Tuesday, March 31, 2009

DIY 3D Printing Uses low cost materials



Mark Ganter, Duane Storti and Ben Utela, from the University of Washington Department of Mechanical Engineering in Seattle, Washington, have developed a low-cost replacement for the materials their 3D printers use. AND, they've published their recipes.
Now materials costs drop from as high as $30 a pound to mere pennies. The result is that the UW has been able to open its rapid-prototyping shop to a wider variety of projects.
What's the new material? Powdered clay, mixed with sugar, maltodextrin or sometimes PVA. The fabjects are fired in a kiln just like any ceramic material.
Check out the recipe if you've built or are considering building a 3D printer.

1 comment:

Brian Rich said...

New link to the article on Ceramic Arts Daily:
http://ceramicartsdaily.org/ceramic-supplies/pottery-clay/the-printed-pot/