With new materials comes new possibilities in fabrication, and with 3D printers, this observation is no different. In the past year or so, there have been a few very interesting new filaments that have come into mainstream use – a printable sandstone, high impact polystyrene, and a flexible PLA. When [Rich] saw a bike light that had an integrated hook-and-loop fastener – think Velcro – built in to its enclosure, he thought to himself, ‘I could do that too.’
[Rich]’s “ElastoStraps” are printed with Makergeek’s Flexible PLA, and the entire device works surprisingly similar to other hook and loop fasteners with a registered trademark. The design is up on Thingiverse, and since the object was designed with OpenSCAD, the 3D printed Velcro can also be opened up in the Customizer for hook-and-loop straps that perfectly suit your needs.
Doesn’t require new materials. This one has been out for ages :)
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:12798
I’m writing here because yesterday’s article about guns was to crowded on lovers/haters of gun printing and I think they are missing the point. There are much better uses for a 3D printer than to make guns, this one is a great example, and as you posted last month I found another project about prosthetics that shows how the manufacture is going to change: http://www.makerbot.com/blog/2013/05/07/robohand/