GEEK WARNING: Great swaths of this post will make little sense if you don’t actually use polyhedral dice.

What exactly does one use an all-20 d20 for?  I mean, there are obvious ornamental purposes, and it makes a great conversation piece, but around the gaming table, the only reason to use it is to announce that you’re “taking 20″ on something or if you’re the GM pronounce that you’re fudging a roll. (Okay admittedly there’s an intimidation factor, particularly if you print your d20 around fist-sized.)

However!  The very existence of an all-20 d20 should serve as a signpost to customized dice with arbitrary inscriptions, from dice that start at zero (like the d6s in House on Haunted Hill, which count from zero to two) to more exotic things like dice with character names on them or replacing the “one” with something suitably comical indicating critical failure.

Also for less tabletop RPG-specific purposes you might use them as an “unplugged” way to come up with story ideas if they had icons on them for different themes, or perhaps words if you have enough precision or a large enough build area…

So now we’re starting to see “mainframe” recycling of plastics take on more robust characteristics like true throughcycling (as opposed to “downcycling” where you always go to lower-grade plastics from virgin ones) with, and this is the important part, computerized sorting to produce high-quality, low waste plastics from discard plastics.

The next step obviously is to be doing this locally and ubiquitously, which I think eventually we’ll really see home 3D printer users pioneering, because they’ve got a lot to gain (cheaper feedstock and peace of mind) and a relatively simple version of the problem (known plastic types mixed in known ways).  Sure, the new extruder modules are compact enough that we’re starting to see more and more multicolor prints, but even then, the user knows just what those plastics are, as well as a thing or two about their melting points and other physical properties!

I think my favorite thing about this cylindrical compartment box is that it’s already loaded with gears.  The flat disk surface no top strikes me as an ideal place to decorate with 3D-union-operation stuff like mountains, faces, logos, etcetera…

The author has of course parameterized the design for arbitrary sections and dimensions, because Thingiverse users are awesome like that.

When we started Thingiverse we didn’t want there to be weapons on it, but there were a number of awesome toy weapons that blurred the line and so we changed the TOS to something more blurry and toy weapons carried on. In fact, if you shoot anything on Thingiverse fast enough, you could hurt someone. There have been a lot of things on Thingiverse that could be classified as weapons, but they could also be classified as toys. A miniature catapult is technically a siege weapon, but it could also be classified as a toy. To summarize, our weapons policy has been a blurry line.

Recently there has been a lot of discussion around guns since the lower arm of an AR-15 model went up on Thingiverse. It’s a beautiful model. It’s also the only part of the AR-15 that you can’t just mail order. It’s been possible and legal to make your own firearms since the beginning of the USA, but is Thingiverse the right place for deadly weapons?

We’re discussing this internally and we’re spending time exploring the legalities of firearms on Thingiverse. We want to make sure that Thingiverse can be accessed from schools and is student friendly and we are exploring the implications of weapons on Thingiverse for classrooms.

It’s a controversial subject. For myself, I get a lot of satisfaction from shooting guns in the woods at tin cans, but I also had my best childhood friend commit suicide with a gun he bought by routing around the registration process. I’m not convinced that 3D printing is easier than buying a gun illegally, but it does offer another avenue for weapons to enter the world. Will the next war be armed with 3D printers? One thing that’s for sure, the cat is out of the bag and that cat can be armed with guns made with printed parts.

Before we make a decision, I’d like to get the Thingiverse users’ feedback. We’re going to either change the terms of service or not, but we want to get your feedback before we make that decision.

On Thingiverse you’ll find a poll in the sidebar with three possible choices. Below the choices is a place for you to leave your comments. This poll can only be seen if you’re logged in. Each Thingiverse user can only vote once and once you’ve made your choice, the poll disappears. I hope you’ll take the time to tell us what kind of Thingiverse you want and use the comment section to tell us why.