Here is a time-lapse movie of my Makerbot replicator creating a sex toy.

The two devices at the top of the page are called "steptruders" they extrude melted plastic, which is fed in from the top in a filament. You can actually see the green filament on the right hand side above the right fan. This toy was extruded using the left extruder. Some 3D printers only print one color, where my replicator is capable of printing two. Typically though I only use one.

The printer continually extrudes the ABS plastic filament while doing it's little dance. It does one layer at a time, the the platform moves downward a little bit and it will print the next layer. It's just like watching a plotter, except that plastic comes out of it and that it prints layer after layer.

Even though the printer moves quite rapidly, the process takes a long time. This toy was very simple and not very large, so it made for a quick print, about 2 hours and 45 minutes. Sometimes prints take longer than this (I've had them print for more than 9 hours) and really small toys can take a little bit less time. Usually the 3D printer does not take less than an hour or so, even for simple designs.

This vertical shape didn't require "external support" which is a framework that is required to keep a part together as it is printed. Any parts that have overhangs or cantilevered areas will required external support. External support helps the part print well, but also takes more time and hurts the printed surface finish. Most toys require external support though. On an aside, most parts will require external support, but I rarely see it shown in the photos that 3D printer companies show of finished prints. In fact, I find that the photos people show of their finished parts rarely represent the printed surface accurately.

I try hard to show all of the nooks and crannies that result when you finish printing a 3D sex toy. Mainly because these finished prints are not vagina-ready. I'm sure as the technology advances and the surface finish improves, 3D printers will become better and better at printing sex toys. I expect though, that as the resolution of the prints improves, the amount of time it takes to print them will increase too.

Either way, no matter what technology is developed, the .stl design files you can download free from our site will work well.