thanks for the welcome. my name is jo. i am a jewellery designer and see this chat about 3d printing. so amazed by what i have seen so far, but i think the chinese will take it over and produce things like , cheap shoes etc. thus uncutting our economy
what statement does “but” the refer to?
I don’t seen how this could happen … ? ,When 3D printing AT HOME will be possible … Maybe the 3D printers itself then 
3D printing on an industrial level is not really what this community is about. I think we more look at it from the “help your neighbor” perspective by bringing a new, local, distributed craftsmanship to as many people as possible. Globally shared knowledge, local execution. For many people there is no commercial angle. I personally like to print stuff for friends while they are having a beer at my place and we chat about a lot of things. The social aspect is important. Not the commercial.
The Chinese already have taken over the mass shoe producing market, so I’m not sure what nous trial 3D printing would do to change that (not to mention that 3D printing shoes is a while off).
hmmm, maybe not so far way after all : http://www.psfk.com/2013/03/new-balance-3d-printed-shoes.html
;-). Also clothing : http://www.shapeways.com/n12_bikini
http://www.dezeen.com/2013/03/07/3d-printed-dress-dita-von-teese-michael-schmidt-francis-bitonti/
@Peter_Van_Cauwenberg commercial 3D printing definitely will change quite a few things in the commercial market. That’s a given. It’s biggest advantage could be to avoid cost of transportation by printing locally instead of centralised production and shipping across the globe.
But that is a limited market opportunity. IMHO this community is more focused on the “print at home” opportunity.
@Jan_Wildeboer I don’t see 3D printing as a limited market, I am quite sure that in the next 10 years from now a lot of people will have a 3D printer at home in one way or an other. I don’t really think that it is the fact of production that plays a big role in this, but the ability to custom create what you need. I see it like a reverse IKEA process ;-). Communities like this will sure help in this. It is already very easy to make a 3D model an just let it be made for you. So my question : how far is the next step away from a good commercial 3D printer for home use, that you can buy just in the store around the corner … ?
Do you guys think it will soon be able to print 3D jewellery pieces?
Less detailed ones are already printed in wax for casting.
@Joan_B I am waiting for the result of a jewel from http://i.materialise.com. The smallest detail they excepted for what I wanted was about 0.2 mm, what I think is quite detailed. It is the first time I try this so lets hope for the best :-).
@Joan_B I finally got the result, and I can say it looks very good :-). Although they made it bigger then expected, but that was probably because of me. I will try to post a picture later on, I already can say that the result is very good. But next time I will pay attention to some points like , make the stl file in the size it is supposed to be ;-). Also be sure the thinnest part can be made in a mold. I would say for surface details don’t go below 0,2 mm and thin part don’t go below 0,3 maybe even 0,4 mm. Now that I have seen what is possible I think that you as a jeweler designer could do great things with it, because I think the possibilities very big. Like for example custom designs at a good price become really possible.
all good stuff. I saw one on the market for home use at just £1000, so maybe Peter if you were going to think of your market place it may be something to consider for the future. MARCUS I was thinking of the casts as you say. A great idea and it should open up a whole new field in education hopefully, for young people to learn new skills.