 25ppm Mo...

Panasonic KX-FLM671 Laser Multifunction Printer - Monochrome - Plain Paper Print - Desktop Copier, Fax, Scanner, Printer - 14p $214.93 Panasonic KX-FLM671 Laser Multifunction Printer - Monochrome - Plain Paper Print - Desktop Copier, Fax, Scanner, Printer - 14p

Ricoh Aficio SP 5210SR Laser Multifunction Printer - Monochrome - Plain Paper Print - Desktop - Printer, Scanner, Copier, Fa... $3533.85 Ricoh Aficio SP 5210SR Laser Multifunction Printer - Monochrome - Plain Paper Print - Desktop - Printer, Scanner, Copier, Fa...