Any experiance using 3-d printers for parts?

[Jim Burrill]

Hi folks,
traditional route for some parts has been to borrow an original from a friend and then have a pattern made and then have the part cast at a foundry.

Damned expensive for things like a gun mantlet. Some smaller parts can be done with home hobbyist sand casting material and an Oxy Aceteline torch to melt some brass.

With the 3-d printer tech that has developed int he last 10-15 years, we can have stuff laser scanned into a file (that can be shared!) and someone nearby with a printer spit out the parts.

In theory.... that is.

ANyone done that? Any land mines to watch out for?

Any printer materials useful to substitute with? ( if the part can be painted , can it be a resin part instead of metal? )

All comments welcome!