3Doodler: A 3D printing... pen?!

[Taleweaver]

Looks like it made its Kickstarter in record time. And it deserves it.

I already signed up for one, even though they won't ship until November. This will make a perfect Christmas gift for my mom, who's the genius with all sorts of manual work in our family.

[Kato]

Not gonna lie, wetting myself in excitement over this...

[TrickWithAKnife]

I showed it to my wife, who was far less excited than I was, and even she said "how much is it, and where can we get it". I'll definitely get it at some point in the future, but by then it'll probably be in stores, and the creators will be living on their own island.

[Cadenza]

The single flaw I can think of with this is how any mess-ups would probably be a huge pain? But I suppose that's the case when drawing with any pen; I'm no artist. I'm so glad this got funded as much as it did, it's objectively genius.

[Boomsickle]

I have a hard enough time drawing with a normal pen!

[LateWhiteRabbit]

Hmm. I'm honestly not that impressed by this. I mean, yes, it is sort of cool in a novelty type of way, but I can't see myself using this in any serious way - it's just too imprecise. This is almost literally a hot-glue gun - they've just designed it to immediately cool the plastic. For instance, you can create that Eiffel Tower model RIGHT NOW using the exact same method they showed in the video using a hot glue gun - you'll just need to wait a few minutes to peel off the glue from the mat. Granted, it won't be plastic, but glue ....

3D printers are due to hit the market at many chainstores next year (and the Staples chain in Europe is due to start offering in-store 3D printing THIS year) allowing much more professional models from your creations. The 3Doodler strikes me as a gimmicky toy in comparison. It's pretty telling to me that all the professional art they show is wire art - artists have been doing this sort of thing for a long time - just in metal instead of plastic. A bundle of wire and clippers is also much cheaper than the 3Doodler and the art is more durable - AND you can correct mistakes.

I'm just not seeing it.

[PyTom]

I kind of see this as being interesting insofar as it will let you weld plastic together. 3D printers are slow, and relatively inexpensive 3D printers seem limited in the volume they can produce. Something like the 3Doodler could be used to combine 3D prints and sheets of plastic into a larger item, if that's something that people might want to do.

(I'm not about to jump out and back it, however - if it proves to be useful, it will show up in stores in the fullness of time.)

[Greeny]

I don't see why I would want one, but yet again the world has succeeded in proving Charles Holland Duell wrong.

[Zylinder]

It's... kind of cool, I guess, but I can't see any practical uses for it. The things made with it don't look durable, so it's not like you can use it for anything practical. If it's just for the artistic value, there are better materials out there for art. As a novelty it's pretty cool though. Kind of like a geeky sort of muscle flex.

[SundownKid]

It looks pretty fun as a novelty, but I don't see any way I could legitimately use this. At least real 3D printers can make stuff that's sturdy and doesn't fall apart. The stuff made with this can only be used as decoration. It would be fun to try, but I wouldn't be interested in buying it.

I kind of see this as being interesting insofar as it will let you weld plastic together.

Currently, we have something called "glue" and "tape" that will do pretty much the same thing without breaking in half?

[mugenjohncel]

I'll be honest... I'M GREEN WITH ENVY HERE!...

US$1 MILLION PLUS!!! For what I can clearly see is a glorified glue gun!!!

"POOF" (DAMN GENIUSES!!!)

[SundownKid]

The problem is that glue guns aren't sexy enough. Call it a Multi-Dimensional Connection Facilitator and people will be all over it.

[LateWhiteRabbit]

US$1 MILLION PLUS!!! For what I can clearly see is a glorified glue gun!!!

No kidding. As a kid I used to set a glue gun to low heat (so the glue sticks wouldn't fully melt) and build towers or shapes this exact same way. If only I'd thought to do it with colored plastic....

EDIT: This Youtube video shows what I'm talking about.

[mugenjohncel]

If only I'd...

Fine... maybe I'll start my own KICKstarter to build THE SAFETY CHAIR!!!

http://i.imgur.com/UDi4fXV.jpg [ NSFW - Tom ]

"POOF" (Disappears)

[jghibiki]

If only I'd...

Fine... maybe I'll start my own KICKstarter to build THE SAFETY CHAIR!!!

http://i.imgur.com/UDi4fXV.jpg

"POOF" (Disappears)

Wow... just wow... you scare me sometimes