There is one question everyone in the CEL head office is very familiar with as it’s what we get asked in every business meeting, and at every trade show – “What can we print with the Robox?”
We give the standard line each time; look around the house, see what you can fit onto a piece of A5 paper, and that’s what you can print on the Robox. The capabilities are endless, you can print cake cutters, utensils, candle holders, coat hooks, key rings, vases, iPhone cases, children’s toys, Christmas decorations, door handles and so on. And until recently, spouting this list would have been the only way to illustrate just what you can do with a Robox.
But now the 3D printer has found its way into the hands of ‘real people’ – and not just the geeks, inventors and engineers who live and breathe the Robox night and day – we are seeing more and more designs appear online which illustrate brilliantly what you can print.
For starters, it’s great to see people personalising their own equipment to complement their new printer; we are seeing customised Robox spool holders, and various ways of holding the Robox cleaning tools such as boxes and snowball holders. We’ve even spotted a brilliant reel which fits onto the Robox 3D printer.
Robox spool holder http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:486027 . A customised version of the http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:384919 for Colorfabb spools.
Box for cleaning tools http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:536487. Houses the four tools which come with the Robox printer.
Snowball Cleanup tool holder - http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:546854. The Snowball is designed to hold the four clean up tools that come with the Robox.
Robox reel - http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:547553. Instead of having third party reel holders on the side of the printer you can put your samples or favorite filament onto a reel that fits in Robox printer.
What is really interesting is seeing how creative some people can be with their new technology. Below are some great examples of how the Robox can be used to customise objects for the user’s own purpose:
Hobbyist ‘fijter’, who is fast becoming one of Robox’s biggest supporters, has created his own parametric IKEA arm microphone shock mount - http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:529152
Another Robox user decided to develop an adapter which makes it possible to connect standard soda bottles directly to a Sodastream carbonator - http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:536857
And we were impressed with this little mortar and pestle which one of customers designed to make it easier to crush their pills each day - http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:531821
These are just some of the ways people are using their Robox units to customise prints and design things as and when they need them for the home. But not everyone who is considering purchasing a 3D printer will have the capability to design their own prints, which is why websites like www.thingiverse.com and www.myminifactory.com are a great place to look for things to 3D print quickly and easily. Both libraries are packed to the rafters with ideas and designs which can be downloaded to the computer, and printed on the Robox.
