Open 3-D Printing’s rather macabre new project is 3-D printing in bone. 3-D printing works by building up a shape from 2-D layers, so in theory you can print with any material as long as you can get its powdered form to fuse. In the case of bone, the binder required is urea-formaldehyde (UF) glue, a strong, water-soluble wood glue.
After early experiments with bonemeal mixed with sugar, the Open3DP folks tried a 5:1 mix of bonemeal to glue, and the results were very strong skeletal parts.
But why on earth would you want to make anything from bone? Weird alien skeletons are the obvious choice, but as I happened to be listening to the Pixies this morning, I thought you might actually build a bone machine, full of skeletal cogs and axles. You could also make novelty bones for your dog (note: according to Wikipedia, urea-formaldehyde “may cause cancer in humans and animals”), or simply delight the sweet but sad goth in your life with custom bone jewelry.
Or you could live out your serial-killer fantasies without all that pesky, messy killing, and just print up some human skeletons to bury in the yard (don’t forget to add a few small animal skeletons to “flesh out” your fake psychological profile). The morbid opportunities are almost endless.
Bone Yard – 3DP in Bone [Open3DP via i.Materialize. Thanks, Joris!]
See Also:
- 3-D–Print Yourself With Kinect
- 3-D Printing's Great Leap Forward
- Shapeways: 3D Printing for Everyone (but Not for Little Kids …
- 3-D Printing, Now in Stainless Steel
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