[TheForge] Re: 3D printers

[Mike Spencer]

Mike Graf wrote:

> On 5/3/2015 5:50 AM, terry l. ridder wrote:
>
>> Do 3D printers have a place in blacksmithing and metalworking?
>
> In a "classic" shop no.
>
> [snip]
>
> For me it is all about the process.

For me, it's not *all* about process but I'm most happy when the
process is central and the form emerges elegantly from process.  When
it's strictly about function, I end up making really ugly stuff that
usually works but looks like something from the scrap heap.

3D printing appeals to me because you can make forms that you can
imagine but that are more or less impossible with other methods.
Arboreal forms are possible but get awkward after the nth forge weld.
Reticular forms just don't work and you have to turn to arc welding or
the cutting torch.  Other forms are mind-bogglingly unforgeable.

So this woman is beyond cool:

   http://www.bathsheba.com/

Biological forms often *do* lend themselves to forging but many
mathematical forms -- embodiments of mathematical abstractions -- are
dauntingly complex.  And Bathsheba is knocking them out one after the
other.


- Mike

-- 
Michael Spencer                  Nova Scotia, Canada       .~. 
                                                           /V\ 
mspencer at tallships.ca                                     /( )\
http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/                        ^^-^^