[Philip Lelyveld comment: I predict that there will soon be a Kinko’s-like national service for 3D printing.]

[Courier Herald]

The technology is expensive—in the thousands of dollars—but prices are coming down as the technology advances.

The price has come down enough that Ted Griffiths offers 3D printing services at his Buckley mailroom business, one of the first examples of a retail 3D printing.

“I’m working very closely with (printer manufacturer) 3D Systems,” said Griffiths, the owner of Diane’s Mailroom. “They have equipment that costs in the millions of dollars. I’m networked with them, so if anyone comes in with a really big 3D modeling job, I can just upload it to them and they’ll ship it out.” …

Griffiths keeps an in-house 3D printer—the BFB 3000 Twin—in the back corner of the store, next to the service counter. It’s a model that uses two lasers to thread two materials at once. Last Friday, he was performing some adjustments on the machine in preparation for a custom toy manufacturing job: a VF-12 fighter jet. …

But he also maintains a computer station loaded with 3D modeling programs, from freeware like Blender to professional suites like AutoCAD. He rents use of the station for $15 an hour.

“I think what we’re going to see here is some Do-It-Yourself engineers who come in to work on their designs on our station,” Griffith said. “And they can build the prototype right here from our printer.” …

Griffiths acknowledges most of his customer base for 3D printing services won’t come out of Buckley; most will be PayPal transactions from his website www.dianesmailroom.com. He will build from his shop and ship the designs out to the customer. …

Read the full story here: http://www.blscourierherald.com/business/142499915.html