Tag: 3d Printer

Up until now, the vast majority of 3D printers on the market have been designed to produce plastic models, and if there’s functionality, it’s pretty primitive – like rotating gears. But Voxel8 aims to change that, with their upcoming 3D printer that can not only print plastic, but also circuitry.

3D printers are getting cooler and cooler every day. Resolutions are quickly approaching the point where it’s possible to create very, very detailed surfaces with a minimum of aliasing. Yeah, I’m calling it “aliasing,” since that’s basically what it is and most of you geeks get the reference.

I have always thought that having a 3D printer would be really awesome, but they typically cost $1000 or more. They usually take up quite a bit of space, and my house is crowded with enough junk.

We’ve seen a couple of compact machines that can print, scan or mill objects. Fedor Gridnev and Elena Gaidar want to raise the bar for affordable workshop machines with the 5axismaker. It’s a 5-axis milling machine, a 3D printer, a 3D scanner, a water jet cutter and a wire cutter in one.

The plastic used in most 3D printers come in the form of rolls of filament. But Sculptify designed its David 3D printer to use pellets instead, hoping to make their device print in a wider variety of materials while saving users money in the process.

We’ve seen a couple of 3D printers that can create multicolored objects in one build, but they’re out of the price range of mere mortals. You can get the reasonably affordable MakerBot Replicator 2X, but it can only print in two different colors.

I really like the idea of owning a 3D printer so I can build all sorts of cool items when I want. The catch for me is that I want to see how hard the machine is to use before I plunk down the money.

We’ve seen a couple of iPad apps that simplify 3D modeling for kids. Mission Street Manufacturing wants to go beyond that and teach children how 3D printers work as well. Its Printeer is designed to be used by kids and K-12 schools.

3D printers are very useful devices and there are plenty of them on the market today. You will spend at least $500 or more on most of the commercially available printers. That means that a lot of us who might like to play with a 3D printer, but aren’t yet ready to invest haven’t bought one.

We’ve seen 3D printers make chocolate, pizza, pasta and more. Here’s one that prints fruits. Or rather, “fruits.” Developed by English company Dovetailed, the printer uses drops of fruit juice to form food using a culinary process called spherification.

3D printers are becoming quite popular, and there seems to be no end in sight about the things that they can output. However, this is the first time I’ve heard anything about one that can print makeup.

If you liked the idea of the MakerBot Replicator 2 3D printer that launched a couple years ago, but didn’t want to spend the money the thing costs, check this out. MakerBot has announced that it is now taking pre-orders for the cheapest 3D printer it has ever offered.

It’s not the world’s largest 3D printer, but the BigRep One still dwarfs most of the consumer 3D printers available today. With a build volume of 1.3 cubic meters, it’s big enough to print furniture in one piece.

A few years ago we found out about mighty Roombas that were moonlighting as sumo wrestlers. Jose Julio’s RepRap 3D printer also has a sporting spirit. The robotics enthusiast unlocked his gadget’s potential and turned it into an air hockey player.

We know that 3D printers can print objects out of plastic, food, animal tissue and metal. Now a company called Mark Forged claims that its upcoming Mark One 3D printer can print using carbon fiber, the wonder material known for its high strength-to-weight ratio and cool looks.

Technology has made it easier for prospective parents to see what their child looks like, even before he or she is born. There’s ultrasound (to get a rough outline), 3D imaging, and even 4D ultrasound so you can clearly see your unborn baby’s face and physical features in real time.