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Catching up with DiWire Bender, Insert Coin 2013's metal-bending wonder
Does that curious little contraption above look familiar? That's probably because it's DIWire Bender, the rather unusual desktop device created by Brooklyn design firm Pensa, which won our judges' hearts at last year's Insert Coin competition. We say unusual, because DIWire Bender boasts very specific skillset: bending metal wires for makers, crafters and just about anyone who could use it. We caught up with Pensa founder Marco Perry to talk about how the project's been doing since the team took home $10,000 for winning Judges' Choice. By the sound of it, its victory really got the ball rolling: the team's Kickstarter campaign that launched right after Insert Coin, for instance, reached its $100,000 goal in just one day.
DIWire hits Kickstarter, is already doing just fine, thank you very much
It's been a good week over at Pensa Labs. On Sunday, the Brooklyn-based team walked off with the $10,000 judges' prize from our Insert Coin competition and now its Kickstarter project's already crossed the $64k mark (out of a $100k goal). In fact, we'd suggest that it doesn't even need this coverage, but we're too smitten with the device to skip it. For those who weren't at the Javits Center over the weekend (and managed to go a couple of days without checking in on this site), DIWire is a desktop CNC wire bender. That means you enter the designs and it'll shape a piece of metal wire accordingly. The applications for prototyping and artwork are pretty clear -- and once this thing is actually out in the world, we'll no doubt see all sorts of cool uses its creators never dreamt up. All of the $2,500-level awards are now gone, so the cheapest you'll be able to get one for is $2,750. No firm date on shipping for the product beyond mid-2014 at this point.
And your Insert Coin winners are: DIWire and GrowCubes!
The votes have been tallied, the judges have conferred and we have a pair of winners in our Insert Coin competition. First up, our panel of experts have settled on a victor after much debate, and Pensa Labs will be taking home the $10,000 judge's prize for its DIWire. The automated wire-bending machine is sure to find a home in many a maker's workshop. The readers though, chose something different. Attendees and viewers at home cast their support for GrowCubes. The idea of stackable greenhouses small enough for a New York City apartment really captured the imagination of the public. And for that they'll be taking home the $15,000 reader's prize. So congratulations to our winners! Of course, the story doesn't end here for any of our Insert Coin competitors. We're sure some successful crowdfunding campaigns lie in their futures.
Insert Coin semifinalist: DIWire Bender
Desktop 3D printing has exploded as of late, and portable CNC milling seems to be leaving its mark on the maker community. So, what's the next big craze? We could certainly get behind wire bending. Most of the applications we've been dreaming up since we first saw the DIWire Bender have revolved around freestanding sculptures, but give the diversity of materials, strength of objects and huge build platform, we're excited to see what the maker community can cook up with one of these. You can see all of the Insert Coin semifinalists here.
