I might just have to order one of these!

[gpoehlein]

I was looking through the latest issue of Make Magazine and found an article about the Makerbot 3D printer. Here's a link to the company's website:

https://www.makerbot.com/

I can think of a LOT of uses for a device like this - custom plastic nose cones, scale detail parts, and all made from ABS plastic. In fact, they now have another kind of plastic that is made from corn starch and is biodegradable - how about nose cones that if the rocket gets lost in the wilderness, the nose will break down along with the body tube and fins!

They're on backorder right now, but for $950 for the deluxe model (power supply and 7 lbs of plastic) it seems like a real boon to the prototype modeller.

 

[troj]

That's cool! It'd be neat to have and to build, but I'm not sure I'd ever use it, but it is downright cool.

-Kevin

 

[JRThro]

That's iike an order of magnitude cheaper than any other 3D printer I've ever seen. Of course, it's a kit, and it made partly from laser-cut wood, but it looks like it's well worth the price.

In case he hasn't yet, Scott Branche really needs to see this!

 

[dedleytedley]

That is one intriguing device.

 

[Gillard]

My school is looking into buyng one of these (not this one) in kit form. for bespoke pieces its great. Might mean i never do any real work ever again, already spent too much time with the new laser cutter.

 

[MarkII]

A prototyper. My nephew said that they had one at Embry-Riddle when he was there a few years ago. Everyone had fun with it - when they could get near it...

MarkII

 

[chanstevens]

Chris Anderson just did a piece in Wired magazine on the home/cottage manufacturing concept using today's tech, and the breakout of so many good $1000 3d "printers" was a key part of it. My first thought was how sweet it would be to start modeling Saturn details, possibly selling off little parts kits. Very easy to up and down scale as well. Then I thought it would probably just be easier to talk Dave at Sirius into making that move so I could shirk the work.