NYC Budget bill includes Blocking technology required for additive/substrative manufacturing

[Ed Street]

I came across this article from the state of NY today.  It not only pertains to 3D printers but also to any type of subtractive equipment, such as drill presses, lathes,  and mills, both manual and CNC.  By technical definition, a DRO unit would fall under this.  

The problem I see with this is who will control the system and decide what you can and can't do.  Now consider this: some of us have the skills, equipment, and knowledge to use common items like ballpoint pens, shoestrings, paper clips, and other things to make NFA items.   So, from this logic, if I print, say, a ballpoint pen, how would that work out??

Anywho, here is the link, and at the bottom of the page is the link to the NY code so you can read it yourself.  From some digging around, this is not the first year this has been proposed, either.

https://blog.adafruit.com/2026/02/03/new-york-wants-to-ctrlaltdelete-your-3d-printer/

[markni...@gmail.com]

Would that apply to my 1960's vintage Delta variable speed drill press?

I haven't found a single microcontroller anywhere on it.

[Ed Street]

I suppose the verbage of " any machine capable of making three-dimensional modifications to an object from a digital design file using subtractive manufacturing.  " could mean taking a digital design file and using measurements translated to equipment.  After all, they failed to use precise wording and left that one very vague.  Then again, we are likely talking about people who are clueless about how these machines function.  

On that note, I would guess my Buffalo Forge camelback drill press from 1910 would be 'banned' under NY law if this passes :)

[markni...@gmail.com]

I'm old enough that my public school education included, industrial arts for the boys, home economics for the girls, no choice.

We were taught how to layout cuts and holes in metal, and then given small projects to use these new skills.

But manual skills aside, arduinos and RAMPS boards are still widely available, along with a ton of open source 32 bit boards and git  
hubs full of firmware.

The genie is out of the bottle. I can't think of any way to force him back in.