Someone Print Me A Hookah!

[ih303]

I don't know if this has come up here before (search came up with nothing) but with the advancement of 3-d printing, has anyone thought of designing a hookah in CAD and printing it out? Seems they're mostly dealing with plastics at this point but certainly there has to be some kind of material out there suitable for hookah use. I mean they're printing guns now ffs. :P

[â€On]

Someone posted this link on /r/hookah yesterday with the thought of printing a bowl.
http://www.shapeways.com/materials/ceramics

 

Personally, it's not my cup of tea. I see no benefit to 3d printing something like this. With a pipe, there are very few large format printers, so you would be resigned to making it a thread-together style pipe (which, unless it's metal, is a bad idea).   For bowls, I simply wouldn't trust that what I'm smoking from is safe for me, regardless of what the melting temp is. I think it could be useful for making a mock up design of a bowl from a CAD drawing, so that you have something you can take in to a potter and get them to work from/recreate using better materials. 

 

Maybe I'm just a bit too old school, but when you can CNC the same thing from metal, with no possible risks to your health, and do it as a one piece item....I just don't see the point.

[Chreees]

Meh.

[ih303]

Man, has the hookah community really become the exclusive country club on the hill looking ominously out their windows on change and wagging their fingers? :P

 

Hookah-tech is far from refined. It's inefficient, wasteful, and downright dangerous in the wrong hands. I love tradition like the next cat, but show me a coal-less, self-rotating hookah that never tips, and this guy (two thumbs to the chest) is jumping on board.

 

This technology is enabling the concept of rapid prototyping the likes of which have never been seen. It's only a matter of time until the right materials become available that any one of us could design our own stem, base, bowl, etc. and have it fabricated in a matter of hours. I for one can't wait. Now, to just learn ACAD. :blink:

[Pavo21]

technology doens't have much of a place in certain subjects such as hookah its a tradition that we keep as close as we can to its past but making it better without technology.

[mustang67n]

<---- traditionalist.. the only inovation i like is coconut coals, coil burners, tangiers, and washable hoses.. oh.. and crystal bases..

[Tyler]

I'm with you ih303. I'm all for innovation and technology but it has to be done correctly.

[mustang67n]

I love technology.. but I am a strong believe that it is a strong culprit to the downfalls of today's civilizations. The nearly exponential growth of technology has made the industries of today grow faster than we can control it and faster than the general management to understand it, leading to a society raised on abilities that no longer apply to todays world because it changes within a months time. I'm drunkenly rambling, but it has a place here. Hookah is a way for me (at least) to slow down from todays everchanging world, and take a breather. A way to enjoy the process of old for the satisfying accomplishments that can still be achieved through work and dedication. When i first started smoking my bowls would last 20 minutes at the most because I didn't understand. Now, with the same technology as when I started (other than coconut coals) I can yield a 2-3 hour session with a mod bowl and starbuzz (just like when i started)

Its a way to slow down and enjoy the simplicity of a tradition many years in the making.

I love the postive process, don't get me wrong, its just not something I will buy into in the hookah world.

[mustang67n]

I love technology in other facets of life.. just not my hookah world haha

[PJCrusader]

Because a bunch of white Americans smoking a hookah is very traditional.  :p  Personally I have no issue with innovation.  Without it we would not have things like the phunnel bowl, we would still be setting the coal directly onto black tobaccos.  We wouldn't have Tangiers, or a few of the other newer brands.  So there is nothing wrong with it.  

 

 

If I had a 3d printer I would likely give printing a hookah a shot.

[ChicagoRSX]

I'm pretty sure technology/tradition has nothing to do with this. I'm pretty sure it has more to do with aesthetics / being visually pleasing. I mean come on, the only gun they've made is the lower receiver of an AR-flat matte plastic. Prettys sure no one is going to opt for that next to a MYA,KM or other, shall we say traditional hookah. Just my .02.

[sksiazki]

Heck yes, the possibilities of 3D printers as a whole is very interesting. I haven't gotten too in the weeds with them, just some basic research but that we have this sort of capability in our homes is pretty amazing. I think in two years or so this will have advanced like you think ih303, using other materials, wide open possibilites. I have contemplated purchasing one but its not any sort of passion of mine and it would probably just turn into an overpriced toy that I used every so often.  With the capabilities of CAD though, I'm sure some people smarter than me will come up with some gnarly stuff. Lol I can see someone making a modern art style hookah....that doesn't cost $2,000....Meduse

[â€On]

For mockups, testing, design, etc. 3d printers are just fine. But there are three main problems: most 3d printers are small format, most 3d printers would not be able to do very detailed "etching" and 3d printers only print plastic or composite. Large format 3d printers cost at least a few grand (this is for the frame and basic printing setup, nothing else) and the more complex you make the printer (ie, the higher amount of detail it can render), the higher the price. Another issue is that all of these printers are designed to work with plastic and composite. I don't know if any of us will live to see the day when 3d printers can truly print any material (the pure material i mean, and not just a composite). Composite materials are shit for an application like this, as is plastic.

 

For the price to get this set up, you could literally contract out any one of the worlds pipe manufacturers to make exactly what you want, and to make a bunch of them. It's pointless.

 

I'm not a naysayer of progress, technology or innovation; I'm a naysayer of people who don't understand a certain tech. You can get a 3d printer for home use for a few hundred bucks, but unless you plan on printing relatively simple and very small parts, it's probably the LEAST cost efficient way to make anything for a hookah. You can take a 2 hour pottery class for like 20 bucks and make your own bowl, whatever design you want, and use good material suited for the application. CNC exists for working with larger metal designs, and you can use any metal you want and any design. I just don't understand how 3d printing, in it's current state, would have any use in the hookah world. Even if you could print out, say, a bowl, with material that will be suitable, the costs to set it up far outweigh any bonus you might get from it. You might as well just buy or make a bowl. Mark with Kasbah did. The product he wanted wasn't there, so he got it made. All a 3d printer would have done is cost him more time and money just to mock up a prototype (when for the same amount of time he can just give a rough sketch to the guy and he makes a mockup and he tells the guy what he wants changed).

 

Believe me, I would love to be able to flesh out things I have in my head and be able to use them, but the technology simply isn't there yet, and even if it were, the cost would still outweigh the benefits.

[ih303]

I found this video where they're printing with stainless steel.

 

Also, I'm pretty sure we're all fans of innovation considering I don't know anyone who still smokes out of a coconut. :P

[Tyler]

Technology in the hookah world is awesome! Technology means cheaper, better and more options.

[Skoozle]

I did some 3D printing when I was in college. Nothing structural, our printer was more for learning purposes.

But I do have a basic understanding of the process.

The thing about 3D printing is that its great for prototypes but not really for mass production. You can do one off stuff or short runs of things that would be difficult or impossible to machine or cast but you don't really want to crank our thousands of parts that could have been made another way.

As far as cheaper, better, more options... 3D printing only gives you more options tonight it would be more expensive and less durable than a good old solid cast pipe. You could do some extraordinary decorative designs thpugh.

I like the idea of the ceramic printing Ty posted. Not for bowls but maybe for a base and wind cover combo.

[Tyler]

If it can print a house...

 

http://singularityhub.com/2013/04/04/first-fully-3d-printed-building-may-take-shape-this-year/

[Pavo21]

That so amazing