Introducing Maker Materials & the New Improved Elasto Plastic

May 30, 2013

The backbone of Shapeways is the 3D Printing materials we offer to our community. From the versatile Strong and Flexible Plastics, to the beautiful, hand-polished finish of Premium Silver, materials inspire everyone to create new products that no one ever dreamed of before.

Our mission at Shapeways has always been to enable anyone to make anything they want. First, we built a system to allow Makers to design and purchase models for themselves. Then we created Shapeways Shops to enable anyone to launch a business and sell their products worldwide. Now, we want to make it easier for Makers to gain access to the newest 3D printing materials on the market and test them with us. Think about it like one big, global 3D Printing R&D team.

We’re excited to announce the launch of our first ‘Maker Only’ material: a flexible, rubbery plastic called Elasto Plastic! The finish, color, and properties are not yet ready for sale to a wider audience, but it’s a perfect material for any Maker out there who can work with a textured surface and maybe a little extra powder arriving with their model.

The new, improved Elasto Plastic is a great option for Makers as it is an incredibly durable material with a lot of really interesting properties such as high impact resistance, flexibility and compression (depending on the geometry), along with a high level of static friction because of the surface texture. Though not strictly water-tight, it can hold liquids, but it does not like high temperatures or fire. It is a valuable addition to our 3D Printing material options here on Shapeways that we are sure you will find incredibly useful and fun.

Shapeways interlocked cube showing excess powder caught in negative details.

Elasto Plastic’s impact resistance makes it useful to protect your valuables.

Note some warping may occur depending on geometry of 3D model.

Macro shot of Elasto Plastic surface texture

Sometimes it’s squishy!

Not so good for very small things.

Check out the full design rules for our 3D Printed Elasto Plastic and the video below to see how the material responds to impact, bending, twisting, stretching and fire. Remember this is an experimental material and the design rules may change.

We think this new material will redefine people’s perception of what’s possible with 3D Printing and we can’t wait to see what you make!