You’d think kids would be all over 3D printers, but the filaments have to be melted at a dangerous 200+ degrees Celsius. So Japan’s Bonsai Labs hopes to finally make 3D printers kid-friendly with a new machine and filament that heat to around 80C instead.
That’s still certainly hot to the touch, but the BS Toy — as the printer is unfortunately currently called — is much safer for kids than a more hobby-grade 3D printer like the MakerBot. Besides, there has to be a trade-off between functionality and safety because if plastic filaments were to melt at the temperature of a warm room, no 3D-printed creations would survive the hot summer months.
There’s no word on when the BS Toy 3D printer will be available (it was only just revealed at the Nuremberg Toy Fair) but it will be large enough to produce printed parts that are up to four-inches tall and five-inches wide. The biodegradable low-temperature filament that was developed for the printer is currently only available in clear finishes, but when the BS Toy is finally available to the public, coloured filaments will also be sold, tinted using FDA-approved materials to ensure that even the 3D prints are safe for kids. [Bonsai Lab via Nikkei Technology]
