What’s the first thing you would print with a 3D printer?

“I’d love to build a crank-up phonograph/turntable that would actually work. Living in Music City (Nashville), I can’t imagine how cool it would be to own a working replica of a century-old device that created the music industry.”

1. Nicky Mukerji, Chief Information Officer, LbGlobalLaw. CLM Fellow since 2009.

“I would print out 3D copies of pictures of birds. I enjoy watching the birds at our feeders and often have trouble identifying them from the flat views in birding books. A 3D perspective would be great.”

2. Becky Kenyon, Chief Claims Officer, Argo Group US. CLM Fellow since 2012.

“For a fun use, I’d just print things my kids break regularly. For a practical use, I’d print items for use as trial exhibits that may now only be available in photos or when the physical item no longer exists—body parts injured in surgical cases come to mind.”

3. J. Thaddeus Eckenrode, Founder, Eckenrode-Maupin. CLM Member since 2011.

“I’d print the scene in my favorite family photo of a gathering at my great-grandfather’s home taken over 100 years ago. Most of them passed away long before I was born and only a faded photograph remains. It would be wonderful to see what they really looked like.”

4. Guy (“Sandy”) Burnette, Principal, Guy E. Burnette, PA. CLM Member since 2012.

 $1,375

Cost of MakerBot’s smallest 3D printer. Source: MakerBot

35,000%

Percent increase in 3D printer sales from 2007 to 2011. Source: Yahoo Finance

$100 Billion

Expected loss of intellectual property by 2018 due to 3D printing. Source: Gartner

20,000

Pounds of thrust generated by an NASA rocket engine with a 3D printed component. Source: NASA

100,000

Number of downloads in two days for a 3D gun blueprint before it was shut down by the State Department. Source: Forbes