This Brilliant Vacuum Cleaner-Powered Device Is Like a Desktop Replicator
It's undeniable that 3D printing is changing the world of manufacturing and we've only just started to see the huge, huge effects it will have in the coming years and decades. It's also true that while you can buy a 3D printer for your house, that device will be equal parts expensive and complicated. The FormBox could change that.
While it's not technically a 3D printer in the way that you we traditionally think of them-box-shaped devices that print layer after layer of hot plastic to build a computer model in the real world-the FormBox accomplishes one of the goals 3D printers often do: making duplicates of physical objects.
What looks great about the FormBox is how dead simple it makes this process. There's no "scanning" or software or digital model manipulation. You just use a sheet of plastic and the actual physical object you want to copy to vacuum-form a mold. From there, you just need something to pour in, anything from some sort of resin to straight-up concrete.
It's not a new idea-you can find the same principle at work in industrial machines that do the same thing-but you'll be hard-pressed to find something this user-friendly that runs off the vacuum cleaner you already have.
The extreme simplicity of this design should make it ridiculously easy to use to just duplicate things around the house, but it does severely limit what it could do compared to an actual 3D printer, which can print things you download off the internet, for example. You have to either physically have or physically create the thing you want to copy with the FormBox. Still, the process seems so easy that it pretty much makes up for any limitations.
The FormBox doesn't exist quite yet, and is currently raising funds on Kickstarter. At the time of this writing, it is just under its $50,000 goal but it seems inevitable that it will meet it. Backers at the $350 can reserve a unit in one of the first few batches. As with all Kickstarters, I have to urge caution-you never know if you'll actually get what you pay for or if it will be any good if it shows up-but FormBox seems like a solid idea that will likely make it to more traditional stores after this campaign.
As well it should! It's a simple, smart idea for a device that could help bring some of the benefits of 3D printing to people who can't handle or don't want to deal with more sophisticated tech. Someone just tell me whether it has enough fidelity to help me copy all my favorite action figures and turn them into statues.
Source: Kickstarter
