Printable Objects

This is some pretty cool technology. Make something on the computer, and print it out. I'm sure you know how to print a document, but did you know you can also print an object?

I made this quick test cube in Rhino and had it printed out. The point of this little cube was to experiment with the printer's capacity for detail and to test the strength of the material. 

My digital model in Rhino

The finished product, printed out in some special mixture of plaster.

3D printers create tangible objects from a digital .STL file by building the material up layer by layer, which is why my cube has that surface texture. This process is called "rapid prototyping," it's newly available to the public (more or less) and it's opening new frontiers in object design, production, and innovation. Check out Shapeways for printer outsourcing and information.

All my digital models and renderings can be seen in my portfolio, all built and rendered in Rhino.