MakerBot Industries

Brad Moon writes at InvestorPlace that 3D printing may be having its “Inkjet Moment”. Inkjet printers he says were met with a little skepticism at first, but had their watershed moment when digital photos started to be uploaded and shared.

So what’s the 3D printing cognate of the digital camera? Answer: Thingiverse, which “already has the plans available online for nearly 2,800 replacement parts,” for machines of all kinds.

3d printed ceramics!

Some talented mechanical engineers at the University of Washington have shared the home-brew recipes for the ceramic slip and binder that they use in their 3d inkjet printer. This is a different sort of printing than the fused deposition that Cupcake and its siblings (currently!) do; instead of extruding a bead of warm thermoplastic, these machines lay down successive layers of powder and then use an inkjet head filled with an adhesive binder to create solid zones in each layer.  Finally, the loose powder is cleared away to leave the solid object.  You can use a wide variety of materials with this technique– plastic, ceramics, or even sugar!