Much is known about the capabilities of 3D printing. From living body parts to high-end dining, researchers have developed ways to print a mind-boggling array of objects in the third dimension rather than standard 2D inkjet prints, but just how far can scientists and tech boffins push 3D printing, and could it be used to print buildings, landmarks and other massive objects?
To find out, we tallied up the time and cost of 3D printing the world’s most celebrated landmarks, as well as other structures you’ll no doubt recognise.
Whether you want to erect Big Ben or the Eiffel Tower in your back garden, it seems 3D printing has a long way to go before it replaces traditional building techniques. That said 3D printing technologies are emerging at an extraordinary rate, with new variations of the tech hitting the headlines every other day. And with each groundbreaking new development, surely we’re one step closer to printing our own pyramids, Death Stars, and star ships?
Don’t forget, the above calculations were based on printing from a standard household 3D printer. Use a 3D printer like this one, and we reckon you could have your own Hogwarts in a fraction of the time — especially if you had two or three of them.
So if money and time were no object — what would you 3D print life-size?
Until 3D printing finally takes over the world, most of us are stuck with good old 2D printers. No matter what the make and model of your household or business printer are, TonerGiant is sure to have the product that meets your refill and replace requirements. To browse our range of cheap printers and consumables visit the homepage or call us on 0345 365 3605. Like Our Infographic? Use the Code Below to Share!
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About Stuart DeavallI have been working in the printing industry with TonerGiant for over 16 years, and I'm the resident technical printer expert, helping people fix their printer problems for over 14 years. I have taken part in many training courses with HP, Samsung, Brother, Canon and Xerox to further my knowledge, and I'm also the Digital Marketing Manager at TonerGiant.co.uk (degree qualified).
To whom,
Cost = energy + materials + delivery to site + time
Energy = 0, iff using solar ( minimal if using fissiles )
Humans needed on site = 0
Time approaches 0 if using 3D printers that print themselves, exponentially growing the labor force, in situ.
Wish: a Dyson Shell just before Jupiter, accounting for gravitational effects allowing capture and return of panels.
Did I mention the panels are of carbon, since we have a bit of excess? Tally ho indeed. Cheers!
Hello, guys! Very unusual article, I love it! But I have a technical question 5 cm per hour, what does it mean?
Hi there, thanks for your comment. Excuse me if my maths wrong here as I didn’t originally work it out but I believe it is 5cm high of 1 cubic meter. In effect that’s the time taken to print a huge block of the same volume of the structures but this was an article purely for fun and should only be taken lightly so isn’t strictly accurate.