Local Motors to 3D Print Furniture For Their Tech Shop and Labs

You all have probably heard about the Phoenix, AZ based company Local Motors. They plan to 3D print an entire car at this year’s International Manufacturing Technology Show in Chicago. They are doing so by utilizing a large scale FDM based 3D printer from Cincinnati Inc, which is capable of printing very large objects at extremely fast speeds. It prints at such high speeds that the company expects to be able to print the entire car within the 6-day time frame of the show.

Being that the company has access to such an amazing piece of technology, they have decided to look outside their traditional area of work, which is automobiles, to think up a design for a 3D printed kiosk/desk. The company wanted to print something that they can easily travel with, as well as use within their facilities. What they came up with are little kiosks, which can be connected with one another, or used in a variety of ways via specialized brackets which can be attached to each kiosk, allowing for any number of mounts to also be attached.

“What the 3D printed kiosk is, is a one size fits all multipurpose piece of furniture which basically can have multiple functions including a laptop stand, a tablet stand for travel kiosks, when we go to the various events that we go to,” explained Scott Neal, designer & community manger at Local Motors. “It is also going to house desks for the tech shop, as well as workstations for first build and Local Motors labs.”

The furniture pieces are printed with an ABS carbon fiber blend. One can easily joins two kiosks together to form a larger desk, or use one individual kiosk as an iPad stand, TV stand, or monitor stand. The kiosks are hollow inside, making it possible for the team at Local Motors to dress them up with LED’s or other electronic components, if need be. In addition, the fact that the kiosks are modular, means that they are very easy to travel with. Because of the way that they are designed, they can stack opposite of each other to take up less cubic feet of space.

Local Motors has not printed any of these furniture pieces yet, only designed them. However, within the next month the printing process will initiate, and photos as well as videos of the process will be posted on their blog.

The printer used will have a large nozzle diameter, meaning that each layer will be much thicker than that of your typical at-home FDM printer. Because of this, print lines can be clearly delineated, making for somewhat of an interesting striped pattern within any finished object. The kiosks will certainly garner the attention that Local Motors likely seeks, during any promotional events or shows that the company takes part in.

Would you use one of these kiosks, or a couple kiosks in the form of a desk, in your home or office? Let’s hear your thoughts in the Local Motors furniture forum thread on 3DPB.com. Check out the video below where Scott Neal, and Phil Hassnoot, discuss the upcoming production of these kiosks.