Making parts from scratch

When I first heard of 3D printers, I thought it was vaporspeak. I'd read about such devices in some good Sci Fi stories, but they seemed at least 50 years off, not something that would occur anytime soon.

Well, step aside and embrace the future! Now, you can fabricate small prototype parts and items (just plastic so far) at home if you want to pony up to do it.

The idea of direct CAD  to Fab is an amazing jump, even if it's just for plastic parts so far. Expect to see some noticeable advances in various industries from the application of this technology.

Some companies producing these machines:

• 3D Systems Corp.
• Hewlett Packard (the HP DesignJet 3D)