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3D Printing; now for chocolate!

Forget materials such as metals and plastics, engineers at the University of Exeter have developed the world’s first chocolate 3D Printer.This manufacturing method enables for customized chocolate designs, made by the consumers themselves. The system integrates flexible manufacturing with a web interface which facilitates for individual design and design collaboration with others.  It works by feeding melted chocolate through a number of tubes which distribute the chocolate on a bed according to the designdictated by computer software. University of Exeter engineers have designed a software for consumers to easily develop their designs which are then converted into CAD files used by the printer. It is expected that the machine will be highly effective in promoting 3D printing technology to a wider range of people, while also utlised as an enjoyable tool for student development in design technology.

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3D printer spam?

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From http://xkcd.com/924/

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New MakerBot – Thing-O-Matic

MakerBot, creators of the Cupcake CNC 3D printer have just announced their latest offering, The Thing-O-Matic. Its basically a Cupcake CNC with an automated build platform that allows you to build part after part after part with out having to attend to the machine when each part finishes. This is a great offering considering how long these things take to print decent sized parts.

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MakerBot Mods – Production Line

This is a cool way to turn a MakerBot into a production line. Normally your restricted to as many parts as you can nest within the small cupcake size built platform, but by adding this cool convey-belt system  many many parts are able to be printed one after the other.  It looks like the MakerBot Cupcake CNC is taking the home factory into full production.

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What can be made on a 3D Printer?

3D printed artWhat can be made on a 3D printer, or should we be saying what can’t be made on a 3D printer.  The list of what has been made on a 3D printer gets longer and longer everyday and with the mainstreaming of affordable 3D printing systems such as the RapMan 3.1 this isn’t going to stop anytime soon. Continue Reading →

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