I don’t design based on today’s limitations, I design to take advantage of tomorrow’s possibilities

As I expand my design abilities and knowledge across several fields, from CNC to laser to 3D printing, I keep discovering that the more I know, the more I want to know and more importantly… how each technology actually has more in common than otherwise. It’s quite interesting to think how the convergence of three distinct design and fabrication systems into one unified isn’t that far off, using the advantages that each has to offer by replacing the limitations of the other.

Generally speaking, here’s how I see these three technologies.

• Laser cutters… expensive but easy to use.
• CNC routers… cheap but complicated to use.
• 3D printing… expensive and complicated to use.

For the first two, I believe I will be able to make a difference with the ideas I have in mind but for the third… that sure sounds like the first computers doesn’t it? Sure, once you have the file, much of the complexity is taking out of the equation and that’s the rub… where do you get the files? More importantly, where to do you get files that WORK!

This is why I started WoodMarvels.com, to take the complexity (file creation) out of the equation for laser cutters and it’s what I’m doing now for CNC slowly as well… now, I see myself quickly expanding into the third field of industrial production (we’ll ignore derivatives for now), bringing simplicity to the most complex “printing” machine so far, the 3D printer.

Unlike a laser or CNC machine, if the file doesn’t work for a 3D printer… IT DOESN’T WORK. You have to basically scrap the whole thing… plywood is cheap, 3D printed material certainly isn’t. Lasers and CNC bits cut through a project in no time, 3D printers can take hours if not days. Basically, when you buy a 3D printer and get 3D printer files… you need it to work the first time around.

That’s my goal with 3DMarvels.com… and it’s the way things have to be for this technology to develop further. People in the design community tend to forget that the vast majority of people couldn’t even name a 3D program if their life depended on it… much less learn and make something useful within a 3D environment. If desktop 3D printing is to hit the masses, this huge learning curve must be replaced with a simple, OPEN —> PRINT, otherwise, it will never get beyond the shop floor. 3D printers will become the inkjet printers of the future, in almost every home (small scale projects) and community (at a larger scale) so this over-simplification has to take place.