3Doodler – 3D Printing in the Palm of Your Hand

With the 3D printer becoming more commonplace every day, the world is now seeing everything in 3D. Included in Time Magazine’s 25 Best Inventions of the Year 2013 is the 3Doodle, which is a “pen” that works like a 3D printer melting and cooling hot plastic into rigid shapes (1). Compared by some to a glue gun, the 3Doodler allows users to create freestanding structures with melted plastic. Users can either use the 3Doodler flat on a surface and then peel their creation off or they can make only the base on a surface and build up creating true 3D models. And the 3Doodler isn’t only for the elite or professional, the pen will retail for $99 making this technology open to the masses (1).

The 3Doodler looks like a chubby pen, measuring less than six inches high and is lightweight, easy to hold. The “pen” includes two arrows allowing users to choose the speed at which the pen extrudes plastic, a LED light alerting users to when the pen is hot enough to use, and a fan (2). With temperatures necessary up to 460 degrees Fahrenheit explaining the necessity of the fan and that the metal tip from which plastic is extruded gets extremely hot. However, the high temperatures do not mean that the pen is hot to the touch while in use. Also, one reviewer notes that it takes less than a minute for the pen to heat up to the required temperature to heat the plastic (2).

The one drawback of the pen’s hardware is that it must be plugged in to use. However if you look at the alternative, a portable pen would require a large battery taking away from the small size of the 3Doodler, the wired connection doesn’t seem bad at all (2). Once a user is all set up they can begin to draw. Many reviewers state that this is not easy at first but can be picked up with time. To aid with the actual drawing the creators of the 3Doodler, WobbleWorks, are providing stencils online that are downloadable and printable by everyone (3). These stencils give users an online to follow for many 3D structures. Right now the 3Doodler is still in infancy but with the technology the world is delving further into the idea of machine made 3D products.

3doodler

Source 1 – http://techland.time.com/2013/11/14/the-25-best-inventions-of-the-year-2013/slide/the-3doodler/

Source 2 – http://www.engadget.com/2013/12/08/3doodler-review/

Source 3 – http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1351910088/3doodler-the-worlds-first-3d-printing-pen

 

Picture found in Source 3

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