Fabricated: The New World of 3D Printing 1st Edition

For more than a decade now I have been reviewing nonfiction books on Amazon.com. My reading covers a wide array of subject matter including history and politics, biographies, disasters, economics and business and even science and medicine from time to time. I love to tackle new subjects. A couple of months ago radio and television talk show host Glenn Beck introduced me to a fantastic new technology with the potential to change the world as we know it. Despite the fact that I am technically challenged I was bound and determined to learn more. I needed a book written in language that the average person could understand. I believe I have found just such a book in Hod Lipson and Melba Kurman's "Fabricated: The New World of 3D Printing". "Fabricated" is a comprehensive overview of this cutting-edge technology. Frankly, I was positively spellbound by what I learned and could not put the book down. And I am very pleased to report that for the most part I was actually able to comprehend what the authors were talking about.What is so neat about 3D printers is that they offer the prospect of mankind exerting control over the physical world. In the future, people will be able to fabricate exactly what they need where and when they need it. So what do these new-fangled machines look like and exactly how do they work? According to the authors "a 3D printer can be small enough to fit into a tote bag or the size of a small mini-van. Printers can range in cost from a few hundred dollars to half a million dollars. Their unifying trait is that they follow instructions from a computer to place raw materials into layers to form a three-dimensional object." There are so many potential applications. Lipson and Kurman walk us through the intricate process of fabricating a number of different objects, some simple and others quite complex. Now the formal industry name for 3D printing is "additive manufacturing" which is very descriptive of how these machines actually work. As the authors point out "additive refers to the fact that 3D printing methods fabricate objects by either depositing or binding raw materials into layers to form solid three-dimensional objects". 3D printers will allow us to build products in shapes never before possible with conventional machinery while at the same time blending familiar materials into novel combinations. While it is important to realize that this technology is still in its infancy it might surprise you to learn that you may have already purchased a product created by a 3D printer. In "Fabricated" you will discover that 3D printers are already in use in such diverse industries as consumer electronics, automobiles, aerospace and even in the medical and dental fields. For example, the clear plastic braces that your twelve year old is wearing were probably made on a 3D printer!The emergence of 3D printing has spurred some exciting new programs in our nation's classrooms. Fab@school helps teachers create curriculum that integrates science and 3D printing to teach core math and science concepts. The goal is to get elementary and middle school students excited about math and science and to introduce them to the fascinating world of engineering and design. These are the skills that are going to be in demand in the 21st century workplace. Meanwhile, on another front and Italian designer named Enrico Dini has devised a computer guided 3D printing construction method that uses sand and inorganic binder to create artificial sandstone. Just imagine the possibilities! Lipson and Kurman also introduce us to a scientist who is experimenting with a solar-powered 3D printer! As I said, the possibilities are virtually endless.If you are intrigued by new technology, wondering what the potential business applications might be or are simply imbued with intellectual curiosity then I would strongly urge you to pick up a copy of "Fabricated: The New World of 3D Printing". There are so many ideas and so much information to digest here. It would appear that 3D printing would be most apropos for high end and custom made goods but that remains to be seen. Towards the end of the book Hod Lipson and Melba Kurman delve into the considerable legal, moral and ethical ramifications of all of this. There are copyright, patent and liability issues to ponder and when it comes to bioprinting major ethical issues to contemplate. I found "Fabricated" to a meticulously researched and very well-written book. In my view the authors have succeeded in their stated goal of making this material very accessible to the general reader. "Fabricated" is sprinkled with dozens of incredible photographs that will greatly enhance your understanding of the subject matter at hand. This is really exciting stuff and I learned an awful lot! A great choice for general readers as well. Very highly recommended!

What a breathtaking journey through one of the hottest, yet least known and appreciated new technologies: digital, compact and small scale fabrication and 3D printing. The "professional" reviews of this book fail to communicate that this book, and the technologies it sketches, are FAR from just 3D printing, and have major implications for the "what's next?" question on everyone's lips today! They are literally a next step between huge assembly lines and the Starship Enterprise product - "materializing" machines!There are already VENDING MACHINES in China that can fabricate not only injection molded plastic products, but products with working parts, knives, coins, and much more. Granted, this book is more about printing on plastic and other less technical applications in the current generation of "real" machines, but the ramifications of the evolution from job shop to factory back to job shop are astonishing, from patent and IP questions to things like marketing, vending and distribution. Books on demand on a whole new scale-- Amazon take note! In the West, you might have seen the little "dog tag" vending machines that can create a tag for your dog with her name on it while you wait. That automated aluminum engraving application is a PALE SHADOW of what's shown in this volume, both in materials and technologies!I'm CTO at a digital animation studio (shader joes dot com) so you know where I'm coming from, and of course this family of technologies has MAJOR implications for the "hero" and modeling/ model - sample building industry, and digital artists in general. Not just a consumer technology, the "back room" implications for studios are HUGE. The author's and interviewee's enthusiasm is palpable with this REALLY FUN read-- they truly make a great case for this MEGA - JIT technology as the next internet, transistor, PC...It might also be interesting for sociologists and CIA types to wonder how these technologies will impact emerging democracies ala Twitter. This truly represents a SOCIAL revolution in it's cost and ubiquitous, easy distribution model.EXAMPLE technologies given in the book: Printing candy with digital sugar, using voxel "bricks" to animate video game characters instead of kinematics and meshes, "vending" creation of numerous products, including "working" toys, guns, shoes, artificial limbs, architecture, geology, cars and trucks, electric guitars, "green" manufacturing using solar power to meld sand, furniture, sculptures, insects, bots, heart valves, jaw implants, jet engines, MANY others... (Your imagination is the only limit with these technologies!).READ THIS if you're a trend analyst, futurist, engineer, investor, designer, inventor, artist, company CTO or CEO, small entrepreneur planning new products, or just a smart science type who loves to see what 2060 might look like! We used to think of robots replacing workers on assembly lines, this shocks us into seeing nano robots in mini factories in the 7 - 11 vending machines! Astonishing, and a page turner even with all the legal and technical details and speculation.Library Picks always buys the books we review, and has nothing to do with authors, publishers or Amazon. Our reviews are strictly for the benefit of Amazon shoppers in pre-evaluating purchases.

This is a must read for anyone needing more than a surface scan of the 3D printing sector. The emerging issues in this sector are explained, including intellectual property rights, the need for a new approach to the design process itself including the need for innovative design software (and mention of a recommended new design file format). A balanced look at the actual carbon footprint of the 3D printing sector is also included. The book is full of photographs of 3D printed products and specimens that will fascinate all types of readers.