By Kimberley Mok / Source: TreeHugger

hand-powered-3d-printer-daniel-de-bruin-1.jpg.662x0_q70_crop-scale

Additive manufacturing has become more mainstream in the last few years, with a deluge of 3D printed products — and even buildings and bridges — making it into the spotlight. It’s certainly changed how designers conceive and execute designs, and transformed how many schools are teaching design. But for some, 3D printing doesn’t give the same satisfaction, nor the same sense of ownership, as making something yourself with your own hands. Based out of the Netherlands, designer Daniel de Bruin created this hand-powered, analog version of a 3D printer, which makes objects layer by layer. Watch it in action:

THIS NEW TECHNOLOGY – Analogue 3D printer from DANIELDEBRUIN on Vimeo.

For de Bruin, 3D printing is a technological leap ahead, but it separates the maker from his craft. He explains the motivation behind his invention:

3D printing allows me to create products swiftly and more efficiently then ever, but these products don’t feel like they’re mine. They’re merely a product of this new technology.

hand-powered-3d-printer-daniel-de-bruin-6.jpg.650x0_q70_crop-smart

hand-powered-3d-printer-daniel-de-bruin-7.jpg.650x0_q70_crop-smart

Seen over at Designboom and titled “This New Technology,” de Bruin’s two-metre-tall contraption features an assembly of gears, chains and metal platforms that are hand-cranked in unison to produce various ceramic forms that are technically 3D printed, but by hand. Modified by a manually placed guide wire, a system of pulleys and weights are operated and lifted by hand, which forces clay out of a syringe onto a rotating metal plate, thus creating vases which can be fired as usual. It’s a way to reconnect the producer and product.

hand-powered-3d-printer-daniel-de-bruin-4.jpg.650x0_q70_crop-smart

hand-powered-3d-printer-daniel-de-bruin-8.jpg.650x0_q70_crop-smart

hand-powered-3d-printer-daniel-de-bruin-3.JPG.650x0_q70_crop-smart

One of the challenges of this hand-operated machine was keeping the material width consistent. De Bruin solved it by employing what he calls a “variomatic system” that works in conjunction with the guiding wire. Nevertheless, the point of the project is to also highlight the beauty of hand-made imperfections, says de Bruin:

More and more products are being fashioned by means of automated processes. Not only are these more efficient and cheaper, they also ensure that every item meets the same strict criteria, and doesn’t deviate from the norm. However, deviations are usually the most interesting. As with humankind and nature, true beauty lies in diversity.

Read more @ TreeHugger