For our first Insurgent Creative entry for 2012, here’s some very exciting news coming out of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas: Makerbot, a company that creates and sells 3D printers, has released their newest consumer model, The Replicator.
The device prints from digital 3D files via a single or double printhead that lays down extruded plastic (either ABS — the same stuff that Lego is made from — or PLA, which is corn-based and biodegradable). The build area is roughly the size of a loaf of bread, which means you can build fairly large objects, and if you’re using the double printhead, you can do it in two colors.
The price is $1750 for the single-extruder or $2000 for the double, within the realm of possibility for any Insurgent Creative looking to make… well, anything, really: Toys, game pieces, action figures, art… the possibilities are endless. You can read the press release here at the Makerbot website, which also features this video:
In addition, Makerbot is relaunching the website Thingiverse.com, which (to quote the press release) “allows you to share your designs and download files for thousands of models turning your ideas into real, physical objects. It’s now easier than ever to share your digital designs! […] share designs faster with the ‘I Made One’ button and use the new ‘I Made a Derivative’ button to show off your mashups!”
Exciting times, Creatives. If you can dream it up, you can build it.
Thanks to Allen Varney for bringing this to my attention.