Z Corporation 3D Printer Sample photos by Gary Fixler click images for 2048x1536 versions (~100-200kb/ea.)

Today, a sample of the 3D printer output from Z Corporation arrived in the mail. This is a free service they provide. Just fill out their brief form (nothing too personal), and you get a free sample shipped, no catch. Totally free.

Here's the obligatory quarter-for-scale shot. The sample has the warmth and flexibility of rubber, the texture of pancakes, and feels a little sticky, like 2 day old dried syrup.

It's not crumbly and breakable, as I thought it would be. They might've added and additive to make it this flexible and shiny. If the syrup reference threw you, one might also say it felt like rubber with a gloss coat laquer on it that hasn't quite dried yet. It won't come off on your fingers, but it doesn't yet feel completely dry.

Aside from that, it also has a bit of grit to it, because of the powder. It's like a rubber cast of something made in sand. When I let go of this compressed version, it made a little sticky pop sound of the ribs unsticking from each other.

As a final note, it has a slight smell that brings me back to my childhood. It vaguely reminds me of some kind of food-smelling toy that I played with, but didn't own. I wanna say some kind of bread from some girl's Strawberry Shortcake playset, or maybe one of my cousin's scratch-n-sniff stickers.