Some time back, I ordered myself a RepRap 3D Printer kit called the http://www.reprap.org/wiki/RepRapPro_Mendel">RepRapPro Mendel</a> and spent some time over the holiday building the kit and printing out things..
A 3D printer is a device that takes plastic "wire", heats it up, and squeezes it through a small diameter (0.5mm) nozzle to form a thin string of plastic.
It builds 3D objects out of plastic by carving a model up into horizontal layers, and then "printing" out the object layer by layer until it's done.
This allows you to make almost any object you want out of plastic, as long as it's within the size limits of the printer.
Here's an example of an object I printed out last night, a nozzle for a small fan:
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/G5MtE.jpg>
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This object took about 2 hours to print, and here's a short video of the first few minutes.
<div class="gc_ifarem_title">RepRap 3D Printer - YouTube</div><iframe style="width: 70%; height: 400px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/VS3TX7R3MzY"></iframe>
I didn't design this part, but there's tons of open-sourced parts available at http://thingiverse.com">Thingiverse.com </a>
Anyway, I hope to make some really cool parts as time goes on, there are practically no limits...
(No, I will not make gun ammo clips/magazines. ;) )
[IMG]http://www.reprap.org/wiki/RepRapPro_Mendel"></a>
A 3D printer is a device that takes plastic "wire", heats it up, and squeezes it through a small diameter (0.5mm) nozzle to form a thin string of plastic.
It builds 3D objects out of plastic by carving a model up into horizontal layers, and then "printing" out the object layer by layer until it's done.
This allows you to make almost any object you want out of plastic, as long as it's within the size limits of the printer.
Here's an example of an object I printed out last night, a nozzle for a small fan:
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/G5MtE.jpg>
This object took about 2 hours to print, and here's a short video of the first few minutes.
<div class="gc_ifarem_title">RepRap 3D Printer - YouTube</div><iframe style="width: 70%; height: 400px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/VS3TX7R3MzY"></iframe>
I didn't design this part, but there's tons of open-sourced parts available at http://thingiverse.com">Thingiverse.com </a>
Anyway, I hope to make some really cool parts as time goes on, there are practically no limits...
(No, I will not make gun ammo clips/magazines. ;) )
[IMG]http://www.reprap.org/wiki/RepRapPro_Mendel"></a>