Shapeways Introduces New Squishy 3D Printing Material, Elasto Plastic
 

While the name “Elasto Plastic” sounds like an 80s punk band, it is, in fact, a new material from 3D printing company Shapeways. The plastic is elastic to a certain degree yet maintains its shape after stretching or squeezing. It will break when pulled too hard and is still in the experimental stage on the Shapeways website.

http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpr...ways.gif?w=300

The material is off-white and has a “grainy finish.” It’s laser sintered and a bit jagged because of the layer-by-layer requirement to build the model. Shapeways writes that it is “not ready for broader use” but can be used for personal models and experimental projects. We recently featured Shapeways in our TC Makers series and they’ve begin printing this material on their nylon sintering machines in their US factory. It takes about eight days to print and ship and could be an interesting hinge material for 3D-printed projects. Considering it already looks like cartilage, I’d be curious to see how makers take the material to the next level.

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http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/c0a943f...=identicon&r=G John Biggs

http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/31/sha...lasto-plastic/

Sweet! Now I can print rubber bullets for my plastic guns! :D

Huge breakthrough for the sex robot industry. Easy at home soft part replacement.

Heh, yup.

I wonder if they will be able to somehow combine this practice with stem cells for biological reasons.

Would be cool to just create a brand new kidney rather than having to guilt a family member into giving you one.

This is already being done.

Unbelievable shit.

3-D Printing will be the next industrial revolution. The next dot.com. Print 'em.