Will 3D printing ever take off?

[Shane]

Just read an article on The Age about how 3D printing is yet to really take off despite the hype. One theory is that the gap between the hype and the reality is currently just too big. 

It reminded me of a previous discussion here on Workshop where people talked about how handy a 3D printer would be for printing your own parts, etc. I'm still curious whether people think one day every home will have a 3D printer, or whether its just too complex to ever be truly mainstream. And I'm still struggling to think of reasons why I would need one, which is probably the main reason 3D printers haven't taken off. 

[Jason]

Nice work @Walter. It would be great to see some photos of what you've done.

Jason

[Walter]

@Jason

Here's a sample of what I've done: 

The "dremel" support. This required a bit of design work, so I made it 100% infill for strength and added rubber feet to stop the vibrations. The clamps were someone elses design, and I adapted them for myself. My "dremel" support is freely available on Tinkercad.

This is a night light I made for my granddaughter.

This was done using a Lithophane technique.

Added a blue LED and run it from a USB adapter, when it's switched off, it fades out beautifuly:

Hope you like 'em.