Tags for this video have been changed from 'Eye of the Tiger, Printer, Dot matrix, Old school, MIDI' to 'Eye of the Tiger, Printer, Dot matrix, Old school, MIDI, Rocky' - edited by Grimm

Prototyping or even making a master from which to make a mold from. With both types of printer, there is a level of finishing needed.

The resin types will have an area of unwanted structure at the top to adhere the model to the raising arm. That needs to be cut off and cleaned. One of the biggest advantages to the resin printers is that your layers can be incredibly thin, leaving you with an almost flawless model surface.

The filament and powder types can get a decent surface, but due to the thicker layers, you will still have to spend some time smoothing the entire model before making a mold.

Drawing it out of the liquid is how it's been done, I looked a bit more into what this company is doing... basically it's a continuous draw, instead of the normal method with incremental raises.

Here's a homemade Resin Printer from 2011 pulling it from the top. https://youtu.be/snOErpOP5Xk

The filament style of 3d Printers are cheap to operate and can be made to nearly any size.

A resin printer needs a photopolymer, something that solidifies when exposed to UV light. They also need a fairly strong projector and lens, which limits their build area.

A filament printer can use a lot of various materials, the most common being PLA (a bioplastic made from renewable plant materials) and ABS. There are many other materials, some are specialty that have an almost rubber like flexibility to them, to a filament that is made from wood and a binder, which results in an printed object that can be sanded and stained. And, since you are moving a print head, the only limitation to the build size is how big you have made your printer.

Resin 3D printers have been around since the late 1980's. It's not good for mass production because you have to use a photopolymer, which tends to be expensive.

When I get my 3D printer set up, I'm going to print me a tiny 3d printer, and then use that to print an even smaller version...

Looks like something you could duplicate on a sizable 3d printer.

...for like, $750 in ABS.

There are some short cool videos of the artist surroudned by 3D printers. Thanks for the promote @kulpims

They're idiots if they don't try to find a better solution than a soda can balanced on a printer, yes. They could find someone who knows how to set up an audible alarm when a fax comes in to a PC quite easily.

The tank mods are added by retailers and print shops. You're right about how the system works -- the lines run from the big tanks and are inserted through a hole drilled into the carts small reservoir.

One issue with that is that most cartridges have a software page count that is used to tell you that the ink is running low / empty after a certain number of prints. So, along with the tank install, most shops will put in an aftermarket chip or PCB that resets or bypasses that counter.

For the other question, I think that Thailand still relies on printed documents more than in the US, but it is going down. I undoubtedly have a somewhat skewed opinion on things since I am a teacher, though. I teach 18 different classes of roughly 40 kids once a week, with a worksheet or some other printout being used nearly every week -- so I probably burn 700+ pages each week through my school's copy machines. Then I teach smaller private classes at home, with maybe 100 or so pages a week on my own printer(s). I have one inkjet with those tanks installed, 2 mono lasers, and 1 color laser... So yeah, I probably am a much heavier user of printed stuff than your average person.

Who is adding the tanks to the printer? The people selling them to retailers, the retailer, or is it a DIY? I'm guessing the lines connect to the cartridges in the printer and just kind of keep them full? Or do they tap directly into where the print cartridge connect to the heads? I think it's cool. Thanks for sharing.

Another question is do people in Thailand have a need for lots of printing? I'm in the U.S. and would say that personally, my printing needs have gone down 90% say over the last 10 years. At home, I print maybe 5 pages a month.

Photos and graphics account for a small percentage of pages printed. The vast majority (I'd wager close to 80 or 90%) are businesses and governments printing documents.

Which still leaves a problem. He seems to have designed this for inkjets, and anyone doing a lot of printing almost certainly uses a laser printer.

Also yeah, the on screen readability isn't great. The answer is ultimately not to print at all.

I think I'd have to see it in actual printed form to judge the readability accurately.

BUT, in terms of readability on a display, like the 40" 1920x1080 LCD I'm watching on ... it is quite poor in my opinion. I have a feeling that it would work much better in ink on paper.

33% ink savings sounds pretty good, assuming that the readability on paper is better than a display. That being said, encouraging printer manufacturers to have a more sane approach to refillable ink/toner reservoirs would have a better/bigger impact.

Here in Thailand, where respect for patents / IP is low, (SE Asia is notorious for fake manufactured goods, pirated "soft" media, and hardware hacks / bypasses) I'd guess that around 90% of inkjet printers sold have a tank system glued onto the side with ink lines running into the cartridges from big CYMK reservoirs. I never buy new cartridges unless the print head gets damaged/worn out -- instead, I just buy cheap LARGE bottles of the different ink colors and refill the reservoirs. (Image link of such a setup HERE)

That kind of mod would be a gray or black-market item in the West, but here the laissez-faire attitude about such things has some positive effects. At least, for a consumer (like me), or someone concerned about the environmental impact of all the waste packaging for ink carts (like the dude in this video).

Sad man doesn't understand the problem... There are plenty of ways to save ink and use less packaging, but it doesn't matter because the ink/printer companies would just put less in the cartridge. He'd be far better off telling people about toner sensor hacks and refills than creating a hard to read font that strokes his own ego.