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A New Multi-Material 3D Printer Can Print (Almost) Anything

Finally, a 3D printer that can handle multiple types of materials.
Image: MakerMex

Until now, if you wanted to become a maker and 3D-print all your household items, because stores are for suckers, you had to get a different printer for each material you planned on using. Ceramic bowls required a ceramic printer, chocolate bars required a chocolate printer, plastic cups required—you get the idea. But a company in Mexico says it's working on the world's first modular 3D printer, which will be able to print just about anything out of, well, anything.

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The printer, called the Modular MM1, is still just a prototype, but its creators, MakerMex, say that it can print ceramic, chocolate, batter, rubber, plastics, clay, and even wood fiber and Play Doh (OK, maybe that one isn't so impressive).

The MM1 with a wood filament 3D printed object, some plastic, and some rubber. Image: MakerMex

Unlike other 3D printers, the MM1 has interchangeable heads, and most of its other parts are modular as well, meaning it can be changed as the technology does. It's sort of the same idea behind the Google modular phone—you use the parts and features you need, and can upgrade them as necessary, rather than having to buy a new one whenever the tech becomes obsolete.

"We have multiple versions of functional prototypes, most of them in a beta form in which we have been testing all function of our different [printing] systems," Jessica Chesney, a spokesperson for the company, told me. "We are printing every day. We never stop making. Our facilities constantly have the buzz and drone of 3D printers in motion."

Of course, there's still a ways to go before the product hits the market—the company is planning to do a Kickstarter sometime later this year. But this isn't a pie-in-the-sky idea: The company has a good track record in Mexico and already has several commercial 3D printers available for sale.

Image: MakerMex

So, what will you be able to do with this that you can't do with a regular 3D printer? Well, you can 3D print a plate to put a cake on, then change the head and 3D print the cake itself. And then switch back and make a fork to eat it with (why didn't you just make the plate and the fork at the same time?).

You can also make Play Doh toys with it. So, there's that:

"We enjoy testing new filaments and experimenting with extrusion systems on a daily basis," Chesney said. "Just the other day, we printed an alien figure out of play-doh while testing our paste extrusion system. We can imagine what a child could create after they learn a little about the system."