14 DAY TRIAL // Lawnmowers have been the subject of comedy on multiple occasions, with their ability to shear right through flesh and bone downplayed in favor of giving villains a funny haircut. Now, though, we have a truly funny mower to gaze upon.
Or perhaps it's better described as worrying? The lawnmower created by Hans Fouche looks ready to fall apart any second. Just watch the video below and you'll see what we mean.
You might be tempted to think the contraption is encased in some sort of plaster or cement, but that's not actually the case.
What you see there, wrinkles and all, is plastic. 3D printed plastic to be exact. Fouche wanted to build a 3D printed lawnmower, so that's what he did.
The 3D printed lawnmower
The 3D printed lawnmower is round and moves around on four wheels, also 3D printed. All in all, it looks pretty basic but useful. Until you start to wonder if the plastic will hold up under work.
The video suggests it does, but we won't hold our breath. It's one thing to survive a slow, trial grass cutting, and another to stay serviceable for years and years.
Fortunately, longevity wasn't necessarily Fouche's main goal here. He doesn't seek to market the mower, but rather the 3D printer he used to make it.
The high-speed Cheetah 3D printer
Hans Fouche created, not too long ago, a 3D printer the size of a garage. This 3D printer is called Cheetah thanks to its ability to print things really fast.
It does it at the expense of detail and good looks, as you can see, but it's not like slower printing eliminates wrinkles anyway. You're likely to need to polish and bathe a print in solvent regardless, and sometimes speed is simply worth it. It did only take 9 hours to make this 3D printed lawnmower after all.
The lawnmower is meant to show that you do have useful things you can use the Cheetah for, if you buy it. As far as marketing tactics go, we've seen poorer ones.
Of course, the purpose is kind of defeated by the fact that the lawnmower uses the motor, spinning blade and other important components from an older, standard machine. 3D printing can make a frame and case sure enough, but complex mechanics and electronics are still beyond additive manufacturing, save for a few research projects being carried out at universities and R&D centers around the world.
Fouche could probably have shown the usefulness of the Cheetah by printing a bucket or something, but it wouldn't have been exciting enough to make the news, probably. Maybe a sleigh next?
