The technology for 3D printing has been slightly too slow and expensive for everyday napkin sketches, but Wobbleworks 3Doodler changes all of that. The company’s Kickstarter project is a 3D printing pen that allows you to draw your 3D sculptures as quickly as you can dream them up for just $75.

The pen acts like a hot glue gun that allows you to draw, weld, and wireframes your ideas in thin air:

3Doodler is the world’s first and only 3D Printing Pen. Using ABS plastic (the material used by many 3D printers), 3Doodler draws in the air or on surfaces. It’s compact and easy to use, and requires no software or computers. You just plug it into a power socket and can start drawing anything within minutes.

While the pen is simple to use, but it might not be infant friendly. Read more

Zachary Bales, undergraduate student at Cal State Long Beach, hacked his Raspberry pi and 7” tablet to untether his personal laptop from hours of 3D printing.

The electrical engineering and physics student was tired of his laptop being shackled to his 3D printer for upwards to 5 hours for each project so he devised a way to use the cheaper, microcomputer instead. Zachary still needs to use a laptop to create the 3D forms and splice the geometries for printing, but the Rpi is a cheaper alternative that maximizes all of his devices. The hacked system is easily transportable:

I just wanted to make a self-contained system that was easily transportable… Right now I am saving everything to my Dropbox account and just downloading the G-Code files on the Pi. Read more

Do you wish you had a 3D printer to bring your design ideas to life?

Over at Shapeways, a growing community of designers use the company’s 3D printers to create and sell new objects. Using a variety of materials ranging from plastic to sterling silver, you can design a iPhone case, bookend, figurine, puzzle or any other creation. Here’s more about the company:

On Shapeways, individuals can make, buy and sell their own products. By providing a platform for our community members to share ideas and gain access to cutting edge technology, we’re bringing personalized production to everyone, whether you’re already designing in 3D or are looking to find something just right. We 3D Print everything on-demand, which means that every order is customized and personalized. Headquartered in New York with offices in Eindhoven and Seattle, Shapeways is a spin-out of the lifestyle incubator of Royal Philips Electronics. Investors include Lux Capital and Union Square Ventures in New York and Index Ventures in London.

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