When we first broke the news about the 3Doodler I was pretty excited. It was supposed to bring 3D printing to kids in a way that was easy-to-use and fun. Created by a pair of veteran toy makers, it was bound to be a hit – and it was. The product hit $2.3 million on Kickstarter and was a sleeper hit of the holiday. Now that it’s for sale at retail – and now that I’ve gotten more time to play with… Read More
On the left, a promotional image from WobbleWorks!* LLC, creators of the 3Doodler, a pen that lets you print 3D creations as magical as your imagination allows. On the right, an actual 3Doodler creation. Whoooo, boy.
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CES 2014 is flush with 3D printers this year, and while they’re getting cheaper and easier to use, you still need to either buy 3D models online to print, or design your own which requires know-how of 3D modelling software. But we all know how to use a crayon or magic marker to draw, and the folks behind the 3Doodler are counting on that. It lets you freehand draw a 3D creation, and while it’s easy to operate, a heaping helping of patience and precision is required.
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It’s not news every time a Kickstarter product starts shipping to backers, but in the case of 3Doodler, it’s worth a mention. At last count, the startup had raised $2.3 million to fund its 3D printing pen, and with a cost of $99 per device, well, you do the math: that’s a lot of people waiting for their new toy to arrive. And we mean it when we say “toy” — while you won’t be creating anything useful like a gun or a Van Gogh knockoff, there’s really nothing more addictive than “drawing” in the air with melted plastic, and watching it solidify. For those of you who ordered early, you already know what you’re in for. As for the rest of you, your next chance to get one will be in early 2014, though you can place a pre-order today if you like. Really, though, we suggest you revisit our hands-on video, embedded below; we’re descriptive writers, but nothing we say can do justice to a pen with molten plastic flowing out of it.
Filed under: Misc, Peripherals
When we ran into the WobbleWorks team on our recent Berlin trip, they were kindly enough to show off the shipping version of their crowdoverfunded 3D Doodler handheld 3D Printer. Though, when cofounder Max Bogue hinted that the company still had some surprises up its sleeve, he wasn’t kidding. Perhaps most interesting is the inclusion of a mounting dock on the pen, which allows you to attach it a CNC machine, fulfilling the pen’s 3D printing ambitions. Once attached, you can utilize another port to control the speed buttons remotely, so you can manipulate extrusion without actually touching the device. Also of note is the addition of a silicone tip cover, which serves to protect fingers from the heated metal extruder.
Filed under: Peripherals
Remember the 3Doodler? Odds are plenty of you do, seeing as how the company managed to nab a staggering $2.3 million for its $30,000 Kickstarter campaign. For the minority of you who didn’t participate, here’s a quick refresher: the device is a 3D printing pen. It’s a bit like a hot glue gun for plastic — simple and ingenuous, it melts a single strand of ABS or PLA, allowing you to draw objects in the air, solidifying as you draw up.
The pen was still in early prototype phase when we first saw it, and now, here at IFA its co-creator Max Bogue is showing off the final shipping product (seeing as how Kickstarter funders will be getting theirs later this year). This 3Doodler actually looks pretty similar to that early unit. All the same elements are in place: a slot in the rear to feed in the plastic, the heated tip where it comes out in semi-liquid form, an exhaust fan (which is pretty loud, but should quiet down before people start to get theirs) and two buttons for fast and slow extrusion.%Gallery-slideshow81791%
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Filed under: Peripherals
We’ve often heard how an art piece looks so real, like it’s coming out of the frame, and it looks like the folks at WobbleWorks have managed to do just that with the 3Doodler. The 3Doodler is essentially a pen that allows the user to ‘draw’ 3D images by excreting out plastic that semi-hardens once it has been released. This lets the user construct (or draw) 3D images by tracing it out the same way they would on a piece of paper. As you can imagine, the “ink” in the pen would be plastic – ABS or PLA plastic to be specific which is the same type of plastic that can be found on 3D printers available in the market. (more…)
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Jabra Motion Series Employs Sensor Technology In Headsets, Casio EX-ZS30 Shooter Announced,
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