The Electroloom launches on KS - First fabric 3D printer

[Eddie]

For those of you who are into fashion design, things may have just got a whole lot more interesting, thanks to the launching of a Kickstarter campaign for the Electroloom. The Electroom using a process similar to electroplating to 3D print clothing from various fabrics. The machine is priced at just $4500 for early bird backers. Read and see more on this amazing machine at http://3dprint.com/65959/electroloom-3d-fabric-printer/

loom1.jpg

[A_M_Swallow]

This probably should go on its own thread but I am not authorised to create one.

Clothes are rarely just a single bit of cloth. Can the Electroloom printer handle?
pockets
pleats
button holes
the loops through which belts are threaded

T-shirts frequently have patterns printed on them. Can 3-D printers do this during the main print?
Woollens can come with multi-coloured stripes and pattens built in. Can the 3-D printer do this?
Dresses are frequently made in several parts which are sown together. This produces seams. Can seamless dresses be made? (Possibly by using a rotating target.)

Clothing may contain fasteners like buttons, zips, hooks, eyes, studs and Velcro strips. These have to be stitched or glued on by hand at high cost. Is there anyway for the printer to automatically attach them when the thread is printed?
Sequins are (normally) sown on by hand. Can this be automated?

Lace work is pretty and fairly expensive. Can something like lace be made with the Electroloom?
Automatic attachment to collars and cuffs?

Woollen suits can come with silk linings. Anything similar for the Electroloom?

I am fat so I have to have my trousers shortened. How effective is the Electroloom at doing one off sizes?
Same for designer dresses. Couture needs very high level of accuracy.

[Feign]

Well, I had been following this one for a little while and of course had to throw a little bit of money at it... One thing to note is that the fabric breaks down when washed. I wonder if this could actually be used as an advantage, if there were a method of breaking the fibers back down into their liquid form and re-printing with it after filtering out dirt and oils.

As for Swallow's questions, yeah, it's pretty obvious that the process is pretty limited, though a lot of the limitations might be non starters, zippers and snaps might be possible to incorporate in the process directly for instance. And having a garment with a silk-like material on the inside and a cotton-like one on the outside seems like it would be fairly easy.

And I figured that making odd and one-off sizes was the whole point of this? Get a mold for each garment in your size and print out a whole wardrobe, right?

[A_M_Swallow]

A machine that does all the things I mentioned is likely to be very expensive but a correctly chosen subset could be very useful to a wardrobe mistress.

I wonder if a lace like effect can be made using a template with lots of holes cut in it?

Does cutting a thin hole in the template 50% longer than the diameter of the button make a viable button hole? The edges may need strengthening.

Are there materials and plastics that the fibres will stick to? Buttons, sequins and ribbons could be made out of them. Their backs may need painting with a glue. Insert into the template before printing.

These ideas should give fashion designers something to experiment with.

[curious aardvark]

I am fat so I have to have my trousers shortened.

you could have just said you have short legs :-)

The machine is extremely clever - and bear in mind this is MKI
Given the way this industry progresses - this time nbext year the mk II will not only add pockets and full coloured designs, it'll probably print a homunculus to wear the clothes in for you :-)

I'd like to see how strong a sample of the fabric actually is. I'm thinking felt rather than spun wool - but that could be totally wrong.
But yeah - every week something else totally amazing comes out of this industry.

[Feign]

From what I understand, the material sticks to conductive surfaces and not to non-conductive surfaces. Basically, you wouldn't need holes in the mold to make holes in the material, but wherever you paint a resistive paint on the surface would end up as a hole.

They mentioned putting a rubber layer on the edges of the mold where the neck and arm holes are for the tank top, but I could see someone making blocks that a user could arrange into lace patterns on the mold before printing. As for the materials that the material sticks to, My guess would be "anything conductive" and there are specifically conductive threads one could use to make the centerpoints of buttons and other things conductive though it might be tricky.

In general, I think they were a bit hasty by only having a tank top and a skirt to demo the machine.

Also, I ought to ask how much voltage this thing needs, as the human body itself is nicely conductive. (my guess is the answer would be a flat "no, don't do that")

[A_M_Swallow]

If the templates can be made using an ordinary printer then it will make a big difference to the operating costs. There are A0 sized printers normally used to print posters and engineering blueprints. An insulating ink is needed.

A second video can be made showing how flexible the Electroloom is. Hopefully showing something spectacular that would cost a fortune to make using traditional methods.