Bowie the Bunny in fine material powder, with color binders, via powder bed/inkjet process. Photo courtesy of Shapeways.
There has never have been a better time to purchase a desktop 3D printer. Nonetheless, they are still too expensive for many users. If you can’t justify the cost of a personal printer, you may be able to access one at a local hackerspace, and there are many online 3D printing services to choose from, including Ponoko, Shapeways, and i.materialise. These companies use a variety of printing technologies to create physical objects from your digital designs and can print in many other materials besides extruded thermoplastic.
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- 3D Printers Buyer's Guide — 15 Reviewed
- Getting Started in 3D
- Learn the Software Toolchain
- 3D Design for Beginners
- 3D Printing without a Printer
Hi I was looking at the Portabee or the Rapidbot over the $500 mark I think the portabee is a good entry level but only has a small build size the Rapidbot has bigger build size …. I will check out Shapeways as you mentioned it in your blog, thanks for that.