A guy I work with has a 3D printer and was nice enough to print some swords and shields for me that I picked out on Thingiverse.  Pretty neat stuff.  I created some water slide decals with various artwork for the shield emblems and put a few coats of paint and protectant on them ...

Here are my Dragon Dogs (heh) ...

I made some with the sigils from Game of Thrones ...

I don't think 3D printing is any threat to Lego.  The strength and detail just don't match up to injection molds, but it is handy for prototyping or just playing around.

 

Those shields are so cool!

Excellent detail.

A guy I work with has a 3D printer and was nice enough to print some swords and shields for me that I picked out on Thingiverse.  Pretty neat stuff.  I created some water slide decals with various artwork for the shield emblems and put a few coats of paint and protectant on them ...

Here are my Dragon Dogs (heh) ...

I made some with the sigils from Game of Thrones ...

I don't think 3D printing is any threat to Lego.  The strength and detail just don't match up to injection molds, but it is handy for prototyping or just playing around.

The guys that make custom parts (re Brickumentary)  will probably suffer the most during early evolution of the technology. At a later stage, you have to worry about the Classic range and it will also be very handy to replace lost / broken parts.

Here are my Dragon Dogs (heh) ...

Dragon Dogs. Ha, that's awesome. "Of all the crazed warriors berserk with burning vigor raging across the battlefield, the one sane men should fear the most ....are the wicked weenies."

Before and after on the Buster Sword print and one of the shields ...

  

 

Saw an eBay posting for the lt. blue boast masts for the 10179 Falcon that he 3D printed. He fully disclosed that they were 3D printed and had a picture of an actual one next to one he printed.  I couldn't tell the difference between the two in the post.  He was selling them for $100.  

The guys that make custom parts (re Brickumentary)  will probably suffer the most during early evolution of the technology. At a later stage, you have to worry about the Classic range and it will also be very handy to replace lost / broken parts.

I can't see the lost/broken parts idea being a problem when parts are generally so cheap, and the quality of Lego is so good, and reliably uniform. Replacing that part which is no longer made, or is so scarce that a replica could easily be cheaper, could be advantages. However, if you have to buy the scarce part in the first place to create the geometric data to 3D print the new part, then chances are you'll appreciate the difference in quality, and keep the original.

Of course there could be an opening scanning Lego parts and supplying the 3D geometric data in a suitable file format to people wanting to print parts.

Custom parts are an interesting avenue, as there surely can't be a way that TLG can protect against making unbranded parts that interface with theirs, as long as you don't call them Lego

Before and after on the Buster Sword print and one of the shields ...

What's the fascination with SOS (significantly outta scale) swords these days?  I've seen them in the kids games & toons - just seems really weird...

Ok that is just too kewl............. The out of scale swords comes from Manga and many of the characters in that genre.

tried it on my makerbot dual. not acurate enough to put the pieces together seamlessly. good enough for accessories i guess, but takes forever to print.

What's the fascination with SOS (significantly outta scale) swords these days?  I've seen them in the kids games & toons - just seems really weird...

Yeah, I just picked that one cause I thought it would look hilarious in the hand of a minifigure.

I don't think 3D printing is any threat to Lego.  The strength and detail just don't match up to injection molds, but it is handy for prototyping or just playing around.

Can you be a bit more specific?  Roughly how much reduction in strength and detail are we talking about?  Is it barely noticeable or quite obvious? 

Also have you tried making any Technic pieces?  I'm just wondering how accurate the results are as far as measurements compared to actual LEGO® bricks.

Thank you in advance.

Edited October 6, 201510 yr by BBB
Had to remove link.

Can you be a bit more specific?  Roughly how much reduction in strength and detail are we talking about?  Is it barely noticeable or quite obvious? 
Also have you tried making any Technic pieces?  I'm just wondering how accurate the results are as far as measurements compared to actual LEGO® bricks.

Thank you in advance.

Yup, I'd estimate that the 3D printed pieces are 50% to 75% of the strength as injection mold pieces.  The reason being that 3D printed pieces can contain gaps between the plastic since the machine is creating the pieces by layering.  The result from an injection mold will be a strong solid piece.  I can't imagine 3D printing a 1x1x8 antenna like #2569 and not having it break easily.

I haven't tried Technic pieces, but I'd suspect you'd have to experiment with the dimensions of the pieces to get them to fit the way Lego pieces fit together.  When a piece is 3D printed, it's going to have grooves in it because of the layering technique.  For the swords and shields, I sanded them down a bit so they were smooth.  Some people have had success giving their pieces a vapor bath of acetone to smooth out the grooves.  Eithe way, you have to compensate for the material that is being removed/melted.

Hope this helps!

Yup, I'd estimate that the 3D printed pieces are 50% to 75% of the strength as injection mold pieces.  The reason being that 3D printed pieces can contain gaps between the plastic since the machine is creating the pieces by layering.  The result from an injection mold will be a strong solid piece.  I can't imagine 3D printing a 1x1x8 antenna like #2569 and not having it break easily.

I haven't tried Technic pieces, but I'd suspect you'd have to experiment with the dimensions of the pieces to get them to fit the way Lego pieces fit together.  When a piece is 3D printed, it's going to have grooves in it because of the layering technique.  For the swords and shields, I sanded them down a bit so they were smooth.  Some people have had success giving their pieces a vapor bath of acetone to smooth out the grooves.  Eithe way, you have to compensate for the material that is being removed/melted.

Hope this helps!

There is ZERO chance a 3D printer part is anywhere close to 50% the strength of ABS plastic.  It is far more brittle.  There are many measurements for strength but take any 3D printer part and drop it from a height a few feet and see what happens to it.

Thanks you!  I was hoping to hear something that would encourage me to buy the printer, but I'm discouraged.  It seems like my method of using LEGO pieces + modular glue to create custom electronic pieces for Technic is still the best option I have....

Or you could use this:

Or you could use this:

That is a 3D printer/laser cutter?  Have you actually used this, and can you verify if the ABS is close to the same quality of LEGO® bricks?  

I'm honestly confused as how that solves my problem

Edited October 10, 201510 yr by BBB
Punctuation

My co-worker that printed out the swords and shields for me just pre-ordered that Glowforge device last week.  He paid about $2000 for it.  They call it a 3D printer, but it's actually a laser cutter.  It won't help you create Lego-compatible pieces, but you might be able to etch designs into bricks and minifigs with it.

Or you could create cardboard planets like the one in the video and sell them for $699!  

"I want you to have one too."  No kidding...

I don't know if it's as easy as the video makes it sound, but I'll admit - that's an awesome idea.

That is a 3D printer/laser cutter?  Have you actually used this, and can you verify if the ABS is close to the same quality of LEGO® bricks?  

I'm honestly confused as how that solves my problem

Nope don't have one. Can't say anything... might be because they've "just" gone preorderable a couple of weeks ago. Might be because it's still too expensive for someone who's no designer/is still student/has got all his money in LEGO

 

My co-worker that printed out the swords and shields for me just pre-ordered that Glowforge device last week.  He paid about $2000 for it.  They call it a 3D printer, but it's actually a laser cutter.  It won't help you create Lego-compatible pieces, but you might be able to etch designs into bricks and minifigs with it.

Or you could create cardboard planets like the one in the video and sell them for $699!  

Exactly my idea. You can maybe cut some pieces into the shape you need. Or design them the way you need them. Maybe if you buy a solid block of plastic it's possible to come up with a totally new brick. This thing is more about taking stuff away than about adding stuff. But these are the two ways you can get any form you want, so I just wanted to share it here with people who might not know this exists yet so they have another alternative.