ENTER HERE - 3DPrint - Ultimate 3D Printing Giveaway!

[apmahardy]

Hey Eddie! Nice to finally interact away from G+.
This contest is great and very exciting! 3D-printing technology is still slightly out of reach for my financial state (right out of school -- intern slaving ) dropping one or two g's on a reliable machine is still a hair toooo much-- Well, lets get to the questions!

- What is the most interesting thing you have seen done with a 3D printer or 3D printing technology?
Where do I even start! I've been following 3dprinting technology for years now and this question certainly recalls some select moments of overwhelming amazement. One instance in particular stands out. Eric Klarinbeek's "mycelium" 3dprinted chairs. http://www.dezeen.com/2013/10/20/mycelium-chair-by-eric-klarenbeek-is-3d-printed-with-living-fungus/ I'm a huge supporter of the understanding that the injection of 3d printing technology into ALL other fields is inevitable. Healthcare products, science, art, architecture, engineering, fashion, medicine-- the list goes on! Back to the fungi printing. Not only is this a great example of a new material to print with (mycelium) its a great example of printing a 'system' and not just an object. Sure, printing a product to look like that particular product is one thing (prototyping), but what if it could be printed in such a way to influence the way that product actually acts (biomimicry)? Allow me to elaborate. Eric Klarinbeek didn't print a copy of a mushroom-- he printed a form (in this case a chair) and using the complex layering of additive manufacturing, was able to control the location where the fungi grew. The printing was done months ago, but the chair continues to grow. The possibilities are outrageous!

- If you could build your dream 3D printer, what would it include and what would it do? Let your imagination run wild!
What a tease! The perfect AIO (all-in-one) of course, but lets start with the hardware first. A 3d-printer with three heads-- two heads would be able to rotate from working in the x and y axis to working in the z (enabling material to be added to the sides as well as the top-- not sure of the implications here (mechanically) but something has to be there. A heated bed for ABS models and vents in the side of the case. Due to the varying climates and temperatures (and interns shoved into a cold colorado basements to work) these vents would work like camera apertures-- the user would be able to the manually open and close them, allowing for an increase or decrease in airflow (maybe a temperature gauge in the case and something to automatically adjust aperture size! Now i'm getting greedy). Or, maybe a memory shape polymer that adjust to temperature by opening and closing? Ok, fine back to the dream machine. The model bed would also be able to turn 360 degrees on its z-axis and two lasers would scan the objects depth data while a webcam captured textures and colors, providing 3d-scanning capabilities. Oh! Of course, the beds and heads could be manually swapped out for other beds and heads allowing you to convert you machine into a laser cutter(fans and filter in base of unit to draw out fumes.), Mini CNC router, and etcher oh my! Why stop there? Lets add insult to injury and say that this machine is pretty bulky in size and can also preform good ole' conventional printer tasks. Printing and scanning documents, and faxing would all be functions. Heck, lets throw a K-cup receptacle and water reservoir (could be used to water cool your machine through radiator-like fins) in the mix. Who doesn't like ten second coffee and ten minute prototypes at eight O'clock in the morning? In fact, pre-load the material, set the printers autoprint feature to 3dprint a model of a mug at 7:30am than at 7:55 have it brew and fill it with coffee.


Good luck everyone and happy (3d)printing!