One such startup that we’ve been following is Italian company Kanèsis, which got our attention a year ago when they introduced their hemp-based bioplastic material to the world. HempBioPlastic is made from 100% plant material, which makes it a true biomaterial, and Kanèsis recently filed an international patent application for the filament, which prints like PLA but is 20% lighter and 30% stronger, according to its creators.
The campaign should be officially launching within the next few days; stay tuned to the company’s website for notification on when it goes live. While the Indiegogo campaign offered some nice rewards for backers, the Kickstarter is going to have some even cooler ones. Supporters will be able to receive a pair of H-Glasses HBP, which Kanèsis states are the first 3D printed hemp sunglasses in the world. There’s also the option of pledging enough to receive the Pinhole Hemp Camera, designed by fellow Italian hemp-loving company Compagnia Imago.
Compagnia Imago used Kanèsis’ Hemp BioPlastic to 3D print a working pinhole camera – as well as some cool-looking film canisters – and it’ll be available to campaign supporters. I love things like that – new technologies used to make old tools; they’re great examples of how new tech and classic art forms can coexist. There will be plenty of other rewards for supporters of Kanèsis’ Kickstarter campaign, including spools of the filament itself.
HempBioPlastic isn’t the first hemp-based filament to hit the 3D printing market; 3DomFuel (just 3Dom at that time) released their own earlier this year. I’m very curious about this one, though, both for its print quality and its entirely plant-based composition. I’ll be watching this campaign closely once it launches, and am looking forward to what other kinds of biologically-based, eco-friendly materials Kanèsis will develop in the future. Might you back this campaign? Let’s discuss further in the HempBioPlastic forum over at 3DPB.com.