RE: Workaround for a New Keyboard (eng/deu)
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To allow for all types of printers and materials, the trick is to get the design such that it doesn't leave open spots where they should not be. But of course, depends on the printer and material type they use. I believe iMaterialise checks the design for the printer of choice. My experience with them is like 6 or 7 years ago when I tried a few designs. Back then got myself a tour through their factories and design departments. Impressive. They exist already for like 30 or 40 years. Materialise is the B2B arm of the company. iMaterialise the consumer arm, which they started later. BTW, metal printing means they print the mold. Then use traditional methods (metal casting) to create the object, ie pour the (fluid/heated) metal into the mold. Metal also includes gold and silver and such.
There are lots of techniques now. I know in some aerospace projects they lay down metal directly a bit like welding. Getting the design right really matters, but some software can analyse for strength. Having this sort of thing at home was the stuff of dreams when I was a kid. It has gone from being a DIY geek thing to an appliance in the last few years.
3D printing exists for a very long time. Was hyped like 10-12 years ago or something? At least what that hype caused was the design of smaller, low-cost printers for use at home and (small) design offices. I suppose this also driven more accessible software. Must admit, didn't look into this segment for the last so many years. Back then I tried all sort of design software, including Maya, Rhino and Blender. These days Maya is owned by Autodesk as far as I know. But also sculpting software. Even talked with Uform (https://uform.co/) to get something of the ground together in the B2C space. This was back in 2014/15/16. Eventually, I shelved the idea/concept/project, but still sometimes think: "What if I pulled through back then?" I know part of the answer: Challenging, since it was in effect too early for a proper B2C play.