If you are thinking that it is about high-time to be bustin’ out the old pumpkin carving knife then think again! Egg-coloring season might still be seven months away, but Evil Mad Scientist’s “Original Egg-Bot” can lay graphics on a whole variety of spherical objects to keep you busy until spring. The manufacturer claims that their CNC robot can even print on mini pumpkins—so for those of you who prefer to let a finely-tuned motor take care of the tasks that would otherwise require your own fine motor skills, you can pick one of these up and leave the Band-Aids in the cupboard this Halloween!
Capable of detailing spherical and egg-shaped objects ranging in size from that of a golf ball to the size of a grapefruit, the Egg-Bot presents an economic and sensible solution to adding aesthetic accents to all of your painfully-rounded and difficult-to-print-on specimens. From light bulbs to wine glasses to the strangely-contoured parts that you have kickin’ around which just need some flair, this puppy is begging to be your printing panacea.
The nifty table-top device is designed-to-a-tee, with integrated heat sinks for the motors and a tough fiberglass chassis to ensure longevity. Assembly is required, but needs little more than small flathead and Philips screwdrivers and a little time to spare. If you can afford those things, then you just need to plug this little wonder into your Windows, Mac or Linux-based system (because we know that you have all three to choose from!).
The kit comes complete with the fully-assembled and tested EiBotBoard v2.0, so no programming or soldering is required for assembly. The Egg-Bot features a USB-interface which allows you to hook-up easily to your computer and communicate with the machine via free downloadable Open-Source software. The manufacturer recommends using Inkscape—a free graphics editing program—for preparing your vectors, and then importing your designs to the Graphic User Interface for the Egg-Bot to plot.
As far as ink goes…it probably doesn’t get much cheaper! The Egg-Bot is designed to utilize various art pens as its medium for inscription. It can accommodate an assortment of different types of writing styluses in its wooden holster, which can be modified if you have very particular taste in your pen choice. The manufacturer has recently begun to offer a diamond-point engraving tool specifically for the Egg-Bot, enabling the machine to cut designs into glass, stone and ceramic. A host of other optional accessories are available as well.
The price for the Original Egg-Bot kit is $195 USD, or $220 for the Deluxe Edition, which includes a 5/64” balldriver, a hex driver holster, a precision egg coupler and brass thumbscrews (in place of nylon). Shipping is free to United States addresses. The Original Egg-Bot Kit is available directly from Evil Mad Scientist LLC, a true home-grown family-owned business based in Sunnyvale, California.
You can learn more about the Egg-Bot from the Company website here. If you want to discover everything that there is to know about the Egg-Bot and then some, then check out the wiki page here.
(Photos courtesy of Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories)
