Video Cubify 3D Printers Aren't Just for Squares (Video) 134
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There are other 3D printers out there, but Cubify claims theirs is easier to use, has easier cartridge changes, and is all-around nicer and cooler than their competition. And Timothy Lord found them at Google I/O 2012, which means Google thinks they're cool, too. Wow. At only $1300 for their basic model (plus $50 each for the plastic "print" cartridges), every home should have one of these. Or maybe two or three. Or maybe Hackerspaces will buy all of them, and that's where we'll go to satisfy our lust for 3D printing.
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But can it print a Tux? (Score:2)
I wonder how durable and strong the material is, obviously strong enough to make that shoe, and flexible enough for that m.j. style glove worn by the guy in the video.
#1 on my birthday wishlist!
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$50 for the cartridge sounds a bit expensive.
You can probably find something equvalent for less than half the price from http://reprap.org/wiki/Printing_Material_Suppliers [reprap.org]
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Fair, but I can see the utility in a finished device like this where everything is pretty simple. My first thought was of the tech labs we had as kids in middle school.
Also, can we please get a /. operating rule for video ads that says you can't immediately start with a annoying alarm clock going off? That little eye-opener damn near gave me a heart attack.
Re:But can it print a Tux? (Score:5, Insightful)
What I want to know is when will these things have a hopper where I can chuck all my old laundry detergent bottles as feedstock?
Re:But can it print a Tux? (Score:5, Interesting)
It's a popular idea, but the materials science guys tell us that re-melted plastic has different properties than "fresh" plstic, and the more times you melt it, the worse it gets (more brittle, different melting temp. etc)
If you want accurate prints, you're going to need fresh plstic. Sad but true.
Simon
Re:But can it print a Tux? (Score:4, Interesting)
Also, I never heard of the properties of plastic changing just from melting and re-extruding them. Maybe it is just a scale issue, where small scale reprocessing creates an inferior filament.
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how about you idiots spare us the mindless speculation and look up the properties of different plastics
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It's a function of the plastic itself. Most plastics will depolymerize* at a much lower temperature than that at which they would theoretically melt (if they could reach it without depolymerization). When you melt and re-solidify it, it often isn't even a plastic anymore.
3D printers use thermoplastics, which are the exception in that they become soft and workable at a temperature that's below depolymerization.
*Alternatively, turn into a different plastic composed of the same building blocks. Proteins** are
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Also, I never heard of the properties of plastic changing just from melting and re-extruding them. Maybe it is just a scale issue, where small scale reprocessing creates an inferior filament.
Then you are not listening to the right people, those who know their stuff. Plastics are long chain molecules, and extrusion involves high shear forces at high temperatures, cracking those chains.
Next, these molecules need stabilizers to protect them from UV light and oxygen radicals. Those are also damaged in the melting and re-extrusion process. Either you add more of them, or permanently degrade the material.
The list goes on ...
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I'm not up on this (and it sounds like you are), but could this be the sort of thing where a setting could quickly adjust for recycled stock? Is the temperature of the extruder something you can usually adjust with a pot or some such?
I mean, assuming there are cases where slightly lesser print quality might still be acceptable, it does sound like a neat idea.
Re:But can it print a Tux? (Score:5, Informative)
Unfortunately all plastics are different.
No plastic is the same, plastics have different composition, additives, melting points, all sorts of different properties that really makes it impossible to melt them together and expect any sort of consistency.
OTOH it instead of melting the plastics, your old bottles could be shredded somehow into powder and then mixed with something sticky, some glue or epoxy, but even then different behaviours of different plastics would be problematic.
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Laundry detergent bottles are emminently remeltable. Just don't breath the fumes, and expect the volume to shrink a bit. But the end product is relatively durable. That plastic is a bit less rigid than would be needed for some uses, though.
Re:But can it print a Tux? (Score:4, Interesting)
Actually, I was wondering the opposite, which is how to recycle objects that you make. I would guess that typically there will be significant waste as prototypes are fine-tuned, as well as when whatever you make breaks or is no longer needed.
I hope the design software will make it easy to incorporate the plastic's recycle number in a triangle embossed somewhere on the object, and even encourage it. My town's recycle service requires that all plastic objects have this number on them. In the past they have refused to pick up non-container plastic objects that don't have this number (when they notice it), such as a toy that stands out from the rest.
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So, like this...
http://filabot.com/ [filabot.com]
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:24583 [thingiverse.com]
Work in progress obviously, but people are working on it.
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$50 for the cartridge sounds a bit expensive. You can probably find something equvalent for less than half the price from http://reprap.org/wiki/Printing_Material_Suppliers [reprap.org]
Give them some credit for thinking out of the box ( at least as far as 3D printing boxes, anyway), Seems this is geared towards the same crowd tyhat would buy an iPad insyead of an Android tablet, because the Apple product is geared toward the person who just wants to say "I have one", and impress their friends.
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I wonder how durable and strong the material is
You could always print a mold, and use that to cast the desired shape in any material of your own liking.
Casting Material very limited (Score:2)
You could always print a mold, and use that to cast the desired shape in any material of your own liking.
Not really - only a material with a lower melting point and which does not bond to the plastic can be used. So you are probably limited to wax but that could lead to some interesting, asymmetric candle designs.
Re:Casting Material very limited (Score:5, Insightful)
SoI take it you have never heard of lost wax casting I take it?
You print the item you want, you pack that in a material with a higher melting point than the desired material for the object, melt the end material and pour it in.
Re:Casting Material very limited (Score:4, Informative)
Clearly I need more caffeine.
I meant to say:
I take it you have never heard of lost wax casting?
You print the item you want, you pack that in a material with a higher melting point than the desired material for the object, melt the end material and pour it in.
This is how a lot of metal casting is/was done using wax as the model and sand as the form.
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At that point, wouldn't it be cheaper to mill the wax model?
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The excitement over printing is that it removes some of the limitations inherent to milling. If you're going to put those back in play by casting the result, you might as well go back to subtractive. Especially since the waste wax from milling can be recycled with trivial ease compared to other materials.
Re:Casting Material very limited (Score:4, Funny)
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No, you keep that in the garage.
WIth just a propane tank and some hardware store supplies you can easily be casting low melting point metals. Even just reuse "free" metal like aluminum cans or wheel weights.
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You're better off turning in the aluminum cans for the deposit and buying fresh aluminum with the money. There is FAR LESS than 5 cents of aluminum in a soda can.
=Smidge=
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The chance that you live in a state with container deposits is roughly 1 in 3. Regardless, the amount of aluminum in a typical soda can is so small (and so contaminated with paint and plastic liner) that it's just not worth using them for your own melting operation.
And you should feel bad for citing a Seinfeld episode as an argument.
=Smidge=
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http://smooth-on.com/ [smooth-on.com]
In case you'd like to learn how to do it.
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Not really - only a material with a lower melting point and which does not bond to the plastic can be used.
That's not universally true, due to materials like green sand and ceramics which can be molded at the low temperatures needed for the plastic, and yet still hold their shape after setting when exposed to molten metal.
The lost wax casting method, which makes use of both green sand and ceramics, has already been mentioned; there have also been some promising experiments with the simpler "lost foam" process, using ultra-low-density plastic prints in place of foam. Low-temperature metals like pewter can also be
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Not so sure about that shoe. Since the cubify site itself claims that the build area is 5.5" x 5.5" x 5.5", I kind of doubt that the shoe was actually built on a cube. The maximum length in that cube is only 9.5" (assuming going from bottom corner, to opposite corner on top of cube. A more likely dimension would be from diagonal corners at the same level (so as to build shoe upright instead of canted diagonally) and that is only 7.75" kinda small for a foot..
not slashvertisement enough... (Score:3, Insightful)
article needs a blue screen w/ 1800 number and steak knives.
btw, who cares if google thinks it's "cool."
where am i supposed to go to satisfy my lust for sanding? photocopying? or any of the other basic tools?!
finally, a thermally-controlled 3d-printer without an enclosure to control ambient temperature is begging for trouble.
Just what hackerspaces need.. (Score:5, Insightful)
Something closed-source, with proprietary consumables, and based on how it looks likely difficult to repair.
No thanks, I'll stick with a Makerbot or RepRap 3D printer.
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Personally I have been considering things like the Makerbox, RepRap, Rapman, etc... but so far they are too in the 'toys unto themselves' category whereas what I want is an
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If you want a true out-of-the-box solution for 3D printing you can have it - at a premium price. ZCorp immediately jumps to mind but they are by no means the only source. A Reprap device will cost you a tenth or less of the commercial-ready machines, but the tradeoff is you will need to put in the time to assemble it and tinker to get top performance.
=Smidge=
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It would seem to me that anything that would deserve the moniker "hackerspace" will have problems with, at minimum, one of those.
Re:Just what hackerspaces need.. (Score:5, Insightful)
Also, according to their site, the software needed to convert the "3d object" files in a format that this printer will understand is Windows-only.
Who is this for? (Score:2, Insightful)
Hmmm lets look at this:
The market for something this expensive would be people so deep into the hobby, that they would be able to get something cheaper, expandable and accepts a universal standard for input instead of something expensive and proprietary. Even in a hacker space you have to have the knowledge to get the model and then use the software to print it, you have to dive pretty deep in order to get involved.
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Not necessarily. $1200 puts it into the reach of the kinds of people who bought the first generation Cricut. Plus, the cartridge-based consumables and the software makes it pretty user-friendly. My guess is that you can go from open-the-box to printing something off Thingiverse in a matter of minutes.
This is the Apple ][ of the 3D printing world: the first completely assembled ready-to-go take-it-out-of-the-box-and-start-printing consumer 3D printer. Yes, it's likely going to have a fair share of early
Re:Who is this for? (Score:4, Informative)
Bill
Re:Who is this for? (Score:4, Informative)
We have a Cricut and a Silhouette - electronic paper cutters.
The home crafting market is one I think a 3D printer would do well in, and this one seems to be aiming in that direction. There are lots of moms & grandmas who sew, quilt, knit, make cards, scrapbook, etc. Many of those women are incorporating computer driven tools into their workflows. A 3D printer would let them print cutsie embellishments, cupcake holders, party favors, napkin rings, and "girlie" things that are completely off the radar of the "hacker space" boys club.
- Jasen.
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Schools?
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The price is not much different from a decent SLR lens.
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Wargamers.
The average cost of a lead miniature is ridiculous. The cost of a full army is easily > $1500, so you could recoup the investment after just one army.
You can 3-D scan existing miniatures to create the blueprint.
So we just started pirating real physical objects. I wonder how long until there's a Manufacturer's *IAA demanding a levy on all 3d-printers because they're primarily being used to breach copyright?
Precious metal plastic cost (Score:5, Insightful)
(plus $50 each for the plastic "print" cartridges)
Filament extruder plastic costs about $35 per kilo (talk about mixed measurements... but that's how its sold. Figure "fifteen bucks per pound")
So a loaded $50 cartridge should weigh at least 4 pounds total. I can't figure out on the website how much a cartridge weighs, but just looking at it it seems like you're paying a pretty high premium for your plastic.
Not quite as bad as "precious metal cost" printer ink, but I bet by the time HP sells a 3-d printer they'll find a way to make the plastic cost more than, say, silver, on a weight basis.
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Yup. I just setup a 3d printer from a kit, but the one I put together can be had, already set up, for $1200, which is $100 cheaper than they want.... plus, uses simple filiment rolles, and I am printing beautifully with those cheap $35/kg PLA rolls.
Can't blame them, I guess, for trying to get people to agree to a lock in for convinenece.... especially since there is no real need for anyone with a normal 3d printer to ever pay the premium to support their vendor.
That said, I will take a bit more manual work
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Do you have a link to the model you picked?
I have been looking at this for ages now and would like one I can build without already owning an entire machine shop.
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I helped a friend build his Makerbot kit
To the best of my knowledge they only sell the replicator model now.... the "good" news is they sell it fully assembled and tested just remove from box and plug in, the "bad" news is instead of a mere $1200 or whatever its more like $2K with dual extruders.
Rapman product is the specified "about $1200", maybe thats what the original poster purchased.
The printrbot is much cheaper around $500 but seemingly perpetually out of stock.
build without already owning an entire machine shop.
I own a full machine shop, and unfortunately there are no 3-d printer blueprints
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I put together the MakrerGear kit: http://www.makergear.com/products/3d-printers [makergear.com]
It is a bit expensive but a number of parts are upgraded from the cheap options that people say you can source for half the total cost. Brass bushings instead of PLA, linear rod instead of tool rod, Really nice compact extruder with a metal gear box on the stepper, pre-cut jig for checking the frame geometery.... and of course shielded wire for motor hookups.
Its a great kit if you are willing to pay a bit more for the convinence
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Just thought of one more thing. Docs aside, I really didn't like the use of terminal blocks to make the shielded wire to motor connection, so I actually used some of the large molex that you see on PC power supplies.
I aborted that, am running without the shilded wire for now (its still a bit of a mess but printing beautiofully anyway). So I decided to break down and place a mouser order for some of these:
http://www.molex.com/molex/products/datasheet.jsp?part=active/0430250408_CRIMP_HOUSINGS.xml [molex.com]
of the approp
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"Yup. I just setup a 3d printer from a kit, but the one I put together can be had, already set up, for $1200, which is $100 cheaper than they want.... plus, uses simple filiment rolles, and I am printing beautifully with those cheap $35/kg PLA rolls."
Well, you could just print those expensive Cubify cartridges and make a fortune.
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figure a few bucks each, screwups included. More than I'd pay.
How much to people pay for pathfinder/DnD/Mech minis? Or small kids toys, or custom/exotic chess set pieces, etc?
I was semi seriously thinking of teaming up with a 3d graphics artsy type to make a service where you send us a couple (preferably clothed) pics and we send you a pathfinder mini who looks like you but with somewhat elvish features wearing wizard clothing... I figured I could sell personalized minis for about the same as mass produced generic minis but surface features "don't work" at this time
50$ for a cartridge? (Score:3)
I guess they also copied the business model of 2D printers.
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I wonder if they've "chipped" the cartridges to prevent people from home re filling.
If not if might be an interesting technology to swap different colors in and out of the printer.
Of course they've probably patented the idea of a filament cartridge, and patented the business method of overcharging for consumables, etc etc.
Re:50$ for a cartridge? (Score:5, Funny)
If the optical-verification scanner in the filament feed path encounters a missing section, or a section not signed with the private key corresponding to the public key QR-coded on the filament cartridge, it won't continue printing, now will it?
And don't even think about a replay atttack... Each cartridge's key is reported to the Consumable License Activation Server upon first installation, and each Enciphered Consumable Subsection String is reported as consumed when it first passes through the optical-verification path. If a printer attempts to validate a previously validated cartridge key, or reports the consumption of filament with the same Enciphered Consumable Subsection String more than once, your printer will fail Cubify Genuine Advantage...
(The above is sarcasm; but I suspect that it wouldn't exactly be rocket-surgery to implement such a system in the real world...)
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Ah those are MBA level suggestions right there. I came up with another, create a certain specific color, then patent / copyright / trademark that specific shade of blue or whatever, and sue the heck out of anyone on the internet who dares to speak that specific precise wavelength. 476.242526 nm? You thief, you! File lawsuits against people who sell tee shirts with the number 476.242526 written on them, etc.
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Just kick out the offerings here [pantone.com] in filament rather than chip shape, add 75% for the service, and you are on your way.
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Not quite; then you'd get the printer free with a two-year cartridge subscription. :P
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Following the inkjet business model... (Score:1)
people who buy these will eventually regret the proprietary cartridges.
How about openness? (Score:3, Insightful)
I thought the most important part about the 3D printer revolution was that users were in fact able to get designs through a communal repository of designs, FOR FREE.
What I see here is a bunch of super-fancy iPhone covers that sell at USD30.
That is not going to help fuel the revolution that the other 3D printers started. The implications for the world are enormous when everyone can replicate items in their house for free. It is not impressive when you get an iPrinter- that increases the cost of using it significantly.
Screw simplicity. I want to be free.
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Though it should be noted, even the 'best' 3D printers today do not even come close to 'replicating themselves'. Yeah you can print out the plas
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I remember seeing one claim that it could produce 90 percent of itself, which is true.
If you go by weight; essentially it's the chassis.
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Bloody printer cartridges... (Score:5, Insightful)
By the pictures, the 'cartridge' is a smallish reel of polymer filament('proprietary ABS' per the FAQ). ABS filament should set you back less than $20/lb, not $50/cartridge-of-unspecified-capacity-and-properties...
And software? Ha, ha, ha. Even if you already have an STL object ready to roll, it's their fisher-price-meets-flash-game mutant bastard child of kiddo's first 3d modelling application/device-driver for you. But at least you get 25 free 'creations' if you buy one! Have they been poaching software guys from HP's consumer printers division or something?
It's honestly somewhat baffling. Given economies of scale, mass production, experience, potentially useful patents, etc. it shouldn't be terribly difficult for commercial 3d-printer vendors to compete on hardware specs(along with fit-and-finish and easy availability of finished products rather than kits) with the various DIY contraptions, but these 'Cubify' fellows seem determined to undermine what might be promising hardware with usurious consumables pricing and cringe-worthy software...
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I think you may be looking the wrong direction as to "who they're copying."
They are looking directly at the Cricut. Call it a hunch, very soon there will be an online store where you can buy objects for printing: and those will be where the profit is made.
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I predict very soon those will be pirated or copied by FREE plans.
What I want, is something that can scan any 3d object and make a file to print it.
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You need http://geomagic.com/en/ [geomagic.com] - good software, also happens to be run by one of the most fascinating people on the planet.
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Re:Bloody printer cartridges... (Score:5, Insightful)
Photo printing seems to be nearly dead, with people either sending them to facebook and never printing them at all, or uploading them to some print service, which small-scale home inkjets can't touch on price or performance, and $100 laser printers have been a real kick in the teeth for inkjets when it comes to printing text/homework/online bank statements for paper filing/etc/etc.
Back when laser printers were quite expensive, and 'online' was not a ubiquitous concept, inkjets were certainly all over the place; but the 'razor/blades' model that the vendors all chased seems to have earned them substantial enmity. Even complete technophobes have frequently have a sense of grievance about how much ink cartridges cost, and how often printers break.
In the case of 3d printing, I definitely don't think that the future is a reprap in every household: DIY/Kit/OSS/etc 3d printers are geek toys, no question. However, the non-geek(and, in many cases, also useful to geeks) solution appears to be one of the 'upload 3d model, receive physical model by fedex' services that will sell you time on 20k+ printing gear a few bucks at a time, in the same way that the online photo printers do for 2d prints.
That is why I have such doubts about an offering like this. It isn't a terribly good fit for the nerds and hackers demographic that is likely to actually want a 3D printer on site; but it is also too expensive(up front and in consumables) to compare favorably for nontechnical users with the online print-to-order outfits that are similarly simple and friendly but have much more sophisticated equipment, and it's attempt to hit a consumer price point makes it a bit too limited(in materials, model size, and toolchain) for the rapid-prototyping needs of business users.
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Except a photo-quality 2D printer is now something not uncommonly seen in someone's home. Rarer than a normal 2D printer but most people would not be surprised to see one and you can buy them off a shelf. I agree that the tech has a long way to go before it reaches that level of disposable consumer ware, but I'm not going to write off the possibility it will happen.
There are three categories of people as I see it;
The first are the hardcore tinkerers would have no problem buying a kit and spending the time a
Won't happen (Score:3)
They're using the ink-jet business model by overcharging for the "cartridges". Except they are charging an arm and a leg for the printer too. So for $1300 you can buy the printer and a cartridge, and additional cartridges are $50 each. For that $50, you can print (according to their website) between 10 and 14 creations. That means each creation costs between $3.50 and $5.00 each without starting to think about paying for the machine itself and other costs (software, design, licenses, electricity, etc). Funny to think it's still cheaper to make something in China and have it shipped to the other side of the planet.
When they are serious about this being more than just a toy, they'll drop the price on the cartridges to what it's really worth - like maybe $5.
Shapeways (Score:5, Insightful)
I know this will sound like shilling, but all I can give is my personal assurances that I have no connection to the site.
Shapeways.com is cool. I realized long ago that I won't personally 3d print very many items, and there are still economies of scale to 3d printing, even if a lot less than manufacturing. So shapeways has multiple varieties of 3d printer, and numerous materials of varying pricing, and open source models other users have printed you can use or modify and use. As a user, you only see the software(blender) and the finished product when it's shipped to you. Actually OWNING a 3d printer doesn't appeal to me much, but there are a couple things I'm working on to (eventually, some day) print.
Re:Shapeways (Score:5, Informative)
Not sure why you're modded off-topic - considering that Shapeways or, and I guess I'll plug their 'competitor' here, i.materialise, are a great option for those who want high quality (much higher than what you get out of Makerbot etc.) for a low price (compared to buying a 3D printer (kit+assembly)) with practically zero hassle.
I guess this Cube thing is somewhere between the Makerbots and the z-corp et al high end devices, but still more on the Makerbot end.
There are also desktop 3D printers that cost a bit more but may be worth the bother if you need what they do. One site that comes to mind is http://desktopfactory.com/ [desktopfactory.com]
It occurs to me, reading the page there, that 3D Systems may be on their way to trying to corner the consumer/prosumer market.
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For $1300 I'll buy an M2 (Score:1)
http://www.makergear.com/products/m-series-3d-printers
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Well, for $1300 and weeks-to-months of waiting.
FYI, I plunked down my cash on an M2; I was given a "fuzzy" ETA of 4 weeks, now passed. New guestimate of arrival is... 1st-2nd week of July.
Has anyone received one yet? Any reviews?
Hackerspace vrs Lowes Home Depot (Score:5, Interesting)
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That's a very good point --- I've been surprised that 3D scanners, printers and CNC machines haven't showed up at hardware stores --- show up w/ a broken part --- the scanner scans it and if in stock, directs you to the correct aisle --- if not, it calculates a cost to either 3D print (if plastic) or mill (if wood or metal).
William
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That's an interesting concept, but remember that some parts can take hours to finish. I can also envision a 3D model of some copyrighted thing causing problems with people coming in with their own models to print.
What I can more readily see is some types of items not needing to be stocked anymore, or stocked in very small quantities. Things like flower pots and little plastic mounting brackets and spacers and stuff. Stock the plastic instead and print more as needed. If the customer is willing to order ahea
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The tech to do this exists today. Capturing 3D shapes from standard camera/video data: doable: there are Youtube videos of people doing this ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IquKgEyXo2g ). Generating the part files from the 3D model: difficult: there is a bit of art in turning 3D models into (efficiently) printable objects (hollowing out a bust to save material, or handling unsupported areas). Printing the part: moderate-easy: Depending on the type of printer you use (Fused Deposition Modeling is more ch
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This would be a better fit at a high end copy center like Kinkos. The people working there have some technical ability, they are used to dealing with consumables, and they are already in the reproduction business. Fee schedule would be some setup cost say, $20, and a per minute print cost (say $0.20). That's fairly expensive per part, but cheaper than buying your own, and much less hassle.
I'd guess a typical store would get a few customers a week printing for a few hours each. So somewhere around $5000
Transcript (Score:3)
Title: Cubify 3D Printers Aren't Just for Squares
Description: There are other 3D printers out there, but Cubify claims theirs is easier to use, has easier cartridge changes, and is all-around nicer and cooler than their competition.
00:00 TITLE
A shot of a 3D printer printing an object is shown, with the SlashdotTV logo bar reading "The Cubify 3-D Printer at Google I/O 2012"
00:03 TITLE
Timothy Lord is shown standing in a hallway
00:03 Timothy
Here's another intriguing product on display at Google I/O, mostly because it can be controlled from an Android tablet, although it can also be fed data from a wireless network or from a USB stick plugged into the side.
00:12 TITLE
Another shot of the 3D printer printing an object is shows.
00:18 TITLE
Back to the shot of Timothy
00:18 Timothy
It's a 3D printer that tries to emulate the easy-of-use of a laser printer, rather than a typical 3D printer where you have to feed it rolls of continuous stock.
00:27 TITLE
The view changes to Adam of cubify.com in front of their booth at Google I/O.
At the booth there are 3 Cube printers set up that are shown behind Adam.
00:27 Adam
Hey, this is Adam with cubify.com , part of 3D Systems, and we're here with the Cube, just having an opportunity to take a quick little demo.
Just finished printing up a little Android right now, so if you wanna take a look a little bit closer...
00:42 TITLE
The view zooms in on the Cube printer
00:43 Adam
There are a couple of things here that are actually unique to this particular 3D printer.
Where there are several other printers that exist out there, at a similar price point, that are a little bit more open - instead what we opted to do was, rather than having to worry about "how hot does the extruder need to be?", "is my plastic gonna be too hot or too cold?", "If it's too cold is it gonna jam the head, possibly unhinge something?", "if my bed is too hot or too cold causing any kind of warping", "do I have to worry about in-fill pattern?", Support material designs?" - our 26 years of engineering experience have automated that for us.
So this way all I need to do is to be able to hit 'build', and I'm able to get my parts.
For our support materials, what we actually did was created some perforated supports, so this way [...]
01:24 TITLE
Adam reaches over to the printed Android robot and pokes at some support structures
01:24 Adam
[...] they snap right off - no big deal at all, doesn't take any heavy lifting, doesn't damage the part.
01:32 Adam
Now, from what I heard, you guys were interested in changing out some cartridges.
Before we go ahead and do that..
You can take any STL format, pop it into our software, hit 'import', hit 'build' - from there you're ready to go.
Everything is automated for you as far as support structures, everything is ready as far as build times and fill patterns.
You can either do it via USB, or via WiFi, no problem at all.
01:56 Adam
We're gonna do a really quick demo right now as far as how to input and change out a cartridge, so come on over.
02:00 TITLE
Adam inputs a few commands on the control panel.
02:03 Adam
We have two screens between 'print' and 'setup'.
We're just gonna go to 'setup', and our first option is to 'load cartridge'.
So as we hit that, what's going on now is we're heating up the extruder, and we're actually gonna reverse out the plastic material right here.
And in a matter of seconds what's gonna happen next minute, minute and a half, is the material is actually gonna eject.
We're gonna pull it out, we're gonna pop in another cartridge, and from there we're just gonna feed it right back in.
Really simple.
Now it says right here to replace the cartridge and press the button.
Hit that.
Now I'm just gonna insert the filament right in here, like so, and right now you can see it pulling in.
Now another 5, 10 seconds you're gonna see a little bit of excess material come out right now, just to show that it's fed all the way through.
And there we have it - cartridge loaded and all set up.
03:08 TITLE
An on-screen title appears, reading "If you want to get one of these today, how do you do it?" followed by "www.cubify.com".
03:09 Timothy
So, Adam, if somebody wanted to get one of these today, how would they do it?
03:12 Adam
You can go to cubify.com , they're already available for order today.
Shipping's.. at this particular moment it's gonna take around 2 to 3 weeks.
They're $1300.
If you design in CAD any STL format will work perfectly.
All slicing software comes standard with any Cube that you get, as well as 25 free files as well to get you started printing.
03:32 TITLE
The view changes to a small castle tower with spiral staircase having been printed by one of the Cube printers as the SlashdotTV logo bar reads "The Cubify 3-D Printer at Google I/O 2012".
Make your own wargaming miniatures! (Score:2)
Considering it costs thousands just to buy a standing army for a lot of these war games, I think these printers will make it much more cost effective just to have everyone print up their own guys. Need 10 tanks? $50 in plastic compared to $500 buying them in the store from some company.
Re: (Score:1)
There's an Open Source 3D printing wargame already out there! It's called Seej, and it looks pretty cool. http://www.s33j.net
None of the nasty proprietary problems with Games Workshop designs.
Re: (Score:2)
Other outfits are wising up about the ludicrous expense of model warfare, at least. I've seen two Kickstarters, one which was basically rules for LEGO mecha combat, and another offering its own line of related minis at a fraction of regular costs.
Why would anyone need more than one? (Score:2)
Once you have one, you should be able to make as many more as you want.
It reminds me of Willy Wonka's Everlasting Gobstopper [wikipedia.org]. Nobody needs more than one.
Fuck your Ad (Score:2)
and who is going to pay 1300 bucks for that little bitty toy which requires proprietary print material?
ignorant question (Score:2)
Vegas Bet (Score:2)
Of course, HP will be allowed to offer their tawdry wares with an average print cost somewhere around $500 per cubic centimeter...
Nice Slashdvertisement (Score:1)
Wow, you don't even try to pretend that these are articles anymore... features, price, everything... only thing missing is a "Click to buy" link.
Bought one (Score:2)
ultimaker beat them all (Score:2)
For the same price (or less) you get this beast
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2cgGTLMeCQ [youtube.com]
Re: (Score:1)
Chrome needs better pugins. I love vimperator and it keeps me on firefox.
The vim like plugins for chrome do not get rid of the url bar, no do any of them appear to be modal.
Re: (Score:2)