3D Printed ShapeSHARK™ Cuts and Colors at the Same Time

The world of children’s art instruments seems timeless: there’s the round tip scissors, crayons, markers, colored pencils, glue bottles and sticks, and endless stacks of construction paper. What if I were to tell you that there’s a new 3D printed item that allows you to both draw AND cut at the same time? And what if I told you it is poised to become the next hot instrument in your child’s art classes?

Perry Kaye — also known as “Perry the Inventor” — has come up with an amazing instrument called the ColorCutter® ShapeSHARK™ that is wrapping up its Kickstarter campaign today.  The initial goal was $1,846 for the campaign, however, with 33 hours to go, the ShapeSHARK™  has raised almost $30,000 with 242 backers! He may not be surprised by this success since he has already earned more than 50 U.S and Foreign Patents during his inventor career. Along with his wife Teri, he also has a toy company with plans to offer more inventive items in the future.

From a look at the instrument you can see why it is such a popular idea on Kickstarter. It’s a simply designed (Perry reports once he had the concept he designed it in 14 minutes and 2 seconds) thick marker that also has a cutting blade.  It is held by a plastic holder with a spherical nob and handle — called  a “Spinner” — that allows the user to guide the marker as it cuts out the shapes drawn. The marker’s extra thick line is partly cut away by the blade, while an outline of the color remains around the cut shape. Perry is ingenious for combining two things that children love: markers and cutting.

Perry the Inventor has been using CAD for decades, so he knew once he got the design concept he’d be able to put it together and 3D print it with relative ease. Perry used Autodesk Fusion 360 design software for this project, which he credits for its “great marriage of sculpting and traditional parametric modeling.” Fusion 360 allowed Perry to efficiently design his idea, getting it to the prototype stage before many “would have the final drawing.”

After prototypes got tested, the Kickstarter campaign raised so much over the target goal that we can expect  ShapeSHARK™ to be pretty darn popular.  Maybe it will even become a household name? “Mom, we need more ShapeSHARK™ markers!”

To get in early by supporting the Kickstarter campaign, you still have today to contribute. Just $20 will get you 5 markers and the Spinner, a project idea booklet and stickers. A donation of $38 will get you 10 markers, 2 Spinners, stickers, and a project idea booklet. There’s also a chance to donate a ShapeSHARK™ kit to a soldier’s family, and for $1,100 you can get 100 retail-ready kits if you want to carry this fun and handy item in your own shop.

With an estimated delivery time in August and so many backers, Perry the Inventor definitely has his work “cut out” for him!

Let us know if you have backed this project on Kickstarter. Discuss in the ShapeSHARK forum thread on 3DPB.com.  To see the ShapeSHARK in action, check out the below video!