June 24, 2008 | 1 comments

Five Ways to Print Your Own 3-D Objects [Slide Show]

3-D printing has been out of reach for most of us. Now thanks to do-it-yourself types all that has started to change

By JR Minkel

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Five Ways to Print Your Own 3-D Objects [Slide Show] :: 3-D printing has been out of reach

Name: RepRap Version 1.0 "Darwin"
Material: Biodegradable plastic or polyester
Price: $500 to $900, depending on assembly
What it does: Short for replicating rapid prototyper, the RepRap is the brainchild of Adrian Bowyer, a mechanical engineer at the University of Bath in England who figured that fabbers would become a lot cheaper and more accessible if they could build their own bodies. Sound familiar? Like a lo-fi version of the Fab@Home Model 1, Bowyer designed the first RepRap to be built by combining fabbed parts with motors and other store-bought mechanical components. Unveiled earlier this month, "Darwin" heats a solid polymer and mechanically extrudes it like a glue gun. The next step in Darwin's evolution: printing its own circuitry.
Where to get one: Visit the RepRap Web page for a list of parts and suppliers.

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