Would 3D printed objects be acceptable?

[richsc]

So ok, this is a 3Dprinted plastic dress, but it is composed of hundreds of hinged parts, and the designer compares it to chain mail. If you can print this complexity and have it work, metal mail may also be possible. Question: would it be acceptable to the community vs. hand made?
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/symb...A_Facebook

[Medicus matt]

Question: would it be acceptable to the community vs. hand made?

In plastic??

[M.VAL.BRUTUS]

Pretty sure the OP specifically metioned metal 3D printing.

MY questions would be about how the riveting would look, even if it is only "mock" riveted.

[Vindex]

No, I would not think it would be acceptable at all. The mind boggles at the havoc that could be wrought...21st Century trooper helmets!!

[richsc]

Perhaps it won't be for reenactment use per se, but being able to print 3D models of actual artifacts in actual size and color, would bring museums to the end person, even the manufactdurer or craftsman.

[Dan D'Silva]

I've often heard that printed steel is weaker than forged due to how it's fused together, though that may be outdated knowledge now or soon.

Another thing I'd wonder about is how are the rings supported while being printed? This dress looks like most of the individual pieces would be lying flat on the printing surface, but mail rings are always tilted, correct?

[richsc]

on FB RAT Jurjen had an excellent point: 3D printing of belt plates would allow anyone to cast or form very accurate duplicates without carving them yourself, giving you a very wide array to work from. If you are sand casting the object it does not even need to be in a casting wax, since you're just creating an impression for the mold.

[Gunthamund Hasding]

Richard I think that even just some good 3D scans will be helping a lot and of course if is just for models, 3D scans of the reenactor work would be also a nice to have

[jvrjenivs]

Als for THE opening question i would-be say it is as good (or as bad) as cola cast items.

[richsc]

Sorry yes, drifting a bit. But then if you can capture, how much detail do you need? How small? This ungainly looking thing scans to 350 micros.
http://www.dynamism.com/3d-scanners/fuel3d.shtml

[Medicus matt]

"Perhaps it won't be for reenactment use per se, but being able to print 3D models of actual artifacts in actual size and color, would bring museums to the end person, even the manufactdurer or craftsman."

That's been tried recently with making handling replicas of items for the Staffordshire Hoard. Unfortunately, the end results on work at that degree of detail was unsatisfactory as it is possible to see the stepping caused by rendering it in layers.
The amount of fettling involved meant that it was quicker to just make them the traditional way.

I'm sure it will improve though.

[M. Val. Naso]

What if using for creating positives for casting?

[richsc]

Yes, my thought too. A library of belt plates, for example, or buckles etc, that can be printed in wax. You could always smooth the wax before casting. The really high end metal sintering does not have this problem, so it will improve.