Courtesy of industrial designer David Bernhardt, we’ve been able to examine this example of embedding bolts. Actually, the piece demonstrates not one, but three different ways to put a bolt in your print. The first way is visually obvious – the head of the bolt is inside the print, while the shaft is free. … Continue reading Three Ways to Embed Bolts in Your 3D Prints
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3D Hubs Offers Community 3D Printing
3D Hubs joins several other startups attempting to crowdsource inexpensive 3D printing. The idea is that idle home or business 3D printers could be put to work producing objects for requestors in local or distant areas. 3D Hubs provides a “hub” where you can find participants offering such services. The process is straightforward, according… Continue reading 3D Hubs Offers Community 3D Printing
Got Your Ticket for the 3D Printshow?
London is the place, November 7-9 are the dates. The event? This year’s 3D Printshow, where focused talks and exhibits will marvel visitors. Expect to learn about 3D printing in all its forms by attending this event. We’re planning on attending, along with many thousands of others, if our spies are correct. The… Continue reading Got Your Ticket for the 3D Printshow?
Finally! Verified For 3D Printing
MakerBot’s 3D model service, Thingiverse, has announced a very important new feature: Verified Prints. It’s a certification program that attempts to indicate which 3D models on Thingiverse actually have a chance of being successfully 3D printed. We’ve been waiting for something like this for a long time, as one of the major complaints with… Continue reading Finally! Verified For 3D Printing
The 3DAGOGO Model Repository
Another 3D model repository focused on printable 3D models has surfaced: 3DAGOGO. This service is new and has a very limited set of models to choose from, but is well-organized and easy to use. One of the most interesting features we noted was the display of useful 3D print information about the model itself.… Continue reading The 3DAGOGO Model Repository
An Overview of 3D Printing Intellectual Property Law
Patent attorney Bryan J. Vogel provides a reasonably brief overview of the legal aspects beginning to face the 3D printing industry in a post on Bloomberg Law. Vogel explains in simple terms the differences between patents, trade secrets, trademark and copyright where the legal battles will likely be fought in the future as 3D… Continue reading An Overview of 3D Printing Intellectual Property Law
Who’s Your 3D Printing Guru?
While 3D printing has become significantly less complex, it is still beyond the realm of casual consumer use. The workflow from digital model to physical print involves skills, experience and tools that are daunting to most consumers, even though they can be handled by techies. If this sounds like a familiar situation, you’d be… Continue reading Who’s Your 3D Printing Guru?
3D Printing for Math Professors and You, Too
We’re looking at a PDF, strangely stored on Thingiverse, where one normally finds 3D models. The PDF is an academic document entitled, “3D Printing for Math Professors and Their Students”. It’s exactly that: a paper taking the reader through the process of linking mathematics and 3D printing. Yes, this means generating intricate 3D models… Continue reading 3D Printing for Math Professors and You, Too
“Green” 3D Printer Filament
No, no, we don’t mean “Green”. We mean “Green” as in environmentally responsible. We’ve been looking at filament supplier GP3D, who sell a decent selection of ABS and PLA plastic filament in 1kg spools. Their pricing is decent (USD$32-44 per kg depending on the color and choice of material) and their color selection is… Continue reading “Green” 3D Printer Filament
The Bld3r Repository
We bumped into another printable 3D model repository: Bld3r. The site operates as a kind of meta-layer over top of other repositories, but brings it all together in a single interface. The idea is to reduce or even eliminate any difficulties typically caused by a repository’s terms of use. You can store your models in… Continue reading The Bld3r Repository
Printing a 1927 Miller 91 Race Car
It’s one thing to print simple items with your 3D printer, like a coat hook or clamp, but some people take the power of the technology to the limit. The folks at CIDEAS, a commercial 3D print service bureau, pulled out all the stops to produce a small scale replica of a 1927 Miller 91… Continue reading Printing a 1927 Miller 91 Race Car
Design of the Week: Cellular Lamp
This week’s selection is Nervous System’s Cellular Lamp, a beauty of a housing for an LED light using their typical “cellular” style that you can download and print yourself. The object is actually a torus that has been shelled and “cellulared”. You can mount a small LED in the torus’ hole. This is… Continue reading Design of the Week: Cellular Lamp
A 3D Printer Made From Scrap
Normally when you embark on building a DIY 3D printer you’d search online shops for the best and least expensive components. Bring them together with the right plan and you’ll soon have an operating 3D printer. But that’s not exactly what Kodjo Afate Gnikou did. He went to the dump. Specifically, he searched through… Continue reading A 3D Printer Made From Scrap
Leapfrog Introduces Improved PVA Material
Leapfrog 3D printers introduced a new type of PVA filament for 3D printing that, according to them, “actually works”. PVA is a different kind of plastic. It’s not ABS nor PLA, but something different. Because it isn’t ABS or PLA it can be used as a support material for both, but it’s most… Continue reading Leapfrog Introduces Improved PVA Material
3D Printing Brings an Ancient Camera to Life
Photographer Aaron Foat had a serious problem: he had obtained a classic No. 1a Pocket Kodak camera, circa 1905, in perfect condition. It was is such good shape that it could take pictures. If only he could buy the long-unavailable Kodak 116 film for it. Determined to succeed, Foat contacted his local makerspace,… Continue reading 3D Printing Brings an Ancient Camera to Life
Found: Inexpensive 3D Printer Filament
For those of you scrambling to find a source for inexpensive filament, we found one: Seacans. They have a reasonable selection of colors that should satisfy most buyers, but the important thing is price. You can buy a 1kg spool of 1.75mm filament in either PLA or ABS plastic for only CA$19.99. That’s USD$8.08 per… Continue reading Found: Inexpensive 3D Printer Filament
4D Printing
Earlier this year MIT researcher Skylar Tibbits made news when he unveiled his 4D printing technique. The technique uses a 3D printer to create objects whose materials can be programmed to assemble into new structures. It’s now gaining a wide audience, particularly in military circles. The US Army has awarded an $855,000 grant to… Continue reading 4D Printing
Deadmau5 Has a 3D Printer
Progressive-house music producer and performer Deadmau5 recently posted Instagrammed pics of his new acquisition: a dual-exstrusion MakerBot Replicator 2X. The notable musician provided a sequence of images that related his experience with the technology. So how did it go? Let’s see what happened. First he printed a test, the multicolored pylon. All OK so… Continue reading Deadmau5 Has a 3D Printer
The Dangers of Open Source 3D Printing
When MakerBot opened some years ago it used open source approaches to developing its products. While they produced 3D printers, they also made available the plans to make them, open source-style. That changed with the introduction of their Replicator 2 model, much to the consternation of their open source followers. Why did MakerBot make… Continue reading The Dangers of Open Source 3D Printing
Amazing Six-Axis 3D Printer Shown
Associate Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering Yong Chen of the University of Southern California has been experimenting with different mechanical arrangements for 3D extrusion printing. Readers are likely familiar with the standard cartesian XYZ 3 axis configuration typically found in inexpensive personal 3D printers. You may also be familiar with the “delta” concept,… Continue reading Amazing Six-Axis 3D Printer Shown
Hammacher Schlemmer Offers 3D Printers
Another major consumer-oriented online retailer has begun sales of personal 3D printers. Hammacher Schlemmer, one of the world’s oldest mail order operations, is now selling 3D System’s Cube personal 3D printer. The Cube is described as: The printer extrudes 1/125″-thin layers of warm, viscous thermoplastic that hardens within seconds, forming a solid, three-dimensional… Continue reading Hammacher Schlemmer Offers 3D Printers
Makibox A6: Shipping Soon?
You might recall the Makibox A6, billed as a “$300 3D Printer”? We wrote on it in February 2012, quite a long time ago, and evidently they have not shipped product yet, although you can see the progression of their project in great detail on their blog, from prototyping to production. But that may… Continue reading Makibox A6: Shipping Soon?
3D Printed Bacterial Cages
Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have developed a new technique for studying bacterial growth through an ingenious use of 3D print technology. The issue being solved is the study of bacterial growth. Present techniques involve petri dishes and similar vessels that, compared to a bacteria, are utterly massive. It is difficult… Continue reading 3D Printed Bacterial Cages
The Mysterious 4XYZ
A new service popped up purporting to offer radically new furniture through the use of additive manufacturing, known to many through its more common name, 3D printing. The 4AXYZ service says: WE UNDERSTAND THE FUTURE OF DIMENSIONS ODDM (“oddem”) offers disruptive opportunities to the world of creativity. 4 AXYZ is here to harness Additive… Continue reading The Mysterious 4XYZ
Recycle Your 3D Prints With Filamaker
Fabbaloo friend Joris Peels has written an extensive interview with Marek Senický, whose new venture, Filamaker, promises to shake up the filament industry. The Filamaker is a device that can recycle unwanted ABS 3D prints. It’s not a complex device; it simply grinds up chunks of ABS, heats and extrudes it into precision… Continue reading Recycle Your 3D Prints With Filamaker
3D Printer Filament Available at Monoprice
We hadn’t noticed it before, but evidently Monoprice has been selling plastic filament suitable for 3D printers for months now. If you’re not familiar with Monoprice, they are a large online retailer of electronic goods, specializing in ultra-inexpensive cables. For example, you can get yourself an HDMI cable as little as USD$4, while you’d… Continue reading 3D Printer Filament Available at Monoprice
bhold Launches bhold Labs
New York-based 3D printing design specialists bhold launched a new program: bhold labs. The new venture is intended to gather feedback on their 3D printed designs before they are offered to the public. bhold provides a catalog of unique 3D printed items for sale, including household items such as organizers, hooks and more, all… Continue reading bhold Launches bhold Labs
Measured: 3D Printing is Indeed Green
A report from Michigan Tech details the results of a study that attempted to determine the “greenness” of 3D printing. Their result: 3D printing is apparently significantly less energy-absorbing than conventional mass production. You wouldn’t think so at first, because mass production is clearly a more efficient process due to the economies of scale.… Continue reading Measured: 3D Printing is Indeed Green
Design of the Week: 3D Printed Gran Torino
This week’s selection is Ioan Florea’s amazing full-size 3D printed Gran Torino, as displayed at Carbondale’s Surplus Gallery in Illinois during his Tactile Histories exhibition. The Gran Torino, we believe, is intact underneath a large number of 3D printed pieces that completely cover the car’s normal plain surface. The Gran Torino is not “3D… Continue reading Design of the Week: 3D Printed Gran Torino
Cubify’s Bloody Halloween
Cubify has added a new app to generate 3D models just in time for Halloween: 3DMe Horror! Previously Cubify has offered to place your own head on top of far nicer bodies such as Star Trek characters, but now you can obtain a 3D printed, full color figurine of yourself as a Zombie, or… Continue reading Cubify’s Bloody Halloween
Stratasys Tech Flys UAVs
One of Stratasys’ clients is UAV Solutions of Maryland, who, obviously, manufacture UAVs. But they now do this with 3D printing. Their journey is similar to many manufacturers who encounter 3D printing: at first it’s a novelty, then it becomes something used for unusual situations and finally: 3D printing has now “crept” into… Continue reading Stratasys Tech Flys UAVs
Presidential Interest In 3D Printing?
We believe it’s huge and growing, but it’s always good to evidence of this, which we noticed in a comment thread on io9, where they had asked the intriguing question, “what do you want to 3D print?” While the answers from the io9 audience ranged from sports to gaming to medical to toys to… Continue reading Presidential Interest In 3D Printing?
Staples and CG Trader Offer A 3D Print Challenge
You might recall a year ago when MCOR announced it had struck a deal with Staples to provide color 3D print services in their retail stores. Now, the service is active in Europe and to promote it Staples has teamed up with 3D graphics site CGTrader on a design challenge. To enter, you’ll have… Continue reading Staples and CG Trader Offer A 3D Print Challenge
Analyzing Rembrandt and Van Gogh in 3D
Most of us have only see society’s most important paintings through 2D reproductions. Unfortunately, painting is actually a 3D art that layers color atop color to create an image. So, without being able to see the actual strokes a painter has made, much of the information stored in a painting is lost. In an… Continue reading Analyzing Rembrandt and Van Gogh in 3D
The Makeraser Smooths 3D Prints
A new startup offers something called “The Makeraser”. It’s a handheld tool that can smooth your unattractive visibly-layered 3D prints into beautiful smooth objects. Current technology for smoothing ABS 3D prints involves suspiciously dangerous acetone vapor chambers or massively expensive commercial smoothing devices. That, or you spend many hours with sandpaper. The Makeraser hopes… Continue reading The Makeraser Smooths 3D Prints
MakerBot Releases Three Things
All the recent hires at MakerBot have obviously been put to good use: this week MakerBot released not one, not two, but three important new products. The first is the MakerBot digitizer, their first non-3D printing device. We’ve covered this item previously, and this release was expected. But now you can actually order one… Continue reading MakerBot Releases Three Things
Should You 3D Print in ABS or PLA?
This is a question asked by almost all 3D printer owners at one point in their machine ownership: should I print in ABS or PLA plastic? Of course, the question could be implicitly answered if your machine is not able to print both plastics. Some machines, particularly recently designed units, are PLA-only units. If… Continue reading Should You 3D Print in ABS or PLA?
The 6-Second 3D Printed Toothbrush
The Blizzident is a revolutionary new approach to brushing your teeth, created by the intersection of 3D scanning and 3D printing – in your mouth. The Blizzident is a mouthpiece you chomp on for (apparently) six seconds, during which each of your teeth are brushed on all surfaces by “a dense field of… Continue reading The 6-Second 3D Printed Toothbrush
And The Top 3D Printing Country Is…
Brooklyn, London, Silicon Valley: Hot spots for 3D printing, correct? They are indeed, but there are other areas where you’ll find an unnatural amount of 3D printing manufacturers, operators and activity, like Israel or The Netherlands. We wondered how to find these hot spots. And then we figured out a way to do… Continue reading And The Top 3D Printing Country Is…
The LumiFold 3D Printer
Only days after the launch of the first USD$100 3D printer, another very similar, but not quite as inexpensive, resin-based 3D printer launched: the LumiFold. Like the Peachy, the LumiFold uses photo-curable resin as its printing process. Also unlike the Peachy, the LumiFold uses a DLP projector as the source for its photo-curing light,… Continue reading The LumiFold 3D Printer
The 3D Printing Embedding Trick
Want to know a trick that could make your 3D prints a lot more useful? It’s called embedding. It’s a way to include alternate materials in your 3D print and it works on almost any 3D printer. It’s so easy you’ll wonder why you didn’t figure it out yourself. You simply stop the print… Continue reading The 3D Printing Embedding Trick
3D Printing in Tesco?
If you reside in the UK, it’s more than likely you’ve been buying groceries from your neighborhood Tesco. But soon you may be picking you your 3D prints there, too. In a report published by V3, Tesco’s IT Chief Mike McNamara postulated about a future world where Tesco shoppers could pick up 3D prints… Continue reading 3D Printing in Tesco?
3D Printing Curriculum Available
3D printer manufacturer Afinia has partnered with education supplier Pitsco to develop a comprehensive solution for teachers looking to educate their students on 3D printing. Pitsco develops and markets packaged educational curriculums, which contain lessons and examples targeted at grades 6-9 students. The 3D printing package description: This curriculum is designed for three… Continue reading 3D Printing Curriculum Available
The Deltaprintr
The Deltaprintr is about to launch on Kickstarter. It’s a personal 3D printer with a difference: the device uses a delta mechanism instead of the traditional cartesian XYZ axes. It’s easier to understand if you watch the video. The extruder is oriented by changes (or deltas) in the three vertical posts instead of… Continue reading The Deltaprintr
Fabulonia to Protect 3D Designs
Startup Fabulonia has a new concept that could provide significant protection to designers fearful of losing control of their works. As we understand it, Fabulonia will operate as a repository of 3D models submitted by (hopefully famous and notable) 3D designers. Consumers will be able to search, select and purchase a “print” from the… Continue reading Fabulonia to Protect 3D Designs
Design of the Week: Mining Habitat
This week’s selection is “Mining Habitat” by artist Micah Genske. It portrays a bizarre combination of artificial gravity-rotating space station with industrial mining operations, complete with smokestacks. The work is huge, as you can see in this image. Despite its size, it was apparently produced on a standard MakerBot personal 3D printer. We suspect… Continue reading Design of the Week: Mining Habitat
3D Systems Launches 3D Anatomical Service
3D printing giant 3D Systems announced the launch of their new Bespoke Modeling service. It’s a 3D model repository and sharing service, much like others that have emerged in recent years, but there’s a big difference here: this repository is focused on the medical industry. Why the medical industry? Because there’s an increasing amount… Continue reading 3D Systems Launches 3D Anatomical Service
Be Your Own Souvenir!
It’s not new but we just bumped into an interesting video of a project that took place in 2011 in Barcelona, Spain. The “Be Your Own Souvenir: A Take-Away Experience” project by blablabLAB won Honorary Mention in the Prix Electronica 2011. As you’ll see in the video, passers-by were enticed into posing for… Continue reading Be Your Own Souvenir!
Matter.io’s Remix: BETA Invitation
We’ve received a special code from Matter.io for Fabbaloo readers to enter the private BETA test of their new service, Remix. Remix permits simple remixing of 3D models for export or 3D printing. The service is entirely online and has one of the most responsive 3D browser displays we’ve yet seen. Starting with a… Continue reading Matter.io’s Remix: BETA Invitation
3DTin’s New Owners
One of the very few browser-based 3D modeling tools has changed hands. 3DTin has been acquired by Montreal-based 3D startup Lagoa. Lagoa focuses on solving the problem of 3D requiring high-end computing power, which typically isn’t available on the increasingly frequent ultra-portable laptops. People love the portability, but 3D just doesn’t work so well… Continue reading 3DTin’s New Owners
Big Step to Reduce Materials in 3D Printing
One of the reasons 3D printing remains expensive is because so much material is required to create a structurally sound part. Soon, 3D prints might be getting cheaper due to a new technique that enhances a part’s structure while reducing material. A paper written by researchers at the University of Science and Technology of… Continue reading Big Step to Reduce Materials in 3D Printing
Meshmixer Joins 123D
Autodesk announced that Meshmixer, a tool for easily manipulating 3D meshes, has been added to their 123D suite of 3D modeling applications. Meshmixer has been around for quite a while and is frequently used by hobbyists and others to fix and mix 3D models. It provides an easy ability to combine multiple meshes to… Continue reading Meshmixer Joins 123D
The Peachy 3D Printer is Looking Very Peachy
We wrote earlier this week on the launch Peachy, a new 3D printer with some very revolutionary features. It, like many new ventures, used crowdfunding to get started. With a Kickstarter goal of USD$50,000, it was inevitable that they’d hit it. They did the first day. But what happened next? So far they’ve… Continue reading The Peachy 3D Printer is Looking Very Peachy
Peer Production’s 3D Printing Survey Results, 2013
Peer Production has published the results of their most recent annual 3D printing survey. The survey probed the use of 3D printers by the public in an effort to understand current state and trends in the personal 3D printing industry. What did they find? You can read the entire report at the link below,… Continue reading Peer Production’s 3D Printing Survey Results, 2013
7 Success Factors For Your 3D Print Business
We recently listed three types of 3D print businesses you probably shouldn’t try to launch, but we thought we’d list some factors that we believe could make your 3D print business venture a lot more successful. Uniqueness. You can’t do the same thing as other companies; you must offer something different and unique to… Continue reading 7 Success Factors For Your 3D Print Business
GitHub Offers Visual 3D Model Diffs
If you’ve not heard of GitHub, it is a very popular online software repository service. You can store and share the code for a project and track changes that occur by creating versions and “branches” for production and test use. One of the most important features is “diffs”: the ability to “see” changes in the… Continue reading GitHub Offers Visual 3D Model Diffs
D-Shape Prototypes 3D Printed Lunar Bricks
D-Shape, makers of a massive 3D printing solution capable of printing large, building-sized structures, has apparently been working with the European Space Agency on lunar building experiment. The idea is to use on site materials (lunar regolith, which is simply a mix of sand, dust and other particles) as the 3D print materials. In… Continue reading D-Shape Prototypes 3D Printed Lunar Bricks
Form 1 Shipping Update
The spectacular Kickstarter launch of Formlabs months ago was just the first part. A large number of orders merely indicates strong interest in a product. We reserved judgement until we saw that Formlabs was able to deliver the numerous Form 1 personal 3D printers. Now we have evidence of that success. Formlabs has posted… Continue reading Form 1 Shipping Update
3D Printing Helps the Blind See
3D Print UK reports they’ve been working on a special project that has been able to provide limited sight to the vision impaired. The concept is to simplify the visual field by displaying a coarse set of pixels on the inside lenses of a pair of prototyped glasses, done, of course, with 3D printing.… Continue reading 3D Printing Helps the Blind See
Leopoly!
Leopoly is another web-based 3D sculpting tool that can create 3D printable objects. What makes Leopoly unique? We think it is quite easy to use; almost anyone could rapidly create interesting 3D objects with no prior use of the tool. It’s basically self-explanatory: the controls are all within a command wheel composed of easy… Continue reading Leopoly!
Three 3D Print Businesses You Probably Should Not Launch
Over the past couple of years, interest in 3D printing has exploded. Today more than at any time in the past, more people are aware of 3D printing. It’s the perfect time to launch a new business in the 3D print universe, right? Not necessarily. We’ve seen so many new businesses… Continue reading Three 3D Print Businesses You Probably Should Not Launch
The Ultimaker 2 3D Printer
Ultimaker has long been regarded as one of the fastest and most reliable personal 3D printers. But it’s been quite a while since it was released. Now the company has announced a new version: Ultimaker 2. The new unit is not simply more attractive with its shiny case: Every part has been redesigned… Continue reading The Ultimaker 2 3D Printer
Design of the Week: María and the Mayan Godess Ixchel
This week’s selection is maría/ixchel by artist Ana Marva Fernández. The work is a combination of a traditional Maria figurine with the Mayan goddess Ixchel. They’re sitting on a moon, of course. The work is 3D printed in full color, and if you look closely you’ll notice something fascinating about its surface. It’s… Continue reading Design of the Week: María and the Mayan Godess Ixchel
The Peachy 3D Printer is Only $100!
There is so much to say about this incredible design we’re not quite sure where to start. Yes, this is, for real, a USD$100 3D printer. But how its price became so low is revolutionary. Made by Rylan Graston of Rinnovated Design based in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, the Peachy employs not just one but… Continue reading The Peachy 3D Printer is Only $100!
Matterform Sales Open
Matterform’s fundraising campaign closed this spring achieving a total of “only” six times their target, but until now that was the only way to order one of their attractive tabletop 3D scanners. We received word from Co-Founder Adam Brandejs that their website now accepts pre-orders. We were also informed that the latest version of… Continue reading Matterform Sales Open
3D Printing Arrives in Argentina with Kikai Labs
3D printing is now inexpensive and this means its use can become widespread very rapidly. Argentina-based Kikai Labs hopes to carry 3D printing forward in South America, with their own locally produced 3D printer design. While their virtual store currently operates in Argentina, they apparently will open up sales in neighboring Uruguay soon. … Continue reading 3D Printing Arrives in Argentina with Kikai Labs
Watch: 3D Print Smoothing with Acetone
Bracken Dawson and James Bruton of So Make It, the Southampton Makerspace, demonstrate the acetone smoothing technique for ABS prints in a recent video. The technique is well-known, but can be tricky and is also potentially dangerous if you’re not careful. Nevertheless, the duo walk you through the acetone process, demonstrating issues such as… Continue reading Watch: 3D Print Smoothing with Acetone
3D Printing the One Hundred Year Starship
Not too long ago DARPA and NASA began hosting symposiums to discuss the possibility of interstellar travel. The brightest minds in the fields of technology, science, philosophy, sociology and economics all gathered to determine what it would take to build a 100 Year Starship. While some proposed massive spaceships reminiscent of the Starship Enterprise,… Continue reading 3D Printing the One Hundred Year Starship
3D Printer Vaporware
Tom’s Hardware has a thought provoking article on the notion of 3D printer “vaporware”. “Vaporware” originally referred to software that was splashingly announced, but didn’t quite come through with the goods later. Scott Dunham of Tom’s Hardware believes the same phenomenon is now occurring in 3D printing. It’s not happening at the corporate level,… Continue reading 3D Printer Vaporware
How Did They Pay for MakerBot?
Earlier this year industry giant Stratasys struck a deal with MakerBot to acquire the rapidly growing startup. The deal was for an incredible USD$600M+. Did you ever wonder how Stratasys was able to come up with the cash for this maneuver? It’s a straightforward corporate move: they issued more shares for sale to… Continue reading How Did They Pay for MakerBot?
3D Printers at the Library
You can’t afford your own 3D printer, or are too timid to jump into the hardware to build one from a kit. You don’t want to use a 3D print service because you don’t quite understand what it’s all about. What do you do? Go to the Library! A growing trend is for local… Continue reading 3D Printers at the Library
The 3D Printer Cycle Time
At this time a new iPhone has been announced and is flooding stores in many countries. You’ll see people gleefully lining up to replace their 12-month old previous phone as fast as they possibly can. We don’t see this in the 3D printing world, but should we? A pattern of personal 3D printer… Continue reading The 3D Printer Cycle Time
Through a Scanner Fails, Then Succeeds
You might recall the Kickstarter project of one Cosmo Wenman of San Diego, who attempted to raise funds for a project to produce freely downloadable printable 3D scans of famous sculptures. Wenman required funds to arrange for travel and working expenses, but the fundraising campaign failed, having raised only USD$8,174 of the target USD$35,000. Sigh,… Continue reading Through a Scanner Fails, Then Succeeds
The Structure Sensor
The folks who developed Skanect, one of the best software solutions for 3D scanning with your Microsoft Kinect, have launched a new scanning venture: the Structure Sensor. Occipital, the company behind the sensor, bills it as “the world’s first 3D sensor for mobile devices.” The device attaches to iOS devices via the Lightning connector,… Continue reading The Structure Sensor
More ProDesk3D Details Revealed
You might recall the very mysterious ProDesk3D printer from botObjects that is said to be an inexpensive, full color personal 3D printer. A grand claim indeed, as no one can yet explain how an inexpensive 3D printer can manage multi-color printing. Many current 3D printers are multi-color in the sense of “switching” from one… Continue reading More ProDesk3D Details Revealed
3D Printed Guns at the Victoria and Albert Museum
Readers may recall the controversy earlier this year when DEFCAD produced and electronically distributed digital 3D models for the first working, 3D printable weapons. While the event was a milestone, it didn’t last long as the US Department of Defense Trade Controls seized the digital assets as they determined the digital weapons were not appropriate… Continue reading 3D Printed Guns at the Victoria and Albert Museum
Thing-a-ma-Print, A 3D Model Repository
We’ve noticed another 3D model repository dedicated to printable models: Thing-a-ma-Print. Currently the site holds only 50 or so 3D models, but each model is indeed 3D printable. The content of the site appears to be focused on 3D printer parts, such as the M5 Nut Thumb Wheel or the Hot-End Exit Duct for… Continue reading Thing-a-ma-Print, A 3D Model Repository
DEFCAD Morphs into a Search Engine
You might remember DEFCAD? It was a site dedicated to hosting “controversial” 3D models that underwent some difficulties when the US Government seized their inventory of 3D printable weapon models. We thought that might be the end for DEFCAD. Apparently not. A visit to DEFCAD shows they’ve changed the site into a meta-search engine… Continue reading DEFCAD Morphs into a Search Engine
The Zim 3D Personal Printer
It’s another week and obviously time for another new 3D printer launch on Kickstarter. This week the Zim 3D printer launched, hoping to raise funds for its first production run. With new 3D printers launch almost daily, it is very difficult for new entrants to distinguish themselves above the other offerings. What does Zim… Continue reading The Zim 3D Personal Printer
Design of the Week: Julia Vase #011 – Heatwave
This week’s selection is Virtox’s Julia Vase #011 – “Heatwave”. We previously selected a Julia Vase as the Design of the Week, but “Heatwave” is so beautiful we simply had to choose one again. Virtox, a.k.a. notable 3D modeler Stijn van der Linden, specializes in generated designs. Julia vases are created mathematically using complex algorithms.… Continue reading Design of the Week: Julia Vase #011 – Heatwave
3D Systems Acquires The Sugar Lab
If you happen to visit the Sugar Lab website today, you’ll notice a small addition: a 3D Systems logo on the top right of the page. It’s there because The Sugar Lab is the latest acquisition by 3D Systems. While 3D Systems has been executing a strategy of takeovers to broaden their 3D printing… Continue reading 3D Systems Acquires The Sugar Lab
The Extreme Redesign Contest Returns
Each year Stratasys sponsors a 3D print design contest for students at various levels of academia. Often the contest produces amazing innovations and we expect no less this year. They’re expecting STL files to be submitted that exhibit “creativity, practicality and mechanical function”. As in previous years’ contests, three categories of entry exist:… Continue reading The Extreme Redesign Contest Returns
Need to 3D Print a Striped Hyena Skull?
To be truthful, we haven’t had the impulse to 3D print a Striped Hyena Skull. At least so far this week. But in case you do, we’ve found a repository that holds detailed 3D models of numerous biological items, mainly 3D scanned skulls. Digimorph, part of the National Science Foundation Digital Libraries Initiative, is… Continue reading Need to 3D Print a Striped Hyena Skull?
Pushing the 3D Printing Envelope
There’s a new 3D model pattern slowly emerging within the 3D print community that should lead to much more interesting printable objects. In the early years, 3D printers were not particularly reliable or capable. In fact, they still could be considered so, but they have improved somewhat in the past year as manufacturers tune… Continue reading Pushing the 3D Printing Envelope
Singapore Investing $30M in 3D Printing
Singapore’s Prime Minister and the country’s Economic Development Board (EDB) announced that Singapore will set aside $30M of its $500M “Future of Manufacturing” fund to create a new 3D Printing center. Housed at the country’s Nanyang Technological University the new $30M center will be a hub of innovation for students and industry alike. According… Continue reading Singapore Investing $30M in 3D Printing
The Thing Tracker Proposal
How many things are there? It seems like a silly question, but hear us out. There are many possible things. An infinite number of them, in fact. With the availability of 3D printers and 3D modeling software, it is now possible to create, literally, an infinite number of things. This is the problem facing… Continue reading The Thing Tracker Proposal
ZEUS: Another 3D Copy and Print Machine
It’s another week and another 3D print “all-in-one” device has emerged to join the likes of Radiant Fabrication’s Lionhead and the Mebotics Microfactory: the ZEUS by AIO Robotics of Los Angeles. This project delivers four functions: 3D Scan, 3D Print, 3D Copy and 3D Fax, simulating the existence of multiple devices in a single… Continue reading ZEUS: Another 3D Copy and Print Machine
DealExtreme Sells 3D Printers
Another major retailer sells 3D printers: Deal Extreme, one of the more popular online shops for electronics equipment, now sells the Heacent 3D printer kit. The Heacent 3DP02 kit is from a Chinese manufacturer and is based on the tried-and-true RepRap Prusa Mendel design. It’s specifications include a 200x200x100mm build volume equipped with a… Continue reading DealExtreme Sells 3D Printers
7 Things To Ask Yourself Before Buying a 3D Printer
You’re considering buying a 3D printer for your own use? There are things to think about before you take the plunge: Time. 3D printing anything takes much time. Not only the printing itself typically takes hours, but 3D model preparation and finishing also can take a lot of time. If you don’t have at… Continue reading 7 Things To Ask Yourself Before Buying a 3D Printer
NetFabb Private
NetFabb offers a software product specifically designed for personal 3D printing: NetFabb Private. It’s a lot more useful than their free NetFabb Studio product, which we and many others use for basic 3D model repairs. NetFabb Private offers these capabilities: Fix complicated file errors Make late design changes Combine parts into one Hollow out… Continue reading NetFabb Private
3-Sweep Creates 3D Models from 2D Images
In an incredible video presented at SigGraph Asia 2013, researchers demonstrated an amazing new method of deriving full 3D models from only 2D images. The 3-Sweep software appears easy to use: simply drag your mouse across an image to cue the software to create a 3D model. The specific motion of the mouse drags… Continue reading 3-Sweep Creates 3D Models from 2D Images
i.Materialise Keeps Their Rubber
Earlier this year 3D print service i.Materialise announced the temporary availability of an experimental flexible 3D print material. Now they say this material will be available permanently. The material is indeed flexible and permits 3D printing of a new class of objects leveraging the legendary rubber-like property. But there’s one fascinating catch. According… Continue reading i.Materialise Keeps Their Rubber
Captured Dimensions Captures Your Dimensions
A new, sophisticated and highly specialized 3D print service has launched: Captured Dimensions. This 3D print service focuses on producing full-color 3D figurines based on human and similar subjects. The crown jewel of Captured Dimensions is this incredible 3D scanning setup, involving dozens of high-res cameras. The subject merely sits in the center of… Continue reading Captured Dimensions Captures Your Dimensions
It’s A Thingiverse Survey
The P2P Foundation, who recently issued their annual 3D printing survey, have come up with another survey specifically to analyze Thingiverse. Thingiverse has become the most notable 3D-model-for-3D-printing free repository, now boasting over 100,000 3D models. But with that size comes questions. Are these things publicly viewable or private? Why upload things? Have you… Continue reading It’s A Thingiverse Survey
Ancient Tudor Sculptures 3D Printed
First they were 3D scanned, then they were 3D printed. Researchers at the University of Leicester, University of Oxford and Yale worked together to replicate a tomb monument originally designed for King Henry VIII’s illegitimate son, Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond by Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk in the 16th century. You… Continue reading Ancient Tudor Sculptures 3D Printed