• WoodScientist@sh.itjust.works
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    2 days ago

    If you’re worried about opsec and want to like, print subversive pamphlets, one way to do it would be to use a 3D printer. Literally 3D a small printing press. Use 3d printed movable type. Or perhaps better, just print the sheet of a pamphlet as a single print and swap out the pages as you go.

    If you wanted a secure way to print something, you could use an open source 3D printer to do it. You’re just using it to make plates for a literal old-fashioned screw-type printing press.

    • Pennomi@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      I mean, there’s no reason why a 3D printer couldn’t be rigged up to use a stylus instead of an extruder. (Plotters exist after all.) Probably not very performant compared to your solution though.

      I do love the idea of making old timey printing plates using a 3D printer. If you printed in TPU would that make the equivalent of a rubber stamp?

      • WoodScientist@sh.itjust.works
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        2 days ago

        I do love the idea of making old timey printing plates using a 3D printer. If you printed in TPU would that make the equivalent of a rubber stamp?

        Probably.

        I mean, there’s no reason why a 3D printer couldn’t be rigged up to use a stylus instead of an extruder. (Plotters exist after all.) Probably not very performant compared to your solution though.

        Yeah, plotters exist, but they’re slow. The reason I mention subversive literature is that activist groups are some of those that would most benefit from an open source printer option. Regular commercial printers all have government-mandated fingerprinting software built into them. A home made printing press gives you the throughput of an inkjet printer but without the opsec issues.