3-D printing comes to West Tennessee
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JACKSON, Tenn. — Cars, tools and toys all created at the push of a button, in front of your eyes. It is all possible with a 3-D printer, a technology of the future that has finally made its way here to West Tennessee. This is not your ordinary printer. Layer by layer, plastic is melted down to bring a three-dimensional object to life. “You’re building that object from the ground up,” said Dan Drogosh, facilities manager at TheCO in Jackson. “You are the designer, the creator and the builder.” There already are hundreds of thousands of designs online you can choose to print for free. It is as easy as going online, finding what you want, pressing download and in less than two hours watching your designs come to life and end up in your hands. “It’s just beyond this world to see something that can print in three dimensions,” local printer user Wade Thomson said. “I think it’s great that West Tennessee has it, and I’m glad we’re finally catching up.” If you are interested in trying out a 3-D printer, the only commercial printers in the area are currently at TheCO in Jackson. Members can stop by to create anything they can dream up. “A bolt or screw that does not exist right now, I can come in here and I can print that on the 3-D printer,” Thomson said. “Then I can go home and put it together and make everything work.” Drogosh teaches members at TheCO how to use the printers. He says this is only the beginning of what they will be able to do. “They will get better as time and technology increases,” Drogosh said. “To the point where you can print almost anything. You can even 3-D print a 3-D printer, as weird as that sounds.” Other than the fact they take some time to print, Drogosh says there are not many drawbacks to 3-D printing. Other than those who choose to abuse them, for instance by printing and sharing designs for weapons. “With the Internet, those files are shareable,” Drogosh said. “Before you know it, you’ve got multiple people with no gun permit or license printing these objects that could potentially hurt someone.” But Drogosh said they can do more good than bad. “You drop a 3-D printer off in an impoverished area in Africa, and they can print their own medical syringes,” Drogosh said. From Africa to outer space, the experts say these printers soon will be an everyday item. “Hey NASA, send me some prints for this. Then they’ll send it to them, and they can print it right up in space,” Thomson said. Right now, the price of a 3-D printer ranges from $500 to $10,000. But the experts say, just like any new technology, the price will decrease over the next few years.
