This Week in the Mercury

Time Capsule

Film

Time Capsule

Hit So Hard and the Grunge Gods of Yesteryear


Filming the Great Oregon Novel

Books

Filming the Great Oregon Novel

The Making of Sometimes a Great Notion



  |  

Friday, January 20, 2012

United Federation of Planets / Film Yesterday Was the Day I Learned Replicators Are Real at LAIKA

Posted by Courtney Ferguson on Fri, Jan 20, 2012 at 2:29 PM

Did you guys know that replicators are totally really real? I saw one yesterday at LAIKA in Hillsboro. The animation company is busy at work filming their new stop-motion film ParaNorman, every stage full of incredibly detailed sets and amazing puppets. But I think I was most blown away by the machine that produces all those puppets and their myriad facial expressions. Maybe I'm just a luddite, but I'd never heard of the existence of 3D printers before yesterday. They're printers, in the style of your old dot-matrix printers with the cartridge going back and forth over a print surface, but instead of a crappy book report, it prints out objects. With working parts! This sounds impossible, right? But lo, check out the ParaNorman (fully functioning) wrench that I watched the folks at LAIKA print up.

In which I pit my swag against each other.

Basically the printer at LAIKA has silicon ink cartridges and it puts down layers upon layers of the stuff then binds it together with a glue, then voila! Souvenir wrench! They can print ANYTHING! Tea, Earl Grey, hot. Hmm, actually it doesn't print up liquids, just solids, but still... My mind is fucking blown.

Hit the jump for a video in which an expert better describes how a 3D printer works, some dude's mind is also boggled by the possibilities, and he too receives a wrench.

 

Comments (8) RSS

Oldest First Unregistered On Registered On Add a comment
1
you can actually get one that is not quite as robust at: http://www.makerbot.com/ you pretty much assemble it yourself but once you do you have a 3d printer.
Posted by j3rkface on January 20, 2012 at 2:55 PM · Report
2
I'd definitely heard of 3D printers before, but they never fail to make my jaw drop. Incredible stuff.
Posted by Melogna on January 20, 2012 at 3:14 PM · Report
3
I look forward to being mocked by your grandchildren when I relate the genuine wonderment we all feel right now at the birth of 3D printing.

Of course, when they do, I'll just print out another stab-bot to chase and kill them.
Posted by Commenty Colin on January 20, 2012 at 3:28 PM · Report
4
I'm going to print up some grandchildren right now, just so I can stab 'em myself.
Posted by Courtney Ferguson on January 20, 2012 at 3:38 PM · Report
5
I prefer my GeneSplicer when printing up some grand children or turning a chickens into a velociraptors.

Posted by Rosy on January 20, 2012 at 7:02 PM · Report
6
Yes! I somehow discovered this same video a few months ago—don't ask me how or why! But I was also boggled by it.
The world of printers is underrated:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/192595/15_a…
Posted by Jenna Lechner on January 20, 2012 at 11:13 PM · Report
7
Go to the MakerBot website to find out how you can buy or make one for yourself www.makerbot.com

You should definitely check out the Colbert Report link. They made a Stephen head on the show. If he's going to be running for president we will need to mass produce these.
Posted by kimmy47 on January 21, 2012 at 10:57 AM · Report
8
If you are a male and have access to one of the replicators, you could give your significant other a VERY personal momento, couldn't you. Just sayin....
Posted by ujfoyt on January 21, 2012 at 8:55 PM · Report

Add a comment

Our Friends

Our Enemies

/images/adoftheweek.gif

ad of the day

The Handyman Pro - Your Honey-Do Specialist
Don’t let our name fool you. The Handyman Pro, LLC is a repair and remodel service provider with over 25-years experience. We cover all aspects of construction and repairs for residential and commercial clients.go


post an ad

All contents © Index Newspapers, LLC

115 SW Ash St. Suite 600
Portland, OR 97204

Contact Info | Privacy Policy | Production Guidelines | Terms of Use