A radical new Kickstarter project wants to bring mould making and a simplified version of 3D printing to the masses.
3D printing is a fascinating science and simple consumer printers have made it more accessible than ever. It does prevent a steep learning curve, though, and assumes some level of computer knowledge and Computer Aided Design that is beyond many people. 3D printing also takes a great deal of time and each part is expensive.
Got a vacuum? You are good to go
The arts and crafts community can still use many of the principles of 3D printing without getting into the complexities, now that Mayku has found a way to miniaturise industrial mould makers. So now you can make moulds and simple plastic parts in seconds using a sheet of plastic and your own vacuum cleaner.
The first products are the $349 FormBox, which creates 3D shapes from plastic sheets and RotoBox, which turns pourable materials into hollow objects. In essence, it’s the start of a downsized industrial production line, a desktop factory, that can help small businesses and hobbyists alike.
Essentially the Formbox makes use of heated plastic, which is then pressed sheets that it presses down on a solid object of your choice. Combined with vacuum power supplied by the nozzle of your own domestic hoover, this creates a mould in seconds and the thermosetting material simply retains the shape when it cools.
A scaled down factory for your house
Co-founder Ben Redford came up with an idea while touring production facilities in China for another project. He decided that a scaled-down rotomoulder and vacuum former would be useful for small businesses to create packaging for their products. The whole project emerged from that simple concept.
He quit his day job as a website developer in a creative agency and set to work building a wooden model of his first home mould maker. This led him to Somerset House and Makerversity, who helped him secure Design Council Spark Fund and Innovate UK backing. Alex Smilansky also came on board.
From desktop to production reality
Now the team has the fifth prototype of the FormBox, which measures just 30x22x40cm and believes it is ready for the Kickstarter campaign that will turn this novel concept into a production reality.
It has also set its sights much higher and wants to develop a desktop injection moulding system and even a steel forge.
“When people are enabled and liberated to create their own products, spare parts and art, it’s going to open up a whole new world of commerce and creativity,” said Tom Evans, founder of Bleep Bleeps.
A complement to 3D printing, not a replacement?
While it’s easy to view Mayku’s products as an alternative to 3D printing, there’s a clear symbiosis for the small business and hobbyist market. Some parts and moulds would take hours to print and yet they could be made in moments with the FormBox, while the 3D printer is hard at work on another part of the process.
The FormBox could even replicate a 3D printed design rapidly, to bring a form of mass production to your own desktop.
This opens up a world of exciting opportunities for the arts and crafts community. It even has a use for the likes of artisan chocolatiers and soap manufacturers that want to make their own moulds.
Then of course there is the small business that wants to create professional looking packaging for a very limited number of products.
Education is key to the Mayku project, too, in terms of getting its products into schools and also providing an online library of videos and guides to take enthusiastic amateurs and turn them into fully-fledged makers.
It’s an exciting project that sits neatly next to 3D printing. We can’t wait to see what happens with this one.
