Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

15-Year-Old Developing a 3D Printer 10x Faster Than Anything On the Market

Posted by samzenpus on from the greased-lightning dept.

New submitter jigmypig writes: One of the main issues with 3D printers today is that they lack in one area; speed. A 15-year-old boy named Thomas Suarez is developing a 3D printer that he says is the most reliable, most advanced, and faster than any 3D printer on the market today. In fact he claims it is 10 times faster than any 3D printer ever created. "There's something that makes me want to keep going and keep innovating," he says, laughing at being asked if he'd be better off outside climbing trees or riding a bike. "I feel that my interests will always lie in technology. Maybe I should go outside more but I just really like this stuff."

133 of 203 comments (clear)

  1. He's 15... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    What 15 year old is outside climbing trees and riding bikes? Maybe they meant to ask if his time might be better spent hanging out at the mall and texting his friends.

    1. Re:He's 15... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Have to been to the malls lately? No one hangs out there anymore.

    2. Re:He's 15... by ganjadude · · Score: 1

      on top of that most malls dont allow kids in without a parent anymore, especially on weekends. at least the ones around me anyway

      --
      have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
    3. Re:He's 15... by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1

      What 15 year old is outside climbing trees and riding bikes?

      It is a stupid question in any case. The average American spends more than 40 hours a week watching TV. Creative, ambitious people that actually get stuff done, tend to watch far less. The presumption that his accomplishments come at the expense of "riding bikes" is idiotic.

    4. Re:He's 15... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      > not all of grew up in a sweat shop loser.

      I think you meant 'looser'. Your use of the correct word conflicts with the rest of your sentence.

    5. Re:He's 15... by fyngyrz · · Score: 1

      The correct question, assuming the story is factual, would be something along the lines of "What do want us to put in the lab we're going to give you for free, sonny?"

      --
      I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
    6. Re:He's 15... by nitehawk214 · · Score: 1

      Have to been to the malls lately? No one hangs out there anymore.

      Really? In that case, I might consider going to a mall again.

      Actually, where I live the malls are intentionally built in the middle of nowhere, to prevent kids from reaching it, presumably.

      --
      I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
  2. Another child making unsupported claims by frovingslosh · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Great claims. Nothing to back them up.

    --
    I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
    1. Re:Another child making unsupported claims by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      If an adult made this same claim without backing we'd label them a scam artist.

    2. Re:Another child making unsupported claims by mindwhip · · Score: 5, Insightful

      No I wouldn't call it jealousy. I'd call it science.

      People can claim all they want but without evidence, repeatable test results and peer review its worthless.

      And just because they have some 'patent pending' tech doesn't mean they have either a working printer that does what they claim or a patent that's worth anything or even a design that is actually patentable. For all we know the patent is in fact worthless and they are trying to sell it to someone before they realise...

      --
      [The Universe] has gone offline.
    3. Re:Another child making unsupported claims by mindwhip · · Score: 1

      Lets just call it 'growing trend'

      --
      [The Universe] has gone offline.
    4. Re:Another child making unsupported claims by ColdWetDog · · Score: 3, Funny

      Another future CEO. Just great.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    5. Re:Another child making unsupported claims by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      My brother has a son who was considered gifted at that age too. Today he's a 20-something college drop out who has never held a real job in his entire life and hides in his bedroom for all but the most important (he's getting food or gifts of some kind) occasions. Slashdot is filled with people like this. Being gifted means nothing.

    6. Re:Another child making unsupported claims by jeIIomizer · · Score: 2

      Someone's criticizing someone who I've arbitrarily declared to be 'too young.' Therefore, I will make unfounded remarks about how jealous they must be, as if that ad hominem will debunk any of their arguments.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    7. Re:Another child making unsupported claims by ganjadude · · Score: 2

      when I was 15 i had developed all sorts of vaporware, i think the real question is what 15 year old out there is NOT full of vaporware??

      --
      have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
    8. Re:Another child making unsupported claims by NatasRevol · · Score: 2

      Or a startup/large corporation/VC.

      --
      There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
    9. Re:Another child making unsupported claims by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Kind of a rule: when headlines mention youngster innovator's age, shit ain't gonna happen.

      It's just all about "aww cute".

    10. Re:Another child making unsupported claims by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 4, Informative

      If an adult made this same claim without backing we'd label them a scam artist.

      Except he really isn't claiming much. It is easy to make a 3D printer go fast, if you don't care about quality. Many existing 3D printers have a "fast" mode for quick prototypes, and a "slow" mode for higher quality parts. Of course, it is hard to get speed and quality, but I don't see where he says he can do that. Also, I don't see where he claims it is 10x faster than "any existing" printer, as the summary says. He only claims that it is 10x faster than a Makerbot.

    11. Re:Another child making unsupported claims by Guspaz · · Score: 3, Informative

      I will quote the kid's own video on the subject (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1Clhn9t-u8)

      "The most advanced, the most reliable, the fastest 3D printer ever created"

    12. Re:Another child making unsupported claims by spire3661 · · Score: 1

      So are most of us on this forum. It doesnt mean we get to make wild claims.

      --
      Good-bye
    13. Re:Another child making unsupported claims by spire3661 · · Score: 1

      Ah yes, appeal to emotion, what a compelling retort.

      --
      Good-bye
    14. Re:Another child making unsupported claims by viperidaenz · · Score: 3, Funny

      Or a flexible funding kickstarter campaign

    15. Re:Another child making unsupported claims by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 2

      "The most advanced, the most reliable, the fastest 3D printer ever created"

      He says it is "fastest", but he does NOT say it is "ten times faster" as the summary claims. He also says it is "advanced" and "reliable" but neither of those adjectives necessarily imply that it is precise.

    16. Re:Another child making unsupported claims by viperidaenz · · Score: 1

      But apparently anything you add "....on the internet" or "... on a computer" makes it something completely different.

      At least it is if you go the the East Texas District Court.

    17. Re:Another child making unsupported claims by sir-gold · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It's hard to fit into a world where the average person really is dumber than you.

    18. Re:Another child making unsupported claims by slash0r · · Score: 1

      Exactly.

      I would be glad for him to have built such a fast 3D printer.
      But the whole linked article is more about named innovative / entrepreneurial kid schools than supporting his supposed printer.

      That is a lot of buzz for something that do not exist yet. Will it ever, it will compete with future alternatives too...

    19. Re:Another child making unsupported claims by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Oh, so you know the boy and know that his problem is he's so highly intelligent that he can't relate to the world around him and that we, in turn, can't relate to him?
       
      My experience with these kind of "gifted" people is that they use their reputation like a crutch and before you know it their little world gets shattered by the reality that being a good test taker with a little bit of initiative at the age of 15 isn't going to carry you through college or in the real world. Dismiss it with a single stab at society and feel good about yourself but I'd like to think you're bright enough to know the truth about the high school jock who becomes a fuck up who lives on the edges of society the day after graduation because he's no longer a golden child and actually has to step up to the challenges of life. The same thing happens to the nerds too.
       
      I'd be more than willing to give you your due in some cases but I think the case of the genius who just can't relate to the world is a bit overstated. If the boy was sitting in his bedroom showing a great ability but just couldn't find a way to fit it into the norm of the work-a-day life I'd have come out and said it. Instead he's just wasting away the days with video games and movies. The times he does appear he tries to throw something out there like he's still the 15 year old genius but ends up looking the fool for pointing out the obvious.
       
      Meh. I guess he can waste his life any way he chooses but I'm not going to sugar coat it.... and if I thought for a second that he really was a genius who just needed an environment where he could work in the way that would best suit his abilities I'd be more than happy to help but he simply isn't putting anything out there that would impress anyone but the "Science!" derps at your local comic book shop. Maybe I could get him a job doing technical advising on MythBusters or some shit.

    20. Re:Another child making unsupported claims by penguinoid · · Score: 1

      It's hard to fit into a world where the average person really is dumber than you.

      It's easier than ever nowadays -- you can just join an internet group that not only is of the level of intelligence you desire, but also shares your interests. Or, you can use your smarts to start making inventions or discoveries, or start a successful business. All it takes is a little initiative and non-horrible parents (or a lot of initiative). Alternately, you can use your smarts to do some major slaking since school level stuff is so easy, and then learn how that works out at college or work.

      Though I do think it kind of cute when people say that a person's problem is that he has too much of a quality generally defined as "the ability to solve problems".

      --
      Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
    21. Re:Another child making unsupported claims by houghi · · Score: 1

      It's hard to fit into a world where the average person really is dumber than you.

      So life is hard for half the world or do you not know how averages work?

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    22. Re:Another child making unsupported claims by sir-gold · · Score: 1

      "The average person" is an expression, not a statistical statement.

    23. Re:Another child making unsupported claims by thedarknite · · Score: 1

      I'm skeptical since there doesn't seem to be an actual patent application

      --
      A game has objectives and is competitive, anything else is just play
    24. Re:Another child making unsupported claims by giorgist · · Score: 1

      Which means you are average unless you are as shocked as the proverbial US president that was surprised to hear that a full half of the US population has lower than average IQ

    25. Re:Another child making unsupported claims by rtb61 · · Score: 1

      It's like a lot of these technological inventions coming up with the method is easy actually achieving it is harder. The quickest achievable one I can come up with is laser styled printer. Where the drum picks up the printing medium in a pass and you use a laser light to set and heat the medium in select areas and then apply it to the printing bed. As the drum makes each pass a layer is laid down, adhering to previous layers. Partially set printing media on the bed provides support for suspended parts, those parts as the same for the rest of of media are forced from the drum by the application of the appropriate charge at the appropriate location in conjunction with a charge in the printing media. All print media is partially set via electric current to provide support for set areas of print media, thus partial set media is recovered and recycled at the end of a print run. Thickness of each pass can be varied to accelerate printing.

      So easy to came up with the idea, now putting it into practice is far more difficult including coming up with the printing medium. Of course the USPTO passes patents on far broader description with far less of an idea all to feed patent lawyers.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    26. Re:Another child making unsupported claims by sir-gold · · Score: 2

      It's not a lack of feeling like "fitting in", it's a distinct feeling of NOT fitting in, there is a big difference.

    27. Re:Another child making unsupported claims by Guspaz · · Score: 2

      Did you look at the video I linked to? "Get ready to print 10x faster" is definitely a claim made in the video.

    28. Re:Another child making unsupported claims by ET3D · · Score: 1

      I assume that by "we" you mean "cynics".

    29. Re:Another child making unsupported claims by risom · · Score: 1

      It's hard to fit into a world where the average person really is dumber than you.

      Quite the opposite, the 50% of the population has no problem to "fit into a world where the average person really is dumber than you."

      The problem is not the intelligence of the kid, but the fact he thinks he's gifted. If you achieve good grades in school without effort and your parents constantly tell you you're gifted, you never really learn the correlation between effort and achievement. Then, suddenly, the real world kicks in. Other young adults, not gifted but learning none the less, catched up. Now they get the interesting jobs.

      If you have contact to a gifted child, it's important to give him/her appropriate input. Put the focus on productive output, on effort (e.g. for a kid with math skills: Present interesting engineering problems, perhaps a bridge has to be built over a creek or something similar). On helping others and on developing the ability to communicate effectively with non-gifted kids (or adults).

    30. Re:Another child making unsupported claims by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Most (consumer) 3D printers run steppers

      A well tuned servo system could easily increase the speed 5 fold without a single dollar spent on R&D.

    31. Re:Another child making unsupported claims by parkinglot777 · · Score: 1

      I'm skeptical since there doesn't seem to be an actual patent application

      If he filed a provisional application, then it would not be searchable or published yet. You will have to wait until either he wants to convert it to a patent or the time to file non-provisional is expired. If the time is expired, the information in the application will disappeare -- http://www.uspto.gov/patents/r... for more info.

    32. Re:Another child making unsupported claims by nitehawk214 · · Score: 1

      This falls into the "CREATED BY A SCHOOLTEACHER" category of bullshit claims. We are supposed to treat the product differently because of who created it, instead of analyzing it on its own merits.

      --
      I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
    33. Re:Another child making unsupported claims by Ozymandias_KoK · · Score: 1

      If you can't find a way around that but all the dummies can, maybe you aren't as smart as you think you are. Maybe they're not really as dumb as you think. I've seen a number of theoretically smart people turn out to be ultimately clueless. Even worse are those who can't do X, but decry anyone not well versed in their field as stupid. Think doctors who can grasp medical principles we couldn't dream of, but can't figure out that an Excel spreadsheet shared on a network makes for a crappy "database" for them all to be in and out of, constantly entering data. Some would declare them dumb, but it simply isn't their field. Looking down your nose at everyone else says a hell of a lot more about you than it does them.

    34. Re:Another child making unsupported claims by iamhassi · · Score: 1

      "The most advanced, the most reliable, the fastest 3D printer ever created"

      He says it is "fastest", but he does NOT say it is "ten times faster" as the summary claims. He also says it is "advanced" and "reliable" but neither of those adjectives necessarily imply that it is precise.

      He also didn't say if it is cost effective. It's easy to make the fastest or best or most reliable of anything, problem is making it at a price that people are willing to pay.

      --
      my karma will be here long after I'm gone
    35. Re:Another child making unsupported claims by jeIIomizer · · Score: 1

      My inventions or lack thereof have absolutely nothing to do with the validity of my arguments. That you thought this debunked anything I said pretty much proves you're an irrational moron with no grasp of basic logical fallacies.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    36. Re:Another child making unsupported claims by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      Fitting in is easier when you're smart about it. You can also find some people you really do fit in with. As I told my son many times, "You're smart. You figure something out."

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  3. Bet it doesn't work by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

    One of the main reasons 3D printers are slow is that bad things happen when you try to go too fast, such as warping. Unless he's created a new material, he's not going to fix that.

    1. Re:Bet it doesn't work by serviscope_minor · · Score: 4, Informative

      Yep. Also, adhesion starts to be a problem at high speed.

      The printers can move their parts much, much faster than they print at, and they typically do so when positioning a head without extruding. They can also churn out plastic pretty fast too, though you have to crank the heat way up to get the temperature hot enough for the fastest extrusion.

      If that's the problem then a series of pre-heaters could work, but I don't think the raw speed is the problem with these machines.

      It's why one does the outer layers slowly. You get better precision that way.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    2. Re:Bet it doesn't work by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 2

      You could go old school and do it like a dot matrix printer with 10 heads in parallel.

      --
      I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
    3. Re:Bet it doesn't work by Electricity+Likes+Me · · Score: 1

      I was going to criticize this, but actually this seems like it would work. You could feed a single spool into a common melt chamber, and then use needle valves on the heads to control whether specific points extruded. All the benefits of a small nozzle diameter without the draw back when filling in large items.

    4. Re:Bet it doesn't work by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 2

      Well it's out now, so no naughty patenting the idea.

      --
      I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
    5. Re:Bet it doesn't work by queazocotal · · Score: 1

      Use a moderate power diode laser to preheat the bit you're just about to deposit onto to optimal adhesion temperature.

    6. Re:Bet it doesn't work by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 2

      Yes, I think lasers are a necessary component.

      --
      I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
    7. Re:Bet it doesn't work by NatasRevol · · Score: 1

      So, you can't heat the nozzles together, but control the flow separately?

      Why not?

      --
      There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
    8. Re:Bet it doesn't work by jd2112 · · Score: 2

      Yes, I think lasers are a necessary component.

      Only where sharks are involved.

      --
      Any insufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology.
    9. Re:Bet it doesn't work by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Just put the whole damn thing into a cheap Chinese plastic annealing oven. Check Alibaba; shouldn't be more then a few hundred bucks.

      Temperature might be a little tricky, if you used too many plastic parts making your 3d printer, they might melt lose strength if you set the temperature too high.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    10. Re:Bet it doesn't work by Bartles · · Score: 1

      You just feed into a heated hopper that keeps a larger volume of molten plastic, instead of doing the melting at the print head which requires high localized heat.

    11. Re:Bet it doesn't work by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      You could go old school and do it like a dot matrix printer with 10 heads in parallel.

      I was thinking if that was possible. It certainly is to some extent. The mid range printers often have dual extruders (or more). That's usually used for multicolour or multi material (especially support material) prints, but there exist hacks to print out a pair of suplicates simultaneously.

      I expect you could print the infill in parallel, but printing the outer shells would be harder since they're generally moulded to the shape.

      It would help if the hesds were extremely close together like dot matrix pins, but that wouldn't help for infill since that's usually sparse.

      In other words, fine grained parallelism is an interesting problem but I've no idea how to solve it.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    12. Re:Bet it doesn't work by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 1

      The heads don't need to be close together as long as you are printing out a matrix rather than line following.

      Print out rows n and n+10 and n+20 and n+30...
      Move over
      Print out rows n+1 and n+11 and n+21 and n+31...
      Repeat until done.

      --
      I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
    13. Re:Bet it doesn't work by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      The heads don't need to be close together as long as you are printing out a matrix rather than line following.

      3D printers do line following because head positioning is easier and more accurate than starting/stopping extrusion. Your proposed method would work, except it would produce very messy edges.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    14. Re:Bet it doesn't work by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 1

      So maybe a combination of edges with line following with a single head followed by matrix area fill with multiple heads.

      --
      I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
    15. Re:Bet it doesn't work by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 1

      With the caveat that I don't have a clue what I'm talking about. I've never used a 3D printer in my life.

      --
      I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
    16. Re:Bet it doesn't work by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      Fair enough.

      Well, that could work but the speedups would be sub linear.

      The reason is the outer shells tend to be both dense and done slowly with the outermost shell done very slowly in order to get a good surface finish. The inside is usually filled with a sparse hexagonal infill pattern (ofen to a density of only 10% or so) and done much faster.

      A matrix like system could certainly be able to speed up the infilling, but I think you end up running in to Amdhal's law quite fast.

      I haven't run the numbers however, but either way it would depend on the shape. A large, smooth shape would be optimal (lots of volume) whereas a very involuted shape would see little or no benefit at all.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    17. Re:Bet it doesn't work by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 1

      Yes, I think lasers are a necessary component.

      Only where sharks are involved.

      Not all sharks. Only 'Friken sharks'.

      --
      I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
  4. speed is not really what they're lacking by Trepidity · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Sure, speed would be nice, but this is not really true:

    One of the main issues with 3D printers today is that they lack in one area; speed.

    3D printers lack in a whole lot of areas, and speed is not at the top of the list. There are a ton of things that you can't do with a 3d printer because the parts are too large, too intricate, need different materials than 3d printers can handle, or are too expensive to 3d print. As more of those problems are solved, the range of things you can plausibly 3d print expands significantly. Now once you can print something in 12 hours, it's great if you could print it in 2 hours or 20 minutes instead, but just being able to do it at all is the biggest step.

    --
    10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
    1. Re:speed is not really what they're lacking by SuricouRaven · · Score: 2

      I'd add 'reliability' to that list. 3D printers currently have no feedback: If something goes wrong they keep shooting noodles. That means they need to be supervised, and for many prints there is an element of luck so it might take some hours to get a good result. I'm on attempt three to print a small box right now - the first two failed due to bad adhesion. I've just put down new kapton, but this one is already looking iffy.

      I think the edges of the print bed are cooler than the center, causing warping.

    2. Re:speed is not really what they're lacking by fermion · · Score: 1

      but to a kid speed is all that matters. It is fast, are the explosions cool. The thing with a 3D printer is that the layers have to be laid accurately. I suspect any 3d printer can go fast if you leave accuracy. The same is true with inkjet, where my old $500 epson is not as fast as a $50 cannon, but it renders images better.

      --
      "She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
    3. Re:speed is not really what they're lacking by serviscope_minor · · Score: 2

      I'm guessing from the description that you're printing with ABS. Is that right? And if so, are you priming the kapton (or bluetape) with ABS juice before the print?

      I've found that that helped a great deal except that sometimes the print was rather hard to remove from the base.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    4. Re:speed is not really what they're lacking by Electricity+Likes+Me · · Score: 1

      Blue Bostic glue stick on glass works fantastically for me so far.

    5. Re:speed is not really what they're lacking by SuricouRaven · · Score: 1

      Tried ABS juice once, didn't seem to do much for me.

      I'm trying something new: Big brim, right up to the edge of the platform. Add clothespegs to hold it down!

    6. Re:speed is not really what they're lacking by SuricouRaven · · Score: 1

      If this fails I'm just going to switch back to PLA. I'm only using ABS for this because I've not got much PLA left to hand right now and want to practice getting large ABS prints to work. In my experience PLA is much less prone to warping.

    7. Re:speed is not really what they're lacking by SuricouRaven · · Score: 1

      Idea: Replace aluminium build platform with steel. Use magnets to anchor things down!

    8. Re:speed is not really what they're lacking by mark_reh · · Score: 1

      The lifting at corners of a box is caused by the shrinking of the plastic as it cools. There are straight lines of plastic connecting the corners which concentrates all the force from the shrinking there. If you make the surfaces of the box wavy instead of smooth and flat you'll have fewer corner lifting and delamination problems. The other thing you can do is enclose the printer in a box that keeps the whole print warm as it prints. I have found that a temperature as low as 40C inside the box is sufficient to prevent most delamination problems in ABS prints.

      I enclosed my printer in a box made of PIR foam. See: http://www.thingiverse.com/thi... The box clips together using 3D printable clips that allow you to take the box apart and reassemble it easily. I don't think it is entirely necessary to use insulating foam- I think a single layer of corrugated board would work just as well. My printer heats the box to >40C with the heat from the printbed alone.

      ABS should stick to the kapton covered printbed without any assistance from "juice" or other additives. If your prints don't stick, you probably need to be more careful about leveling the bed and zeroing the Z-axis. Print the first layer slowly with the extrusion multiplier at 200%. It is entirely possible that your printbed isn't very flat and that can lead to prints lifting because no matter how well you level the bed and set the Z-axis zero, if the bed isn't flat your prints may not stick. Try replacing the bed with a known flat surface. Aluminum tooling plate is cast and milled flat and works well. Beware of fake kapton- one brand new printer that arrived at the Milwaukee Makerspace had a "kapton" covered bed and the prints wouldn't stick to it until the "kapton" it came with was replaced.

      If you do everything right you'll be complaining about the difficulty of removing prints from the bed more than about prints not sticking.

    9. Re:speed is not really what they're lacking by mark_reh · · Score: 1

      Rounding the corners of your box, if the design constraints allow it, will help prevent corner lifting, as will using a brim about 5-6mm wide when printing the first layer.

    10. Re:speed is not really what they're lacking by mark_reh · · Score: 1

      Avoid touching the printbed with your bare hands- oil from your hands will prevent prints from sticking. Before you print, make sure the bed is clean by wiping it with acetone while it is at room temperature.

    11. Re:speed is not really what they're lacking by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      Tried ABS juice once, didn't seem to do much for me.

      I've been printing with ABS rather than PLA, since I want to use the acetone fume smoothing trick. It is a little trickier, but it can work very well.

      How much did you use?

      I had the opposite problem. I had to take the (hardened glass in that case) build plate off, clamp the part in a vice and twist it (wearing very thick gloves). No amount of prying could remove it.

      I believe that was with kapton (not bluetape as I previously thought), but I may be mistaken.

      The key isto make it very thick (it should be a bit goopy, but have no lumps) and you can apply it when the bed is hot. Basically, whenever you foul up a print, chuck the wasted ABS into the pot.

      There should be a really visible layer of ABS film after you've applied it. Having the bed hot makes the acetone boil off so you don't have to wait for it to evaporate. Really slather it on.

      Given that I had trouble removing it, next time, I'd probably print it on a raft (bottom layer solid to get good adhesion), so that you can remove it more easily. Also, set the head slightly lower so that it squashes the extruded filament down a bit more firmly onto the (now ABS film coated) base.

      I had pretty decent results with that forumula. Good luck.

      One of the other posters suggested spraying with bostick of some sort (which I believe is PVA). I've heard other people suggest various kinds of sprays. I've not tried them yet.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    12. Re:speed is not really what they're lacking by SuricouRaven · · Score: 1

      If you experiment with glue, make sure you've solvent handy to get it off again.

    13. Re:speed is not really what they're lacking by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      If you experiment with glue, make sure you've solvent handy to get it off again.

      Good point. The advantage with going for PVA is it's water soluable. I've not yet had any luck printing PVA though since it's so floppy that it tends to not go through the extruder properly instead preferring to wrap itself round the hobbed bolt. This isn't helped by its very low softening point so much so that just the heat from the motors softens it noticably.

      If you have acetone though that dissolves many glues.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
  5. Lacking details by MrLogic17 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It would be nice if there was a video, picture, or something to substantiate all of these claims.

    I welcome advances in this field, but the wunderkind trope has been played too many times lately
    .
     

    1. Re:Lacking details by rolfwind · · Score: 1

      I actually think the whole thing was a ruse to sell his Bustin' Jieber app.

      1. Make 3D printing claim. (Bonus for wearing Google Glasses while doing so.)
      2. People check you out.
      3. ???
      4. Profit!

      Having a ready to buy shitty app fits neatly into #3. The fact is that the school seems to incentivize kids towards bullshit business lingo, innovating this and that. I doubt their math and science is that strong as the Bullshit Dept. I applaud them requiring kids to have a business though.

      Smoke and mirrors, razzle and dazzle. Congrats kid, you have a bright future in this country.

    2. Re:Lacking details by Zaelath · · Score: 1

      Yeah, that video was enough to wipe this company from my buy list for all time.

  6. He claims? by Tablizer · · Score: 2

    "I am Superman and I can kick your house in!"

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
    1. Re:He claims? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I'm stronger than you! I can lift an entire house!

      -Adorable things kids say

    2. Re:He claims? by ArcadeMan · · Score: 1

      What is this? An house for ANTS?

      --
      Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
  7. "says" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

    Call me when he actually made one.

  8. Meh. by Skarjak · · Score: 2

    Generally, if they have to hype the age of the person developping it, it's because there's not a whole lot of substance there. Call me when he ships something interesting.

  9. Another dumb shit from 3Dprint.com by Thantik · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Eddie Krassenstein and cohorts, have been at this constantly for the past months. They have made up so many stories, which lack any kind of verification. Do not trust anything that comes from 3Dprint.com. It's just a bunch of marketing assholes trying to make their web-property more valuable by pumping out bullshit that people scoop up and retransmit. Slashdot, please don't stoop this low.

    1. Re:Another dumb shit from 3Dprint.com by BitZtream · · Score: 1

      Then you've never used Google Glass or have put much thought into what is technically possible with the hardware.

      Hint: He's not using it for anything like you might expect and those silly stories you've ready about people overlaying useful information on real world problems are bullshit, none (repeat NONE) of the sensors in glass are accurate enough to do so.

      Glass is a joke, ask anyone who has ACTUALLY used one. Its just silly at this stage.

      And yes, I have a Glass prototype my former employer paid for. Even with it being his money, it was still a waste of money.

      --
      Persistent Volume manager for Kubernetes - https://github.com/dwimsey/openshift-pvmanager
  10. Hmmm... by drew_92123 · · Score: 1, Insightful

    *cough* bullshit *cough*

  11. Re:Speed isn't the problem... yet by SuricouRaven · · Score: 1

    Depends on your printer. I've one of the low-cost ones, a K8200, and it is unreliable enough that it needs supervision. Still, for four hundred quid, I'm very happy with it. I imagine if I'd paid up for the thousand-plus-quid high end models it'd work much better. ... and I hear the fan running. That's supposed to be disabled for ABS! I'll go pull the cable out for it.

  12. Bet his father is an engineer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I've seen far too many "whizkid makes incredible invention" turn out to be "parent's pet project attributed to kid for fame and glory". School science projects are not meant to be an exercise in outsourcing to parents either.

    1. Re:Bet his father is an engineer by ItsJustAPseudonym · · Score: 1

      This is sometimes called "Pinewood Derby Syndrome".

  13. Re:Kid's on track for silicon valley by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Well he's CEO of Tesla, which is in Palo Alto. That fits pretty much any definition of working in SV.

    Note the post didn't say he lived or worked in SV, just that he's "the current darling of SV". He's definitely a topic that comes up frequently here in the bay area.

  14. KAST? by ArcadeMan · · Score: 1

    Is it similar to the KAST 3D Printer?

    Frankly, I'm putting better hopes into this kind of technology, for single-material printing. It's like a RepRap is an old plotter and the KAST is a laser printer that can print the whole page at the same time.

    --
    Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
  15. Another child making unsupported claims by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Exactly. And something to back up the contrary.

    Thomas' most popular creation to date is "Bustin Jieber," a smartphone game that allows people to pretend to whack pop star Justin Bieber to make him scream and it all happens to the Benny Hill theme song.

    Another teen ""genius"". Big media is pushing these guys all the time, probably to fuel another tech bubble to be popped so that the legitimate businesses (i.e. not this guy) can be bought up on the cheap. Same'ol same'ol ...

  16. 15 year old marketing genius? by sstamps · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Though that marketing video, while "snazzy", is pretty pedestrian, as marketing videos go.

    There are some bona fide "kid geniuses" out there who have done amazing things (though many with lots of help from family/friends/other adult geniuses). That said, there are 100 times more who talk a good line, but have nothing to show for it.

    I'll wait until I see the goods before I pronounce anyone "kid genius".

    --
    -SS "Teach the ignorant, care for the dumb, and punish the stupid."
  17. Suarez? by Rashdot · · Score: 2

    I hope he doesn't use his teeth to create 3D objects.

    --
    This is not the sig you're looking for.
  18. Re:I should start a company... by marciot · · Score: 1

    Get ready to travel through time and eat cake while you do it!

    My company with patent pending technology will let you travel through time while eating cake.

    Sorry, I got prior art on this. Everytime I find myself eating birthday cake I am shocked that I've traveled one year though time. It really sucks (the time travel, not the cake).

  19. Buzzword Bingo by Lije+Baley · · Score: 1

    B.S. Crapload's law of buzzwords: Anyone who says they are "innovating" is almost certainly NOT.

    --
    Strange things are afoot at the Circle-K.
  20. Lacking details by MatthiasF · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What...the high intensity youtube video with techno-music and flying text wasn't enough proof?

    Man, what are they gonna have to do to get through to you... make it work or something?

  21. No shit by Sycraft-fu · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Slashdot needs to knock it off with these "Child genius is going to totally upstage all those stupid companies and make something amazing!" stories they run some time. The thing is, they are essentially never true and we as geeks should know better.

    Smart kids often have the problem of thinking they know everything. They have the brains to be well above their peers at pretty much everything, and so have a confidence in their knowledge and intelligence, but lack the experience to understand the limitations of both in the larger world. Hence they'll think that they have found an "obvious" solution to a problem in the world that nobody else has managed to think of. I'm sure most of us felt like that at one time or another as children.

    However, it turns out that smart kids become smart adults, and those smart adults get job making the thing we use, solving the problems we have, and so on. So, usually if there's something that hasn't been solved, the reason is that there is NOT a simple solution. There isn't something that a kid will just say "Oh look, here's a better way to do it." Rather it is a complex problem and thus the solutions are complex.

    So Slashdot needs to quit with stories on shit like this unless there' something to back it up. A printer actually gets released based on this kids design? Ok that's a story. Some kid says he can do way better than anyone else? That's not a story. That is, to quote the Reapers, "A confidence borne of ignorance." It's not news.

    1. Re:No shit by im_thatoneguy · · Score: 1

      It's worse than that. The problem with these kids is that they are just smart enough to do something but too stupid to realize that their idea doesn't work. They either grow up to be fly by night scammy venture capitalists or else that pot head kid in highschool "Dude, I just came up with this great idea, why don't we just power cars with rare earth magnets! They would go forever without gasoline!"

      Generally these kids come up with bad ideas that even a smart 16 year old could see the flaws in. The truly brilliant kids looked at the problem looked at possible drawbacks or obstacles and concluded "Hmm, no nevermind, that wouldn't work." meanwhile the somewhat smart but ultimately too dumb to see the ultimate failure of their idea power through on the local news before they finish the R&D.

    2. Re:No shit by dunkelfalke · · Score: 1

      Some kids actually manage to build something out of their ideas.
      Look up "brakeforce one".

      --
      "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
    3. Re:No shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      A printer actually gets released based on this kids design? Ok that's a story.

      I'd be happy with a video of his printer going at it, even if it lacked any details.
      But this is just fluff. For shame, Slashdot!

    4. Re:No shit by jellomizer · · Score: 1

      Where their are the rare cases where a kid who doesn't have the mental block on this is how we need to do things can come up with a much more innovative solution. However most of the time, the best they achieve is creating something that other engineers have though of before but had rejected the idea, because of the trade-offs it can bring, being too expensive, doesn't meet quality standards, parts are hard to replace, cannot purchase the right to use a patent, excessively dangerous, etc....

      I had invented a lot of crazy stuff as a kid, I was lucky I never started a fire with the designs. (A lot of wire cloth hanger that are not isolated were often my primary material)

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    5. Re:No shit by jeIIomizer · · Score: 1

      FSM forbid people question what they read instead of just instantly believing these extraordinary claims. No one is saying it's bad to tinker or that no one should bother; just that if you're going to make extraordinary claims, you'd better provide some proof to back them up.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    6. Re:No shit by the_arrow · · Score: 1

      There are many people who came up with great inventions or mathematical proofs just because no-one told that it would be impossible and not work.

      --
      / The Arrow
      "How lovely you are. So lovely in my straightjacket..." - Nny
    7. Re:No shit by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      Smart kids discount the value of experience. Average adults discount the value of being smart.

      Long-standing problems can have simple solutions. However, the solutions will look like dumb ideas at first, since if they looked like good ideas people would have found them by now.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  22. Having designed and built a 3D printer by mark_reh · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I am skeptical. If you're using FDM, I think that in order to print 10X faster, you can't use either ABS or PLA. The print head of the machine will have to be very low mass, which also rules out plastics with high melt temperatures like ABS and PLA. I don't think FDM printing can achieve a 10X speed increase.

    If you go to stereolithography where you're using a projector to harden a photopolymer, you might achieve a 10X speed increase with the right chemistry and the right light source.

    Without any evidence of what the kid is doing or even knowing if he has built an operational prototype, meh. All sorts of people claim all sorts of stuff on the internet without backing any of it up.

    1. Re:Having designed and built a 3D printer by Megol · · Score: 1

      Well one could use several print heads in parallel. The theory is straight forward but getting it working in practice would be quite tricky.
      Another way to do it (speeding up 3D printing) could be using selective laser melting of plastic powder.

      The article, if one can call it that, is useless anyway.

    2. Re:Having designed and built a 3D printer by mark_reh · · Score: 1

      That's where experience in having built a printer comes in handy. In an FDM printer the head is massive. Using multiple heads in parallel doesn't relieve you of the burden of accelerating them or the limitations of the materials you are melting. You won't get a 10X improvement in FDM by using multiple heads.

      A laser that fuses powers or a print head that squirts tiny droplets of glue might allow speed increases, but might also compromise the strength of the parts and limit their use to decorative stuff. Those options and STL printers that use light to solidify a photopolymer resin are messy to use and require the prints to be cleaned up after removal from the printer. None are good options for use in the home due to the mess.

    3. Re:Having designed and built a 3D printer by daid303 · · Score: 1

      Print heads can be tiny:
      http://daid.eu/~daid/IMG_20140...

      The problem is not slinging the head around. You could even do that with much more speed then is done right now.

      However, the real problem is cooling and bonding. If you print quicker you need to cool the material quicker. If you cool it quicker, it doesn't bond to the rest of the material really well.

      We generally speak in mm^3 / second when we talk about printing speed these days. As that's what counts in the end. Volume per time. With the accuracy we want, naturally.

      - Daid, Ultimaker R&D. The Cura guy.

    4. Re:Having designed and built a 3D printer by badkarmadayaccount · · Score: 1

      Solvent based extruder in recycling vacuum chamber?

      --
      I know tobacco is bad for you, so I smoke weed with crack.
  23. Re:I should start a company... by Karmashock · · Score: 1

    Hey hey... that's your life. To say you hate it is to say you hate your life. :)

    sure we all get older and one day will die... but we had fun getting there.

    --
    I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
  24. Where have I seen these claims before? by HockeyPuck · · Score: 2

    Every few years we come across one of these articles where some teen claims an amazing breakthrough

    16yr old and Encryption

    17yr old nuclear bomb detector Note that he claims he built a nuclear reactor when he was 14..

    Can I get an article if I write a blog when I discuss some unsubstantiated claims that my golden retriever has found a way to increase the aerial density of a HD by 100x based upon chew marks in a shank bone?

    1. Re:Where have I seen these claims before? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Looks like the 16 year old developing a fast encryption algorithm wasn't entirely honest because she actually took a unpublished paper on public-key crypto and just used matrix multiplication with a prime modulo as the non-communicative mechnism:
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C...

      So she implemented someone else's public key-crypto scheme. It's a nice little badge to be the first to bring out an implementation, but not really fair to say she made it herself.

    2. Re:Where have I seen these claims before? by JoelKatz · · Score: 1

      "Note that he claims he built a nuclear reactor when he was 14.."

      Which he did. Nobody seriously disputes this claim. He held the record for the youngest person to build a fusion device until Jamie Edwards did so at 13.
      http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sci...

  25. 10X faster than a slug isn't hard to believe by raymorris · · Score: 1

    Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

    Current machines take an entire day or more to print something. It's not at all hard to believe that someone got it down to an hour for a 3" * 3" print. In fact, I'd be surprised if someone DIDN'T do that very soon.

    Because he's claiming to have done something that I fully expected someone to do rather soon, I don't see any reason to think he's lying.

  26. What matters is definition/time, not only speed by slash0r · · Score: 1

    Guess what my dog is world fasted 3D bio printer !
    It can print any model with 1x1x1 definition, up to 2x2x2, each time it goes out...

    1. Re:What matters is definition/time, not only speed by 91degrees · · Score: 1

      Your printer is shit!

  27. Bug Exposed In /.'s Collaborative Filter by Baldrson · · Score: 1

    If there were ever evidence that ./'s collaborative filter system has a bug; this is it. Look through the logs and reverse engineer this exploit.

    --
    Seastead this.
  28. And yesterday my 8 month old son invented a game by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Crumb bouncing, you just have to drum your hands on the tray attached to a baby chair and the crumbs dance around and can even make patterns due to resonance.

    I think he is a genius, and he has been able to demonstrate his invention too.

  29. wake me up by Spazmania · · Score: 1

    I was going to say wake me up when he has a production-grade model that's still the most reliable, most advanced, and faster than any 3D printer but the kid gets major style points for the Bustin Jeiber game.

    --
    Moderating "-1, Disagree" is simple censorship. Have the guts to post your opinion.
  30. Software by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 1

    Very much so.

    Hardware is difficult for experienced engineers. I think really smart kids (of which this may be one) should think more in terms of software, perhaps even embedded software. This is an area that a teenager who lacks real hardware engendering knowledge can excel.

    --
    If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
  31. Let's see it by NormalVisual · · Score: 1

    FTA: “Recently I applied for a patent on 3D printing,” Suarez told BBC in an interview.

    Okay, give us the application number so we can actually see what you've done and see if there's any prior art. A cursory search of the USPTO application database returns nothing at all for Thomas Suarez as the inventor, nor for any Suarez in either Los Angeles or Manhattan Beach, the given (residential) address for CarrotCorp.

    I really hope this kid has stumbled onto something good, but everyone seems content to just take him at his word without anything to substantiate his claims.

    --
    Please stand clear of the doors, por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas
  32. Not Surprising by aaronb1138 · · Score: 1

    I can't be the only one who saw this and thought, well sure a 15 year old can make a better faster 3D printer. Most of the reason I haven't bought one myself has been how underwhelmed I have been by the quality and results.

    The only ones where I thought there precision and accuracy were useful were the UV/Near-UV plastics that operated on DLP lithographic principles. The consumables for those had too narrow of a usage range and ridiculous cost scales. The Makerbot and similar ABS extrusion machines are just dog slow, and get slower with increased complexity, not to mention consumables in the still silly price range.

    Building something better and faster is easily within reach, and most of the commercial $10-100k models overcome all of the weaknesses of hobbyist / consumer offerings. Bringing some of the commercial speed optimizations (multiple nozzles) and such is trivial given the weak position of the hobby market hardware.

  33. Who needs speed? by MarkvW · · Score: 1

    Smooth and strong is what I want.

  34. Printable printer by mtthwbrnd · · Score: 1

    When we have a printer that can print copies of itself then this will really take off. Good bye Patent system?

  35. Lol @ Video by YoungManKlaus · · Score: 1

    "I am the CEO / CFO / Sales Director" ... dude, you are 11, calling yourself a CxO is just lame. Also who of you does the coding with your fancy titles?

  36. sick and tired by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Of the younger generations thinking they've got it all. Stay in business for 20 or 30 years like us seniors. Then, maybe, just maybe, we might listen to you. Oh and dont think for a moment that any if these newly hyped's are any smarter than the rest of us. Like Zuckerberg, Brin, Page etc. They just had the luck of being in the right place at the right time, namely in Silicon Valley. Much harder to get sonething going and growing if you don't have access to hundreds of mUSD. In other words, give me 100mUSD and I'll achieve wonderfull things, too.

  37. Ambiguous Title by whining_time · · Score: 1

    Is it only me that read as the kid developing the 3D printer 10x faster than before instead of the printer printing 10x faster?

  38. how can they be made faster? by aurizon · · Score: 1

    These printers come in 3 broad types, melt a fiber , sinter a granule and cross link monomers.
    The melt a fiber you can make fastter with a jet of cold air/gas or water so the print head can pass that way again sooner, or run in a cold box = faster colling.
    The trivial answer of a 20 nozzle print head = been done.

    The sinter a granule, more power in laser to aggregate more granules?

    Monomer cross linking, higher power laser, more reactive monomer?

    I find it hard to achieve a ten fold speed ramp with rate limited physical processes standing in the way of speed ups.

  39. 3D Printing just took a bigger bite..... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Thomas Suarez related to Luis Suarez...?

  40. BOOM! Take that ye scurvy bilgerats! by Dogtanian · · Score: 1

    my old $500 epson is not as fast as a $50 cannon, but it renders images better

    To be fair, I wouldn't expect a cannon to render *any* images very well. On the other hand, it probably does better than an Epson in defending ships against pirate vessels. (Well, perhaps not a $50 model...)

    --
    "Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
  41. First using Open hardware and then... by einar.petersen · · Score: 1

    I hope this is not a question of learning using Open hardware and then going all Gosh this is clever... Yeah - I'll patent this so nobody else can utilize this improvement of the open technology unless they pay me, so what if I have sucked everything out of the freely available tech available to me.... is that the idea ? I seriously hope not and I also seriously hope he won't be selling this revolutionary patent out to some of the 3D trolls trying to patent everything 3D printwise and thus be part of stifling an industry still in it's birth... particularly as a user of open technology and someone who had learned using open technology I would seriously consider where to put my allegiances. Or perhaps he's pulling a Makerbot and deviating from the Open Philosophy... after all there is some brand affiliation it seems. 3D Print Developers need to put everything in the open describe every crazy idea they have about 3D printing to prevent the trolls... and now apparently also the kids from preventing 3D becoming what it has potential to be. A liberating technology breaking down the geolocated production monopolies, allowing each and every one of us to be our own creative geniouses unbound of the corporate stranglehold silly nilly trade agreements and IP shenanigans. @Thomas Suarez - If you're following the talk about your apparent technology, we'd like to see actual patent submissions so we can see if there's prior art to save you from a lot of trouble down the road and pricey laywer fees. Also it would be interesting to hear your take on Open Technology Development and 3D printing for instance. I surely hope I am misreading your intentions when you are pushing for a patent and trust you will be doing the right thing and participate in the open and free development of 3D printing technology - That is the way to win friends and influence people ;) Best of luck with your endeavors!

    --
    MS, ALS, Aphasia ? http://globability.org - Me http://einarpetersen.com