3D Printing in wood, insects and clay
by Angus, 28 December, 2013, 5 comments
Large numbers of 3D printers are now being produced and used for home use. It is estimated that the worldwide market in 3D printing will be £3 billion within 5 years - but what materials are used for printing? Most currently use plastic filament (mostly PLA or ABS), but some printers are being developed to print using more natural materials such as clay or wood, and even 'mushed-up' insects.
Standard home-use 3D printers can print in "wood fill" using a mixture of plastic and wood to create objects that look as through they are wooden whist avoiding many of the issues with production of objects using real wood. The image below this post shows an array of objects 3D-printed by a desktop machine using a "wood fill" filament supplied by ColorFabb, part of the Dutch company Helian Polymers. This woody filament contains 30% wood Read more...
