[catapart]

Yeah. I kind of lumped in engraving with 3D printing because the difference is really just a toolhead (simplified; motors, tolerances, etc, but still). But that's part of what the 'specialized tool' part of the question was meant to cover. Like, if you can store data in an additive way, you can obviously store it in a subtractive way. But... is anyone doing that with a 3D printer? Or a CNC machine, for that matter?

I think some of the other answered showed that people are, it's just pretty niche. Not something a hobbyist can (currently) do, but definitely the same idea at a production scale.

[wongarsu]

The benefit of a laser is that it can not only remove material, it can also discolor it. Either as a side effect of removing it or simply as a lower-power setting. And discolorations can be picked up with optical methods, which are far more accessible, reliable and higher density than 3d scanning.

Another variation of this is how we encode information into granite and other stones in Western funeral rites (grave stones): you engrave the information, then fill the groove with pigment. The pigment is susceptible to weathering, but the 3d information is pretty resistant. When the pigment is too worn down you just smear some more on there and wipe the excess away, leaving pigment only in the grooves, making the message clearly visible again

[OkGoDoIt]

I’ve been plenty of graveyards where the old gravestones are completely unreadable. Did they use different/worse stone in the past or is this the most likely outcome of new gravestones after a couple hundred years? Several people have mentioned engraving into stone in this discussion but in this one example I can think of engraved stone, it doesn’t leave me feeling confident about the medium. What am I missing?

[Intralexical]

> But... is anyone doing that with a 3D printer? Or a CNC machine, for that matter?

Do you count plaques on public landmarks?

> I think some of the other answered showed that people are, it's just pretty niche. Not something a hobbyist can (currently) do, but definitely the same idea at a production scale.

Definitely is doable, having done it myself. You can probably hit your century target using the more specialized FDM/SLA/DLP hobby feedstock, if you can guarantee climate-controlled storage. Millenia if you shell out high double to low triple digits for a print service with fancy industrial machines, or if you combine a home printer with ceramics or metal jewellery skills.

[jrjeksjd8d]

FWIW I think a more precise word for what you're looking for is "fabricating". Covers machining, lasers, printing, etc.