3D Printing Being Done in Downtown Doylestown

For most of us, printing means one thing. You send a document or a selection of text to your home or work printer, and that’s all it is. As long as your ink cartridge isn’t empty, you’re good to go.

But on the cutting edge of technology, three-dimensional printing is now being done not a full block from the center of town. Using plastic as “ink” and placing layers down in an additive process, actual 3D objects can be “printed” from a machine sitting inside BrickSimple, above the Main Street Marketplace.

If it all sounds a bit Star Trek, it kind of is. The machine is even called a Replicator, but we’re still a long way off from walking up to a kiosk to demand, “Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.”

Due to the two month lead time, owner Det Ansinn described the anticipation of the machine's arrival from MakerBot as being similar to a child waiting for Christmas.

Simple individual objects can be made for use, or parts to make a larger, functional item can also be created. Items they've made include checkers, QR codes on a host of mounting options, Weighted Companion Cubes, and pieces to make smartphone stands.

An object can be designed using CAD software or by manipulating code—both shown by employee Colin Zelin—and the manufacturer encourages the sharing of schematics created by its customers via a dedicated web portal.

Like many technologies in their infancy, this sharing is all free. However, Det indicated this will likely someday be monetized, and you may be able to go to Amazon.com and purchase plans to use.

The overall volume available for item creation is about 300 cubic inches. The MakerBot website claims you can “make an entire chess set with the press of a button.”

Watching it work is truly a marvel. An extruder zips around a platform, dropping layers of the plastic according to the design's specifications. While it moves quickly, it's still a slow process; a small cat toy got about halfway through its creation during my 20 minute visit.

The objects that get created aren't totally smooth at areas where they curve or slope. Imagine a dime with twice as many ridges that are half as thick and running your fingertip around.

While the creation of objects is not a part of BrickSimple's business, Det said dividends are still paid by them keeping up with current technology and building their knowledge base for use in future applications.

While it might seem like a useful thing to have around the home workshop or garage, it’s not quite priced for the mass consumer market yet. The $1,749 price tag could buy an awful lot of other building tools for the do-it yourselfer; one kilogram spools of building material are $43–55, depending on the color.

Det stated that as costs decrease and speeds increase, this will likely start becoming a commonplace item in homes in a decade—a sort of "HP ThingJet."

So if you've ever broken or lost a tough to replace object or part around the house, take heart. Soon you'll be able to walk over to your replicator and make a replacement yourself!