3dFabrication
Latest
MakerBot's Interface Board Kit does PC-less 3D printing, turns your superhero fantasies into reality
If you're like us -- that is to say, wildly popular and devastatingly good looking -- then you're probably wondering why someone hasn't produced an action figure in your likeness yet. Well wonder no longer, for the folks over at MakerBot just announced yet another handy tool to make at home 3D printing even easier. An addition to the aptly titled Thing-O-Matic, the Gen 4 Interface Board Kit v1.1 is billed as a DIY interface that lets you operate your thingy printer without having to attach it to a PC. The kit comes equipped with an SD card slot for easy independent operation, and because the board's fully hackable, you can use it to control your robots or homebrew CNC devices, too. It sports nine programmable buttons and an LCD screen for feedback, and allows you to set and read temperatures, view build progress, or start a new project stored on the SD card. So what are you waiting for? Your self-aggrandizing bobblehead isn't going to make itself.
MakerBot launches Thing-O-Matic 3D printer with greater automation, no 'wires dangling everywhere'
3D fabrication is getting closer and closer to the desktop of the everyman, and MakerBot's latest looks to be one of the most democratizing yet. It's called the Thing-O-Matic, an appropriate name given that it produces things and does so automatically. It's built around version 2.0 of the Automated Build Platform, enabling the endless creation of widget after whatsit, spitting results out the front before moving on to the next with no manual intervention required. The device connects via USB, like any self-respecting printer these days, and can be yours for a mere $1,225.
HP's Designjet 3D series start shipping to wealthy European prototypers
Just three months after HP bought itself into the 3D printer market by making a partnership with established player Stratasys, the company's first Designjet 3D models are now shipping in Europe, set to start churning out bits and bobs soon. HP is offering two models, the plain Designjet 3D and the Designjet Color 3D which, wait for it, prints in color. We don't know what the multi-hue model will set you back, but the base model clocks in at €13,000 -- about $17,500. That's roughly $2,500 more than a low-end, non-HP Stratasys additive fabrication printer will cost you, and we're not sure what else you're getting for that premium beyond the little chrome HP badge stuck on the top. Expensive? Sure, but we remember a time when color laser printers cost more than cars and now look at 'em, selling for less than $200 shipped. Funny how their toner cartridges aren't any cheaper...
