Skip to main content

3Doodler pen lets you draw and print 3D objects in real time

3doodlerEvery now and then, someone will invent something that is just, bluntly put, awesome. It could be anything, whether practical or otherwise, as long as you find yourself looking at it and enduring a quiet moment of “…Wow.” Case in point: The 3Doodle pen. It’s a device that’ll allow the user to draw in three dimensional space.

Invented by WobbleWorks – a startup founded two years ago by Maxwell Bogue and Peter Dilworth to “create fun, inspiring and innovative products that combine amusing motion and animation with great industrial design at a low cost” – the 3Doodler is described by its creators as “the world’s first and only 3D Printing Pen.” It’s essentially a hand-held miniature 3D printer that produces a thin line that solidifies almost immediately thanks to an in-built fan that cools the ABS plastic as it’s being “drawn” in space. The 3Doodler “draws in the air or on surfaces,” WobbleWorks explains, adding that it is also “compact and easy to use, and requires no software or computers. You just plug it into a power socket and can start drawing anything within minutes.” The invention is an obvious must-have for those interested in 3D printing but don’t want to draft blueprints, and instead just print things out in real time.

3doddler artIf this sounds too good to be true, you might be slightly comforted to know that there is a catch: WobbleWorks needs your help to make the 3Doodler into a mass-produced reality. The company has set up a Kickstarter project to fund the production of the devices – and it’s one that obviously struck a nerve with the Internet, reaching its initial $30,000 target within a few hours of going live Tuesday. At time of writing, it’s exceeded $628,000; given that the campaign will run until March 25, it’s hard to guess just how much money will be raised by the time it finishes. After all, it’ll only cost you $75 to own one 3Doodler.

The team were humble in the face of such generosity and excitement. “Only a few hours in and we’re fully funded,” Bogue and Dilworth wrote in their first campaign update, adding “We’re overwhelmed, and still wide awake, and insanely excited by your support! This is the beginning of something very special.” In a second update, the duo explained that they plan to expand the reach of the project thanks to the amazing support they’ve received. “Because of the real push from everyone, we are now thrilled to announce we have expanded the number of 3Doodlers available in order to keep up with the huge demand.”

Clearly, there were more than a few people who had that all important quiet moment of “…Wow” when seeing the 3Doodler for the first time which, in itself, is pretty frickin’ awesome.

Editors' Recommendations

Graeme McMillan
Former Digital Trends Contributor
A transplant from the west coast of Scotland to the west coast of America, Graeme is a freelance writer with a taste for pop…
3D-printed ventilator valves help out Italian hospital rocked by coronavirus
3d printed ventilator valves img 20200314 223845

What do you do when a crucial part of a lifesaving piece of medical equipment is in hopelessly short supply? You 3D print yourself a supply of them, of course. At least, that’s what happened at a hospital in Brescia, Italy, rocked by the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

While ventilator breathing machines are not exactly in abundant supply, medical professionals found that the valves connecting the machine to the patient were even scarcer. This is due to the fact that they have to be regularly swapped out between patients, giving the component a very short life span.

Read more
3D-printing technique produces tiny, highly detailed objects in seconds
The new fast 3D printing technique developed by researchers at EPFL.

The new fast 3D printing technique developed by researchers at EPFL. Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne

3D printing has incredible potential for both research and home uses, but it has some limitations. The current technology takes some time to produce an object, and it produces hard structures only. But now, researchers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) have come up with a method for printing highly-precise miniature objects with different textures.

Read more
This 3D-printed four-legged robot is ready to take on Spot — at a lower price
3d printed ghost robotics origin

New Spirit 40: First Steps & Quick Run

Most people reading this will be familiar with four-legged robots such as the dog-inspired Spot robot developed by Boston Dynamics or Swiss robotics company ANYbotics’ ANYmal. But while there’s no doubt that such robots are supremely impressive, they’re also expensive -- which could limit their application in certain domains.

Read more