David Caputo is a whirlwind of possibilities.

The DIY revolution is taking on a new shape as rapid prototyping technology becomes more accessible to the general population. This service has been available since the late 1980’s but is notoriously expensive and generally only used by companies and professionals. Today there are groups of individuals who are looking to lower the $20,000 entry fee and producing an open source 3D printer for approximately $500. There are several types of different machines capable of taking a design from hard disk to object. I hope to illustrate a few of these technologies and show how they are being made to serve the individual rather than the corporation.

First I’d like to touch on the Laser Cutter. These are machines starting around $8,000 for basic models that are capable of cutting some light thin sheet materials. The more expensive models can cut a larger variety of materials and thicknesses but can also begin costing $20,000 and up. There is a lot you can do with one of these machines but you need to remember that it only cut’s sheet materials so making a 3D object requires some kind of construction technique or layering.

There are a variety of machines and technologies that can create complete 3D objects. The list is extensive: Injection molding, electron beam melting, robocasting and three-dimensional printing to name just a few. These techniques are largely accessible by services that offer part by part printing but can be quite expensive. I am going to focus on the techniques and technologies that are being developed for the individual maker. These DIY machines are very exciting because it is putting the production into the hands of the consumer! The possibilities are limitless. Imagine that instead of going to the store to buy some new glasses you just design your own and print them out yourself. Or if a piece goes missing from your digital camera, or a small bracket breaks. Instead of going through the hassle of tracking down the piece or replacing the device completely you can simple print a new piece out! It also opens up opportunities for companies to provide “base” items for sale that can then be altered by the user. Imagine getting a basic design for an iPod from Apple and then designing the case to clip onto you particular bike, or perhaps a case that conforms to your wrist(not that Apple would ever give the consumer that choice but just follow me here).

The 3D printer is one of the most accessible for the intrepid DIY’er to create on their own. The technology uses inkjet print heads that lay down successive layers of a bonded material. Some will alternate layers of bonding glue with layers of a building material. Some systems, like the RepRap project will lay down lines of a melted material that then cools and hardens. The commercial models of these machines start at around $20,000 but the open source RepRap model can be made for roughly $500 and is also capable of printing out parts to create more RepRaps, hence the name: Replicating Rapid Prototyper.This is a very brief overview of quite an extensive array of technologies and possibilities. The thing I really want to impress upon you is the transition that these technologies are making from specialized service to home appliance. These new tools are putting the power to create production quality objects into the hands of anyone with a little bit of modeling skills and creativity. The trend that this technology is following is the same as so many before it. The personal computer is an easy parallel. Originally starting out as a large room full of gears and belts representing equations that took several days and a team of engineers to set up it can now fit in your pocket and do your taxes, connect to anyone in the world and show you videos of cats falling asleep in their food. The same revolution is possible and, I hope, under way with prototyping technology.

A new project coming out of the NYC Resistor Hacker Space is the MakerBot. Building on RepRap technology the MakerBot uses a thermoplastic extruder head and stacks up lines of material to form a complete 3D object. The material is the same that Legos are made of and the objects end up being quite robust. For a price tag of $750 you can order an entire kit with everything you need to start printing your own objects. If you want to do it all yourself you can start cannibalizing old printers for stepper motors and cobble together a RepRap. For those of us with a little less skill and patience the MakerBot seems to be the way to go.

Now go out and make something!

Tags: 3D Printing, Laser cutter, MakerBot, Rapid Prototyping

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 12th, 2009 at 11:00 pm and is filed under Design, Making Things, Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.