3-D Printers are quite the rage- I mean, who wouldn’t love to create their own ABS plastic objects in three dimensions RIGHT AT HOME. But they still retail at over a $1000, and that’s a bit pricey for most of us. So what’s the next-best thing? A 3-D printing pen. And now the 3Doodler is widely available for $100USD, that creative freedom is within our pocketbook’s reach.
First, let’s see what there is in the box.
- Printing Pen
- 1 set of sticks
- power cord
- instructional guide
And here’s how it’s described on the website (as of this writing it available exclusively from ConsumerCrafts.com);
The 3Doodler™ 3D printing pen allows you to create dimensional shapes and objects with ease!
As you draw with your 3Doodler pen, it extrudes heated plastic. When the plastic cools and solidifies, it turns into a strong, stable structure – so you can build up sculptures that are as simple, or as complex, as you want.
This 3Doodler pen set comes one “Meta” and one “Essentials” strand pack in ABS plastic. ABS plastic is perfect for 3Doodling on paper, then peeling up your creations. It’s good for bendable art, drawing upwards, and building structures, too. PLA plastic refills can also be used in the 3Doodler 3d printing pen.
Want to see how the 3Doodler pen works? To view a video on how to get started, click the “Play” button below the product image. Or check out the videos, stencils and project gallery on the 3Doodler community page for instructions and inspiration.
I made you this review video for you!
Now let’s take another look at some of those fun things we made!
One thing I forgot to mention in the video is that the plastic that is IN the barrel is impossible to gauge- so if you are trying to change colors you might feel a little wasteful extruding one color into a pile before the next color comes out. But that’s not much of a big deal. And I WOULD LOVE to see a docking station or a holder for this tool- because it DOES have a hot tip! So I’m hoping they design a holder for the tool (and maybe the color sticks) so that it’s tidy and safe you your worktable.
This is one of those tools where you can really believe that you are only limited by your creativity! And if you can doodle, you can use the 3Doodler! Let’s go over the pros and cons:
PROS:
- Accessible price point ($100 USD)
- Easy operation; no computers necessary nor is there a technical learning curve
- Quick warm-up
CONS:
- Only one tip available (thin lines)
- Learning curve for eye-hand coordination & what the material will do
- Hard to judge when the color is used up in the barrel
I handed this tool over to a very crafty friend, and she created this with it!
Fun, right?
At the end of the day, I would love to see some more patterns up on the website so that I had more to do with it. So I’m wondering- what would YOU do with the 3Doodler? Give me some ideas!
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Linda Gorman says
Great video! The product looks interesting but I don’t think I would use it enough to make the investment. I love seeing all the new products. Thank you!
Connie C says
Cool review Jenny. I’m wondering…could you take a digital photo of a person, make a line drawing of it on your computer, then use the 3Doodler to trace the drawing out of plastic? Might be a neat embellishment on a SB page.
Kind of an interesting tool, isn’t it? Thanks for showing it to us.
— Connie C.
Regina says
It sounds very interesting, but I believe you could do this with the hot glue gun–especially the low temp kind. It will be more interesting when the computerized version becomes more affordable. Thank you for testing this out and doing the video so we could see.
Jenny says
Regina- the thing that a glue gun WON’T do is extrude lines of plastic that cool and become structural mid-air. That plastic takes much longer to cool and therefore just puddles up. Hope this helps!
Jenny says
Connie- you certainly could. Check this video on making a 3-D sketch of a bird: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gI9G2W6W1Xk
Brandie says
This looks like so much fun. I would recommend doing any projects in a well ventilated area, ABS plastic emits a chemical when heated up that can be bad. Thanks for the review!!! You always make purchase choices so much easier.
jengd says
Interesting little gadget. I’m with Linda in that I don’t think I’d use it enough to make it worth the cost but it is interesting. I like your dragonfly btw.
Daniele says
Sweet. I definitely want to test this.