More Plumbing Tech: Will You Soon Be Able to Print Plumbing?

By Billy Aldridge

I know in the past we have discussed how high tech has been steadily making its way into the bathroom with

English: Image of HCC MakerBot Cupcake CNC printing of spikey gear and raft in the MakerBot 3D printer. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 everything from singing shower heads to computerized commodes.  Well now it seems that the next wave in 

3D printers may soon make it possible to print everything from knickknacks and plumbing fixtures to an entire room.  While 3D printers have been a staple of the aerospace and automotive industry for years, they cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to purchase.  This puts them out of the reach of mere mortals.  However, the past couple of years have seen the costs of these machines drop into the one to two thousand dollar range and even less as the technology begins to become popular with hobbyists and small manufacturers.  There are even several startup companies that offer tabletop models for $500 or less.  Even the shipping giant UPS has gotten into the game (at least in southern California) by offering 3D printing at their stores.

An article on slate.com states that, “Trialing first in the San Diego area, with plans to soon expand to other states, UPS stores will allow customers the opportunity to upload their designs online, have them printed on the Stratasys uPrint SE Plus printer, and then offer pick-up or have the results delivered to the client. UPS says it will be able to produce “items like engineering parts, functional prototypes, acting props, architectural models, fixtures for cameras, lights and cables.” l

As this technology becomes cheaper, popularity is surely bound to grow by leaps and bounds, especially when consumers realize how quickly the units can pay for themselves.  In fact a study just released by Michigan Technological University claims that the average homeowner could save up to two thousand dollars per year by owning one of the units.  This means that it would take less than half a year for a 3-D printer to pay for itself.  Try getting your plasma TV to do that.

Of course, as with any new technology there is always a learning curve.  Fortunately the industry has already taken this into consideration.  Just as with smartphones, there are a number of online programming resources that offer 3-D printer designs on the cheap.  That’s right, there’s an app for that.    

As far as what these babies are capable of producing, that is dependent upon the size and scope of the 

Sintermask - fabbster - 3D-printer v11 (Photo credit: Creative Tools)

machine.  Just as with early inkjet printers, the higher the resolution, the higher the price. Even the “toner” used in 3-D printers can vary. Some of the materials currently used in 3-D printers include ABS plastic, PLA, nylon, glass filled polyamide, epoxy resin, wax, polymers and polycarbonate.  The biggest drawbacks to consumer models are processing time (it can take hours or days to print a 3D model), resolution (hobbyist models sometimes produce finished products that sport somewhat jagged edges) and size constraints (consumer models can only produce items that are only about 12” across or less).  Of course as the technology continues to improve the bugs will be worked out, the bells and whistles will become more refined and the units will decrease in cost.  Anyone remember dot-matrix printers? (For more info and videos goto  http://www.3ders.org/3d-printing-basics.html)

Some of the commercial units are built on an industrial scale, including one in Oakland, California that can construct entire walls.  Below is an excerpt from an article on TechHive.com:

“Emerging Objects co-founder Ronald Rael explained to TechHive. “We saw a limitation in what a machine can make because of the medium, and so we wondered if we could reformulate that media to suit our own architectural agendas to print big.” 

The company's latest star project is an impressive curved wall that stands about three feet tall. It’s constructed out of centimeter-thin 3D-printed salt tiles that get their strength from their multi-angular structure: The thinner tiles will allow Emerging Objects to produce many more parts in a short amount of time than it otherwise could. The wall you see is just a representation of what Emerging Objects can build in a week with a couple of machines. Still in the midst of construction, the planned salt wall will be three times taller when it’s finally complete.”  

There is even talk of using 3D printers to create entire homes, as well as build structures in space.  So take it 

3D printer (Photo credit: Indiana Public Media)

from me that it won’t be long before consumers can skip the ride to the big box store when they need plumbing fixtures and other household items.  Of course how long it will be until they can print the plumber to actually install the fixture is anybody’s guess.  But I for one would never bet against technology. 

Billy Aldridge is one of the Doctors of Plumbology at Aldridge and Sons Plumbing in Jacksonville, Florida.  For even more helpful hints and how-to videos, visit their site at http://plumbers-jacksonville-fl.com