Introduction

This new section is dedicated to Open Manufacturing developments, making it easier to identify interests in creating physical objects. This is a smaller subset of our much broader section on Open and Shared Design Communities.

Introductory Resources

Discussion

1. Open Manufacturing: The Social Implementation of Open Manufacturing & Distribution Techniques
2. Rapid Prototyping mailing list
3. Rapid Manufacturing Ning community: "Community for Advanced Manufacturing Technologies"

Overview

Advanced Civilisation is a site founded by Charles Collis to introduce current and developing states of Open and Distributed Manufacturing. (website)

Note in particular the overview on turning virtual designs into physical objects at "Virtual designs into physical objects"

Tools of The Trade

1. A working directory of hardware tools are available here.
2. 100k Garages is a network of Digital Fabrication shops, where your design can be fabricated [1]
3. Product Hacking: directory of Open Source Hardware projects

Readings / Media

1. Kevin Carson: Expanding Peer Production to the Physical World
   1. The economics of open hardware (Liquid Antipasto blog)

Also:

1. Immerse yourself in a variety of informative texts here.
2. Personal Fabrication for Dummies: 10 different techniques explained and shown in video illustrations
3. Video: Eric von Hippel on User Centered Innovation: in fact, for a long time already, users (and user communities) have been responsible for most industrial innovations!!
4. Kevin Carson: Emilia-Romagna as an example of sustainable manufacturing
5. Neil Gershenfeld on the need for a new digital maker literacy
6. Paul Fernhout: The Differences between Open Agriculture and Open Manufacturing

An important note on terminology: leading experts such as Frank Piller and Terry Wohlers prefer to use 3D Printing for a general public, and Additive Fabrication in technical contexts, instead of Rapid Prototyping or Rapid Manufacturing [2]

Political Issues

1. Kevin Carson: Criminalizing the Informal Economy through Cost Plus Regulations

Additional Resources

Twitter feeds on mass customization and personal fabrication

Key Blogs

1. Fabbaloo: tracks developments in Fabbing, 3D Printing and Desktop Manufacturing. We believe in a future where everyone can easily make any 3D objects by using inexpensive desktop equipment, much like we use inkjet printers today for two-dimensional paper objects.
2. Ponoko: blog from 3D printing company

Key Books

Better be Running. Ronald Hollis: "the most complete intro to additive fabrication" [3]