We’ve had 3D printers and now we have 3D pens. That’s right; somebody has developed a pen that you can literally draw off the page with, creating 3D objects thanks to some very clever technology.
3Doodler is the name of the pen, which has surfaced through project booster Kickstarter, smashing its $30,000 funding target almost 20 times over within a matter of days. If you’ve ever been scrawling on a page and wished you could make your doodles come to life, then this is the way to do it.
Similar to the way in which 3D printers work, the 3Doodler uses ABS plastic, but on a much smaller scale. Whereas 3D printers can be programmed with pre-made designs to create things like phone cases and sculptures, the 3Doodler works on a much smaller scale, making it “the most affordable way to 3D print” according to its creators.
It works by heating up ABS plastic just enough to make it pliable as it leaves the tip of the pen, with the temperature of the material dropping enough to make it cool down and solidify into place seconds later. The result is the ability to draw 3D shapes in the air, from the very basic stickman to intricate designs like the Eiffel Tower above.
At $75 apiece the 3Doodler is a very cheap way of getting in to 3D printing, or just an interesting and new way to get creative. The $30,000 funding target required to make the first units for public sale was reached within hours of the project going live on Kickstarter, with the current total standing at $570,297 at the time of writing.
The pen, which is understandably a fair bit thicker and longer than your average biro, can be loaded up with different bags of coloured plastic, allowing you to draw – or print, if you will – in all sorts of colours.
Check out the 3Doodler in action below!