It is interesting to note that certain mainstream news
media outlets are entering the debate on the availability of 3D printing
technology to the general public. 3D printing has been around in industry for
about thirty years, and has traditionally been used for rapid prototyping and
small scale production runs. There are a number of different methods of 3D
printing but the technology that has brought this technology to the attention
of the public is fused filament fabrication. This method takes a drum of plastic
filament and heats and extrudes it into thin, bonded layers typical onto a
heated build plate. The key reason for this sudden increase in interest is that
this technology has now been brought to a price point and level of simplicity
that makes it available to almost anyone.
Take the Robuster, a desktop 3D printer manufactured in
the UK by RP Techworks. It retails at £1500 and the plastic filament comes in
at about £40 per kilo. Not what anyone would call expensive for something that
is essentially an industrial prototyping machine. The ease of use is incredible
too. From a 3D computer design, many thousands of which are readily available
online if you aren’t a designer yourself, the software that ships with this
machine automates the process of preparing the image for building and
controlling the unit itself, so in literally a couple of mouse clicks anyone
could be building a 3D model of anything, from a lampshade to a fully working
3D gun. This is the part that is causing all the media hyperbole.
You can imagine the news stories, even if you haven’t
seen them. A working gun, unregistered, uncontrolled, unlicensed, made of
plastic so it will pass metal detectors. Certain sections of the press are
having a field day, but isn’t that rather missing the point? In the US where
this technology is taking hold faster than almost anywhere else in the World
the legitimately held guns are far more of an issue than a few hobbyist who are
exploring the possibilities of a new technology. No-one in their right mind
would actually rely on a firearm created on a 3D printer and made of plastic,
and certainly not when the real thing is so ubiquitous and a great deal safer
and more reliable.
So why the level of panic in the press? Could it perhaps
be that it is better for the elite to make us fear each other than to fear our
rulers? If we are scared of our neighbours and what they might be up to then we
are less likely to get together into groups and challenge authority. By separating
us we are kept isolated and therefore weaker. Isn’t this somewhat more credible
than a vast army of secretive terrorists beavering away making dodgy plastic
guns to wreak havoc on society?
