Founded by 20-year-old University of Rome student Sebastian Rueda, the Threedigo platform is intended as a way to promote growth and further adoption of 3D printing by offering a valid sharing economy alternative to 3D printer owners and users worldwide.
“The market has been constantly growing during the past few years but not quite enough. Threedigo is the key to give a strong impulse to the use of this astonishing technology,” Rueda explained in a press conference.
Every year, many new 3D printer models are released, constructed to be smaller, lighter, faster, less expensive. So the temptation for people who already own a 3D printer, maybe one of the older models, is to upgrade. But what do you do with the older ones? With Threedigo, you can just rent them out! Most 3D printers are pretty durable, and can support most of the file systems that are currently available. They still print with software such as Autodesk 123Design, Tinkercad, SketchUp, and ZBrush.
If you want to rent a 3D printer, again, you’ll need to sign up for an account and wait for approval. Then, Threedigo lets users find available 3D printers by filtering locations, cost, printer types, size capabilities, and more. You can rent a small, medium, or large printer, and right now there are several types available, including a MakerBot Replicator Mini and an Ultimaker 2. You can find out more information about the 3D printer you’re interested in, such as filament capabilities, by reading the description. If the information isn’t clear, you can always message the host to find out more.
I checked the map, just to see if there were any locations near me, but sadly, most of the available printers are located in Europe. But since this awesome sharing site only launched a week ago, I have hope that it will make its way to Dayton, Ohio soon. Luckily, I have Proto BuildBar to tide me over on using 3D printing until it does. Discuss in the Threedigo forum at 3DPB.com.