Friday, November 18, 2011

Of 3D printers and themes

Okay, so the theme I had up wasn't working for me. It was a new dynamic layout that Google is offering and even on my computer it was kinda bogging down. And my computer used to be fast... 4 years ago.

This is a new 3D printer project that I heard about. Called Printrbot, of course. What is a 3D printer? Wikipedia I've been following the news of a couple of homemade 3D printers for years, mostly the RepRap and the Makerbot. This seems to be a new one that is made to be easy to build and inexpensive. And actually, from reading the Kickstarter page there.. It's a special version of the RepRap? I don't know. Anyways, $500 there will get you all the parts to assemble one of these 3D printers. $750 will get you one assembled and ready to go.
"Printrbot is small and intended to be your FIRST printer. The print area is roughly 5″ x 5″ x 5″. It does make a few sacrifices to keep things simple, but it is designed to be upgradable and expandable. You can easily increase the build area to whatever size you want. You can mount it inside a box or frame for rigidity. The included hardware is “full-sized” and on par with the Prusa – the current high-resolution champ. While Printrbot could happily serve your 3D printing needs sitting on your desk in your office, right next to your computer, it could also be the seed that spawns a never-ending series of upgrades to a bigger and better 3D future. You’ve got options."
I could easily see this being beneficial to homebrewers. You could print plastic cases, a front panel for a radio, knobs.. small ones or big VFO wheels, standoffs, plastic morse code key?, insulators for antennas, etc I'm sure there are a ton more things you could use a 3D printer for.

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