The team at Make got their hands on a new Dremel 3D Idea Builder 3D Printer and is hosting a contest to find the Maker with the best idea to build with it. But there’s a catch, Make is already pretty sure that readers are capable of 3D printing some awesome things. So they want to see a mixed-media project that would incorporate something 3D printed with other types of materials.
The contest topic is “Assimilating a 3D Printer” and here is how Make’s community editor Caleb Kraft described the contests brief:
“For this contest, we want to see what you can do! We want you to give us a mixed-media project idea — something that uses 3D printing as well as some other form of construction. One example would be a wind chime: The frame could be an intricately printed piece of art and the chimes could be thin aluminum tubing. Another example would be a picture frame: The frame and stand could be 3D printed, but the glass obviously can’t be.”
All you need to do is leave a comment with your plans and ideas on the contest page. Kraft says that they won’t require a perfect blueprint or schematic, just a drawing that conveys your idea visually. The comment section is open now – and already filling up – and the entry period will end at 11:59 p.m. PST on Tuesday, December 16, 2014. Unfortunately any ideas submitted after that time will not be considered regardless of how awesome they may be, so make sure that you get your idea submitted as early as possible.
The editors of Make will be deciding which idea is deserving of the new printer and will base their selection on several criteria. First, your idea needs to be interesting and creative but also a project that is feasible. The judges will also be looking for a nice design and something that is pleasing to look at. The criteria is rather vague, but that should just give you the impetus to push yourself and come up with the craziest idea that you can manage.
Take a look at the 3D printer that you might just own in a few weeks:
The Dremel 3D Idea Builder is an entry level 3D printer with very respectable specs for a sub $1000 machine and an ideal mass market machine. Dremel is the first large hardware manufacturer who has dipped their toe into the 3D printer market, and in order to make sure they are doing it right they partnered with Autodesk and incorporated several of their 3D printing and design software solutions into it and the companion website dremel3d.com.
You can go here to read a more detailed description of the contest and the complete rules, and if you decide to enter make sure that you leave your comments before the deadline. Good luck to all of you hopeful makers!
