Home Depot starts selling MakerBot 3D printers

nuts and bolts

3D printed nuts and bolts from a MakerBot.

Home Depot, the world’s largest home improvement chain, announced the start of a pilot program to sell MakerBots. They are described by the manufacturer as a type of professional-grade 3-D printing machine and will be in a dozen stores following a three-month period of online-only sales. (Video)

 

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MakerBot’s 3D scanner scheduled to arrive mid-October for $1,400

Digitizer 3D scanner

MakerBot’s seemingly-magical Digitizer 3D scanner will ship by mid-October and will cost $1,400.  Shoppers can add an additional $150 for “MakerCare” a warranty service and support program. The Digitizer is essentially a CAD modeler and duplicator rolled up into one when paired with MakerBot’s Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printers.

 

 

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3D printing could save the average home up to $2,000 a year: Study

Home 3D printers could save the average home $2,000 a year.

Authors at Michigan Technological University have produced a study on 3D printing that says a home 3D printer can provide a return on investment of 20 to 40 percent and can save the average home up to $2,000 in avoided purchase costs.

 

 

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2012 was a year of expansion for 3D printing

As 3D printing expands its influence into mainstream culture, plenty of amazing things are happening. There are a lot of 3D printing companies expanding and getting more funding, but enterprising designers are finding more and more ways to use the fledgling printing technology. While some of these uses are a bit troubling (like piracy of copyrighted material and firearms), others show that, with enough ingenuity, 3D printing can change lives. Let’s take a look at some of the industry’s bigger stories from this year.

 

 

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3D printing and what it will mean for the future

Thing-o-Matic

MakerBot’s Thing-o-Matic is a flat-pack box costing as little as $1,000 with very clever machinery inside.  It is a rapid prototype machine: designs are fed in, things come out. Anderson, in his book Makers: The New Industrial Revolution , suggests that these personal manufacturing robots will radically democratize design. With one in their garage, everyone will be able to envisage an object and realize it.

 

 

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