AUBURN – The juxtaposition couldn’t be more striking.

On a table in the public library’s design department, a bland microfilm scanner sits beside the sleek Sindoh DP200.

The former represents technology dating back to the mid-1800s. The latter is cutting edge, a scanner that uses super-heated plastic to transform three-dimensional models into solid objects.

While the humble microfilm scanner has been a staple of newsrooms and libraries for over a century, the 3-D scanner is a bold leap into the future. And now in Auburn, anyone with a library card can access one.

In the library’s Digital Spot on the second floor, Adult Services Manager Marty Gagnon has an array of items he’s already manufactured with the Sindoh DP200. There’s a variety of Pokemon figures, a zip tie, a Christmas ornament and an ice scraper, for starters. He also found a design for an iPhone 6 case, which he dashed off in the Sindoh.

Although “dashed off” may not be an entirely accurate way to put it.

“That one took almost three hours,” Gagnon said.

That’s the thing about 3-D printers. Relatively new on the mainstream market, they’re not known for speed. One isn’t going to whip out an ice scraper, for instance, in the same amount of time it would take to print a photo. The tiny Christmas ornament, even, took more than 90 minutes to create in the 3-D printer. The zip tie took a half-hour.

And there’s cost. Library users are expected to pay 20 cents per gram of plastic if they want to create something in the Sindoh. That doesn’t sound like much, but it adds up. Gagnon’s basic ice scraper took $3 worth of plastic, which is a consideration since ice scrapers can be had for a third of that at any dollar store.

But the cool factor is there, and Gagnon believes the practical factor will be there, too. Need a tiny plastic part for your dishwasher and don’t feel like tracking down the item number? Design the part yourself and let the Sindoh roll it off your own private assembly line. Or perhaps it’s a pull handle for your lawn mower you need right away. Or a doorstop, a bottle opener, a wrench or a soap dish.

Thousands upon thousands of designs can be found online, and the more practical items created are not just novelties; they’re designed to perform. Take Gagnon’s ice scraper.

“It works,” he said. “I used it just the other night.”

There are thousands of designs already available at various online stores – Thingiverse.com alone boasts 674,000 designs. But the possibilities are not limited to what’s already out there.

“People can design their own things, too,” Gagnon said.

At the library, the only items forbidden are those that are prohibited by law or those that are considered dangerous, obscene or in violation of intellectual property rights.

While the concept of 3-D printing may seem futuristic, the basic operation of the Sindoh is reasonably easy to grasp. Solid plastic fed from a cartridge is melted as it passes through a nozzle heated to 390 degrees. The melted material is dispensed onto moving platforms, resulting in layers of patterns that ultimately become 3-D objects. The amount of material dispensed and the rotation of the platform is controlled by the graphic design software.

For all that it does, the library’s Sindoh is reasonably modest in appearance. It’s a square black cube that hums faintly as its internal parts move about on their mission to create. A small screen at the top displays an image of the object being constructed and advises the user of the remaining completion time.

The Sindoh DP200 costs around $1,299, although the library got theirs through a Maine Community Foundation grant. More and more libraries are purchasing similar printers, Gagnon said, a concept that would have seemed unlikely a year ago.

“They’ve dropped quite a bit in price,” Gagnon said.

The library has already held one workshop to introduce the Sindoh to the public. Another is planned for Tuesday, Dec. 13.

The Sindoh DP200 3-D printer

How hard is it to use? Auburn Library officials say the Sindoh can be used with basic knowledge of Computer Assisted Drawing, although creating a new design requires an advanced knowledge of 3-D modeling software products.

• Any 3-D drafting software can be used to create a design, provided that the file can be saved in .stl format.

• The library has computers with design software that may be used to create a design. Use of these computers will comply with general library computer-access guidelines.

• Digital designs are also available from various file-sharing databases such as Thingiverse.com.