Focusing on Our Top 3D Print Stories in 2016

At the end of the year, we like to review our progress. 

Part of that involves determining which stories were most read during the past year. The idea is to see what type of stories people prefer to read. 

Yes, this is a bit dangerous, because our publication, can, believe it or not, be read by people OUTSIDE the 3D print community! Such folks may not have a minimum understanding of the technology and thus may focus on non-technical articles, thus skewing our results. But it seems we didn’t have too much of that, perhaps because we have been trying not to publish “3D print stunt” stories. I even ranted on the notion of such stunts on Disruptive last year. 

3D Print Entrepreneur Disappears in the Philippines: In this incredible story, a personal disaster occurred in Manila where a proprietor of a new company experimenting with 3D printed apartments suddenly disappeared amidst a corporate dispute. The story is unsettling. 

Tallying Up The Carbon M1’s Total Cost Of Ownership: Carbon’s new 3D printer came with a confusing cost model, but since no one had provided a rough estimate of the total cost of ownership, we did. 

It’s True: Apple is Actually Selling 3D Printers: I noticed that Apple Stores in the UK were selling Ultimaker 3D printers – and they still are today! However, I don’t believe Apple is selling them anywhere else for some reason. 

Carbon Announces the M1 3D Printer, With A Shocking Surprise: Carbon’s new 3D printer did have a surprise: it is literally priceless, as there is no way to purchase it. Instead you pay a monthly subscription to use the machine. 

And Where Did Netfabb Basic Go?: After the acquisition of Netfabb by Autodesk, one would expect changes. And indeed they happened when Autodesk discontinued the free version of Netfabb as it then existed and eventually switched to a new way of providing free services to the public. 

Those were 2016 stories. Below are even more stories from prior years that for some reason or other are continually popular among readers. 

From 2014: Alternatives to Thingiverse, For Upset Designers: After Makerbot began their shift from an “open source” company to a closed proprietary model, some people felt the need to bail out on Thingiverse and move their 3D models elsewhere. We made a list of possibilities, although at this late date more than two years later it’s a bit obsolete. Perhaps it’s time for a new version?

From 2014: How to Smooth Your PLA 3D Prints: Here we found a video where someone attempted to use nasty chemicals to smooth a PLA print in the same way that ABS prints can be smoothed with acetone vapor. Yes, it does work, but it can be stupendously dangerous to use this chemical. 

From 2015: Bowden or Direct? A Primer on Extruder Styles: We thought it would be a good idea to explain the difference between the two main styles of desktop 3D printer design: Bowden or Direct mode. Apparently, everyone else thought it was a good idea, too! 

How To Make Any 3D Printed Part Much Stronger: This video showed a very simple technique to make 3D printed parts stronger by injecting them with resin during mid-print. The resin hardens and makes an otherwise fragile hollow 3D print quite strong. 

I have no idea which stories will “win” in 2017, but I am certain they will be interesting.