Getting to Grips with the 3Doodler

I kickstarted the 3Doodler probably about a year ago and finally received the gadget this week!

I made sure I got a lot of the ABS plastic rods so I could  be comfortable making mistakes!

From the start, you realize you are dealing with something you’ve never done before. The learning curve starts out really steep. I’ve been doodling in 2d all my life. To start thinking about creating 3D doodles is a bit of a mind warp at the start and you get results like this:

But you slowly realize the nuances and tricks involved and you start getting results like this:

Then you get to the point of knowing how to create solid bases and building on that and you can let your creative juices flow!

So after about 3 days of trying out a couple of 3Doodles a day, I can do something like this:

You start to learn the basics of 3Doodling, and you learn the things you need to do with the pen to ensure a steady flow of plastic (one thing that I had major trouble with at the start).

Education Implications:

Students love the little creations I have made and I definitely want  to give some students a try at it. The major problem is the heat the 3Doodler emanates from its nib and lower body. It gets really hot and I wouldn’t feel comfortable leaving students alone with it.

Thoughts on Improvements:

I would love for them to sort out the heat problem. Of course it’s going to get hot, it needs to heat the plastic! But how about using a non heat conductive casing? Another thing is not knowing how much of the plastic rod is left to use. Perhaps a transparent element to the pen body so that I can see how much is left of the current color?

Here are two videos I made documenting my first few 3Doodles:

Watch this space for more 3Doodles!