A Welcome Material Innovation

OK.

What I'm about to relate to you is NOT available for the Cube just yet.  Nor, do I know that it will EVER be available.  But, I suspect that it will be unless the fibers in the material I'm about to introduce pose some problems at the normal ABS plastic extrusion temperatures.

Someone has recently announced a new filament for 3D printers that prints wooden objects.  It's called Laywoo-D3 and for now it's only available in small 3mm trial amounts on the German eBay site.  But, the developers say that it will also be manufactured at 1.75mm filament width.

First, here is a short video...

The different colors come from manually adjusting the temperature as it prints.  The higher the temperature, the darker the color.  The above print was created on a 3D Systems Bits-from-Bytes Touch printer.  That may bode well for us, since 3D Systems is likely to be paying close attention to this new material.

WHAT IT MEANS FOR CUBE OWNERS

I see all 3D printers as both short term and long term investments.  That definitely includes the Cube.  That is because improvements are being made each and every day in some area of 3D printing.  While our Cube currently prints only in ABS, that does not automatically mean that it will forever be locked into a single material.  As demand for 3D printing grows, there will be demands for completely new and different materials.  And, while I have no way of knowing one way or the other, it seems only logical that new materials will be available for the Cube.  Only time will tell if I am correct.  But, I certainly hope that my prediction is a good one.

Being able to print an item with the look and feel of wood would be W-A-A-A-A-Y Cool!

Supplies of the new material appear to be in short supply.  But, I hope to eventually try some in my RapMan 3.2, which takes 3mm filament.  So, I'll keep an eye on it for you!

Here is an excellent image of the reported output...