Showerthoughts @lemmy.world CarbonIceDragon @pawb.social 10mo ago

A 3d printer is basically just a really fancy hot glue gun

Specifically the type of printer that prints using spools of plastic filament, but that seems like the most common type anyway

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Btw our heads are very slowly 3-D printing our hairs...
- Just wait until you find out what your ass does.
  
  Soft serve ice cream machine?
- Also, our fingers are printing fingernails.
- Maybe 2D is more accurate description.
  
  Hair is three dimensional.
  
  I think hair is a 1d printer process.
You're going to love/hate 3D printer pens
- I didn't know this was a thing and I want one.
  
  Really fun thing to play around with, although it requires some practice to do cool stuff with it.
- I know this is impossible but I suddenly have a memory of seeing this at 2am while watching adult swim as a kid
  
  I seem to remember something like this describes. Where instead of the ink being smooth, it was raised up, like a speed bump on the paper.
  
  https://www.markersupply.com/sagl3dgelpe.html
- There are some amazing creators on YouTube using these things. They’re so fun to watch.
- Those are plotters, not printers.
  
  I think you got mixed up a bit.
  
  A plotter is a specialized printer used for drafting and generally uses big (usu. 3-4ft length) rolls of paper. Some types do use pens, though they're usually short and specially shaped making them difficult to use manually
  
  The OC was referring to the pens that work like an auto-feeding hot glue gun using colorized glue, or PLA if the heating element gets hot enough.
- Thought it was a pregnancy test at first glance.
Not all printers are, but FDM printers are. SLA printers, the one uses projector and resin to makr high detailed figurines or parts with precision are basically fancy nail polish and curing light combimed.
It's exactly how I described it to my friends

They said "omg u have a 3d printer" I replied "nah it's just a glue gun on rails"
- Wait until you learn about resin printers
Yup, this is how I explain FDM printing to friends. It's like a giant hot glue gun, layer one layer at a time. Except instead of a giant hole for glue, it's a 0.4mm hole, really tiny.
A personal computer is basically just a really fancy calculator.
- A calculator is just a very basic computer.?
  
  Calculators calculate while computers can be programmed with new instructions. Fancy calculators that can be programmed though, as you say, are basic computers. Meanwhile calculators that run BASIC are BASIC computers.
I run a 3D printer shop and that's what I tell customers all the time -- "It's a really tiny hot glue gun attached to a really cheap robot"
Nothing worse than a pile of hot snot to make that Instagram video project a reality.
Not really, different stuff altogether. 3D pens would be probably closer.

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