3-D Printing Pen Can Draw In the Air 85
Several readers sent word of a new addition to the 3-D printing industry. Most 3-D printers are roughly the size of regular printers, and require design files on the computer to guide the extruder. Now there's a much smaller and much simpler alternative: the 3Doodler pen, which lets you draw 3-D objects by hand. The people making the pen set up a Kickstarter project yesterday with a $30,000 goal. They reached that within hours, and now have pledges exceeding $800,000. "The 3Doodler pen is 180mm by 24mm. The pen weighs less than 200 grams or 7 ounces (the weight of a typical apple), although the exact weight will depend on the final shell specifications once in production. And we are using a universal power supply, so provided you have the correct adapter for your country, 3Doodler will work just fine on 110v or 240v. ... While the plastic extruded from 3Doodler is safe to touch once it has left the pen, the pen itself has a metal tip that can get as hot as 270C." The pen uses the same ABS/PLA plastic as most 3-D printers, and they're planning to host stencil designs on their website so that users have patterns to sketch from.
Re:so it's basically ... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Give credit where due (Score:5, Informative)
credit? like
last year
http://makibox.com/blogpost/items/makibox_smooth_print_public_demo_and_scribble [makibox.com]
3 years ago
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4156 [thingiverse.com]
but hey, 3doodler is patent pending!
Re:3d printing the new raspberry pi (Score:5, Informative)
If you don't already know this: you should consider the resolution you need pretty carefully. If you're printing stuff for 1:48 or larger models, an extrusion-based 3d printer will probably do okay for you and they're not too expensive: some exist under $500. But if you're working with smaller scales than that, you're likely to need some sort of photolithography setup and those are expensive to buy and surprisingly expensive to run because of the raw materials cost; it's hard to justify buying one for yourself compared to making the models and having shapeways.com actually print them.
But if you're working larger-scale stuff, it's amazing how much use you can get from a cheap extrusion printer; once you have one, you start using it for scads of other things you never thought about doing previously.
Re:Really? (Score:5, Informative)
However, a jeweler's hot wax pen does have that level of finesse, and they've been around for decades. My dad used one in his shop, and they're configured for delicate work and fine trigger control. They're used to make wax moulds for lost wax casting in the manufacture of jewelry. I think you'd just have to raise the tip temperature and insulate the fingers a bit from the extra heat, and there you'll be.
Re:Really? (Score:4, Informative)
Scan down to "Master Touch". It's a wax pen in common use, and the web site is a jewelry supplier. http://www.zilverwerk.net/Assortiment/KerrLab%20-%20Jewelry%20-%20Products.htm [zilverwerk.net]
Re:Glue gun? no wait.... (Score:4, Informative)
In their Kickstarter video, they show several models built up from the table's surface. This material also appears to harden much faster than a hot glue gun, and have a faster feed rate, given that vertical features formed just about as fast as ones on the table. One thing they do seem to need to work out is how to end a line; the operator in the video spins a tight circle and pulls away like a hot glass worker. It only sort of works here, since there's no flame to burnish the burr away with.