Thingiverse

[dltccf]

For those with STL import, http://www.thingiverse.com (http://thingiverse.com) is where people with makerbots share their patterns. Makerbots are kind of the opposite of Carvewrights. They build up plastic 3d items rather than carving away the extra like our machine. It still starts with a 3D object on the computer though and most of the patterns are in STL format so you should be able to import them.

Worth stopping by for ideas and seeing another approach to do similar things by other creative people.

dave

[dbfletcher]

It is actually has a much wider scope than just makerbots. I had posted a link about a month ago about thingiverse too! (http://forum.carvewright.com/showthread.php?19781-Thingiverse-fun) They do have a ton of great things you can make with all sorts of different tools (3d printers, Lasers cutters, Vacume formers, etc, etc, etc) If you are ever looking for a fun weekend project... that is definitely the place to stop by!

[dltccf]

I just came across an article about another 3D printer. It prints concrete and they are planning to scale it up so they can print houses. The innovations in this field are amazing.

http://www.txchnologist.com/2012/printing-a-home-the-case-for-contour-crafting

dave