3-D Printing a Knife? Is it the beginning of the end of custom knives?

[clockworkfish]

As someone who both makes knives and works with 3d printers on a daily basis I do not see 3d printing taking over the knife world anytime soon. The reason why is because of how the structure of the steel is formed, the wonderful crystalline structure of modern steels that we have worked so hard to create would be nearly impossible to replicate through printing. Even if we could print out a knife with a perfect structure it would take a weeks to print just one knife at that resolution. If you were making them by hand it would take a week at most but you could be working on several at a time. Besides, as stated before, CNC should have taken over by now but it hasn't.

3d printers right now can at best be used for cool handles but that's about it.

 

[MassMatt]

I think the better question is will improved 3d printers put 3d printer manufacturers out of business.

 

[chiral.grolim]

I'm waiting for the day I can print a light saber...

^This, and i think it will happen long before custom knives go away. IF 3d-printers supplant anything, it will be CNC, as has already been stated. After that, the printers will STILL be too expensive for the consumer BUT custom-makers themselves might employ them, designing and building those carbon-fiber & bucky-ball super-knives which the rest of us would NEVER have conceived of! Be honest, who designed the knives you own? Even if you drew the specs for a custom-maker, I'd bet you took them from someone else's design. So again, as has already been stated, custom knives won't go away, there will simply be change in the mode of production.

To those living in a "technotopia", weren't we supposed to have colonized the moon and been flying around in hover-craft for decades already?? To my thinking, people RARELY underestimate technology, rather they misunderstand both it and human nature or OVER-estimate the tech itself. But for the record, I harvest my hay with a long-handled scythe & rake because a tractor (technology many decades old) is unnecessarily expensive for me. And if gas-prices keep going up or we don't find new ways to harness atomic energy or something else soon, tractors and cars will become prohibitively expensive for the majority within a generation or two. Which will happen first? 3D-printed high-quality knives or failing national infrastructure?

I'm not trying to be a downer, I love to see new technology improve our lives, but this particular technology doesn't sound all that new to me... *shrug*

 

[springnr]

Near term scales an such.

 

[eodtoad]

It's not much of an advancement if you ask me. What can a 3-D printer do that a 3-D CNC milling machine can't? CNC is already used extensively in the knife world, in both custom and production manufacture, so how would a 3-D printer be different? The real allure of a 3-D printer is it allows a consumer to utilize a more user-friendly, less precise version of CNC in their own home. If the day comes where a 3-D printer has the same capabilities of a $10,000 CNC machine while remaining affordable, I imagine the CNC would be even more affordable, though I don't think either will happen.

With a 3D printer, you could alter the internal structure of a material; like printing a blade/handle that has micro honeycombed hollows, that is one thing CNC machines can't do. This could cut the weight by 90% or more while increasing the strength. I do believe metallurgy in the future will be based around exotic forms of carbon; like, graphine, carbon nanotubes, and the strongest carbon atom known, the buckeyball. Theoretically one could create a nearly indestructible blade using these exotic forms of carbon combined with laser printing. The artistic/creative side will always be driven by the human mind though.

 

[hoosier122]

It's the imperfections, which make something perfected.

Also, I think 3D printers could really help one day with handles ... maybe? Maybe not.

 

[eodtoad]

Exactly. You can make a stainless steel knife 100% on a 3-d printer right now. YES RIGHT NOW the technology is here. But now its going to be 100% stainless steel including the handle. Is it going to be a WOW knife, probably not. But it could compare to several of the customs out there. Someday they could compare to the finest custom knives. But of course there will never be a 100% 3-d knife with a burl handle or bunch of MOP inlays.

There's 3-d printers being developed for the Navy right now to make food with multiple ingredients (flour, oil, proteins, etc). A few years ago the only place you would have heard anything like this was on Star Trek. If this can happen then someday there will be handles that can be made on the knife too in one shot. Remember ink jet printers 20 years ago? I remember back then my dad's office had a $1000+ inkjet and the resolution was a whopping 600dpi! Now you can get a decent inkjet for a tenth of that price. 3-d printers will be no different.

Only thing I can't figure is the HT, but someday that might be figured out too.

I absolutely agree that technological advancement is exponential; things get cheaper and quicker. I think the heat treatment process will be controlled by multiple intersecting lasers, printing in 3D. Basically "heat treating" on an atomic scale as it is created.

 

[jay2pointoh]

I can definitely see Spyderco, Benchmade, Kershaw, Microtech having 3D printed materials in their products in a few years. The process will be cheaper as time passes. It will save materials and costs. And 3D/laser printing is actually more precise than CNC or plasma/laser cutting. Will it detract from customs? I think not. The pride of ownership and pride of craftsmanship will always have a place with us.