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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

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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!

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

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

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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

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!

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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

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

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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

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

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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

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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

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

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

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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

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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

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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

Not Quite a Nuclear 3D Print

Some 3D models are lousy for 3D printing – they may be difficult to print, expensive or just plain dull. But this one is interesting. As you can see, it’s a mushroom cloud from a nuclear explosion. With an LED light installed in a version printed in plastic of the correct translucency, it looks great.… Continue reading Not Quite a Nuclear 3D Print

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Iris van Herpen’s Beyond Wilderness Shoes

If there is a fashion designer pushing the envelope of 3D printed design, it is Dutch designer Iris van Herpen. Her frequent exhibitions often shock viewers with radical concepts enabled by 3D printing. We could write many things about van Herpen’s work, but today we examine the shoes designed for her latest exhibition, Wilderness Embodied… Continue reading Iris van Herpen’s Beyond Wilderness Shoes

Expect Superior 3D Depth Cameras in 2014

NetworkWorld reports that Intel is actively developing a “depth sensing camera”, which will be capable of detecting “movement, track emotion, and even monitor reading habits of children.”   We already have inexpensive depth cameras available such as the common living room Microsoft Kinects found everywhere. But while the Kinect was revolutionary in its time, its… Continue reading Expect Superior 3D Depth Cameras in 2014

Radiant Fabrication’s Lionhead and Li

It could be trend: all-in-one 3D printer/scanner devices seem to pop up daily this week. We’re looking at Radiant Fabrication’s Lionhead device, which boasts 3D printing and scanning functionality.    Radiant Fabrication’s strategy seems to be simplification. They believe more sales are possible if machine use is easy for use by general consumers, embodied by… Continue reading Radiant Fabrication’s Lionhead and Li

TTP’s Multimaterial 3D Print Head

  Perhaps the most significant technology barrier in 3D printing today is the limitation of materials. Most 3D printers can produce only a single material at a time. Some manufacturers have short-circuited this problem slightly by adding additional print heads to enable more than one material, and only one (Stratasys) has the technology to mix… Continue reading TTP’s Multimaterial 3D Print Head

ExOne Under Fire After Scathing Report

In a recent article at Street Sweeper, Sonya Colberg has accused 3D Printer company ExOne of “diluting investors’ shares to raise millions just six months after its public offering”.   In the article, Colberg accuses CEO Kent Rockwell of mismanaging the firm and using it as his own “piggy-bank”. According to the report, within the… Continue reading ExOne Under Fire After Scathing Report

The iDecoLamp

The iDecoLamp is a remarkable combination of 3D printing technology and smartphone app. It’s basically a night light powered by a specially designed app.    The designers realized there was an opportunity being lost: every night your smartphone sits charging, typically by your bedside. But why have it sit idly by doing nothing? The iDecoLamp… Continue reading The iDecoLamp

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The da Vinci Personal 3D Printer

There’s very few details available about the XYZPrinting da Vinci F1.0 3D printer, made by the team of Taiwan-based Kinpo Electronics and Cal-Comp Electronics, subsidiaries of the Kinpo Group.    We do know that the device will sell for only USD$499, one the absolute lowest-priced filament-driven personal 3D printers available today.    The new machine… Continue reading The da Vinci Personal 3D Printer

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Exclusive: Inside the CubeX Factory

Hidden in the sleepy coastal town of Clevedon, UK, lies the secret factory that produces 3D Systems’ CubeX 3D printer. We recently toured the factory to find out how these popular machines are created.    Aside from a modest research and development unit, the entire facility is dedicated to production of CubeX’s. It is indeed… Continue reading Exclusive: Inside the CubeX Factory

Sculpteo’s New Materials

Last week Sculpteo announced the availability of two new materials for their 3D print service: Sterling Silver and Wax.   It’s an arms race between 3D print services; each adds new materials and features to keep up with or gain a lead on the others. The most frequent battlefield is materials. This announcement is just… Continue reading Sculpteo’s New Materials

3D Printer History: The Festo iFab 3D Printer

We ran across an experimental 3D printer developed years ago by Festo, a German industrial conglomerate. The iFab was designed in 2009 by Festo’s Bionic Learning Network, but seems to have never been marketed publicly.    The iFab is an early example of a non-cartesian 3D printer. “Cartesian” 3D printers use standard “X-Y-Z” movements as… Continue reading 3D Printer History: The Festo iFab 3D Printer

SpiderFab Weaves Massive Space Structures

Tethers Unlimited hopes to enable inexpensive construction of truly massive structures in outer space by leveraging 3D printing and robotics.    The company is developing a “Trusselator” as a first step under a NASA experimental contract that will be able to build large trusses in a weightless environment.    The machine spins out a completed… Continue reading SpiderFab Weaves Massive Space Structures

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Inexpensive, High Quality 3D Printer Resin?

Most personal 3D printers are filament-fueled extrusion machines, but there are a number of resin-based machines, such as the Form 1, the Nautilus, the mUVe 1, the B9 Creator and others. There’s also several open source plans for resin-based machines.    But there could be a problem. Resins used by some of these machines can… Continue reading Inexpensive, High Quality 3D Printer Resin?

Design of the Week: Dequan Li Attractor

This week’s selection is the very beautiful Dequan Li Attractor by programmer and artist Nicolas Serouart.   The design is entirely mathematically generated and presents a beautiful sweeping shape, as if the complex motion was captured in an instant.    We’re not certain of the tools Serouart used to create this incredible shape, but he… Continue reading Design of the Week: Dequan Li Attractor

Patent Issued for Digital Manufacturing

After years of process, US patent number 8,515,826 has been issued to Bryan Norman of KraftWurx fame. While there are billions of patents appearing, many of which are related to 3D printing, this one bears mentioning. Here’s the abstract of the patent:    Methods and systems for designing and producing a three-dimensional object selection of… Continue reading Patent Issued for Digital Manufacturing

New Ventures Focus on 3D Printing

We’ve seen multiple examples of companies starting up that make use of 3D printing for a specific purpose, be it artificial legs, figurines or automotive items. But now we’re seeing design firms emerge that are dedicated solely to 3D printed designs.    One such firm is Innovation Factory of Chicago, who can design, prototype, fund… Continue reading New Ventures Focus on 3D Printing

The Mebotics Microfactory

  It’s billed as “the world’s first machine shop in a box”, and it very well might be. The Mebotics Microfactory is an enclosed unit that holds not only a CNC cutter but also four (yes, FOUR) extruders on its 3D printing head.    The idea is to produce a portable, safe-for-the-office small manufacturing facility.… Continue reading The Mebotics Microfactory

3D Printing Stocks Get a Boost from CitiGroup

In early trading this week 3D Systems (DDD) and Stratasys (SSYS) stocks took a dramatic jump as analysts from Citigroup gave the two companies a “buy” ratings. By midsession on Monday 3D Systems’ stock was up 8% garnering a $52.41 price per share. Nearly mirroring DDD’s performance, Stratasys’ stock rose 5% to a whopping $111.07.… Continue reading 3D Printing Stocks Get a Boost from CitiGroup

The 3D Printing Retail Scenario

Not that many years ago the personal 3D printing market was populated entirely by sales from obscure online websites, typically in kit form. At the time this type of sales approach matched the early adopters who used personal 3D printing at the time.    However, as interest increased, some manufacturers sought to increase their sales… Continue reading The 3D Printing Retail Scenario

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3D Systems Acquires CDRM

Another week, another acquisition for 3D Systems. While last week they picked up TeamPlatform, a service for aiding 3D model projects, this week they’ve acquired CDRM, a 3D print service bureau located in the UK.    3D Systems has an extensive network of print service bureaus located across the world. These centers are integrated together… Continue reading 3D Systems Acquires CDRM

Coca Cola 3D Prints Mini-Me’s

Here’s an interesting marketing angle: Coca Cola Israel recently launched their new “mini bottle”. To promote it they offered a free 3D print of the winners. Yes, “of the winners”.    A contest selected a small number of winning entrants, who were then invited to Coca Cola Israel’s factory, where sophisticated full-body 3D scanners captured… Continue reading Coca Cola 3D Prints Mini-Me’s

Four MakerBot Digitizer Implications

We’re certain most of you have heard of MakerBot’s latest device: The Digitizer. It’s a relatively inexpensive 3D scanner designed for prosumer use. As the first 3D scanner that could hit a mass audience, we pondered what it might mean. What happens when large numbers of people own a 3D scanner. Here’s our predictions:   … Continue reading Four MakerBot Digitizer Implications

It Does Everything: The FABotum

A new Indiegogo project hopes to develop the FABotum, a multidiscipline manufacturing device. Actually, it’s full name is the “FABtotum Multipurpose Desktop Personal Fabricator”.   Wait, what kind of a machine is that? This machine is actually a combination of several manufacturing processes, including 3D printing. The FABotum also includes CNC (cutting) capability and 3D… Continue reading It Does Everything: The FABotum

The Amazing 3D Printed Designs of Rob Elford

We’ve been perusing the works of UK-based artist Rob Elford, who specializes in wearable 3D printed items. Any one of his works could easily qualify for our Design of the Week feature, but we felt it necessary to show his new collection, “Ephemeral Delusions in a Motionless State”. Elford says:    The inspiration for Ephemeral… Continue reading The Amazing 3D Printed Designs of Rob Elford

OpenFab’s Visionary Goal: Multi-material Objects

Developed by MIT and presented at this year’s SIGGRAPH conference, OpenFab proposes a way to more easily produce incredibly complex milt-material objects.    OpenFab is not a 3D printer; it is a software “pipeline” of steps that enable the creation of complex, multi-material 3D models that can then be printed on a 3D printer capable… Continue reading OpenFab’s Visionary Goal: Multi-material Objects

Yet Another 3D Printing Pen: swissPen

After the monstrous success of 3Doodler, others hope to duplicate their success, including the 3D Printed Pen that replicated much of 3Doodler’s design. Now we see another: swissPen, made by Groupe JL Monnin, based in, of course, Switzerland.    The swissPen, which sells for CHF 95.00 (USD$103), is a handheld extruder that accepts PLA and… Continue reading Yet Another 3D Printing Pen: swissPen

Design of the Week: Grmpff

This week’s selection is “Grmpff” by German-based designer Kai Bracher.    The piece is entirely ornamental, displaying a figure exerting strong force on a sack, which is apparently pinned down by a wall peg. In reality, of course, the figure simply slides onto the peg. You can also apply a magnet to the base for… Continue reading Design of the Week: Grmpff

Apple’s Tiny Step into 3D

Shortly after we suggested Apple won’t be 3D printing anytime soon, they took a teeny tiny step in that direction.    According to a report on AppleInsider, Apple has patented a system for accepting 3D input. As you can see in the diagram (and much more available at AppleInsider), hand gestures would capture 3D movements… Continue reading Apple’s Tiny Step into 3D

Formlabs’ PreForm Goes OS/X

Formlabs, the makers of the Form 1 resin-based 3D printer, released a Macintosh-capable version of their PreForm printer management software. Their strategy going forward is to maintain “feature parity” between the two versions and even release them simultaneously.    We believe this to be an important step into OS/X space, which has been traditionally very… Continue reading Formlabs’ PreForm Goes OS/X

Japan’s Push for 3D Metal Printing

While American and European companies currently dominate the 3D printing market, a joint venture between the Japanese government and the country’s private sector looks to compete soon.   While most 3D printers use plastic print material, the Japanese plan is aimed at printing metals. Starting in 2014, the Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry plans… Continue reading Japan’s Push for 3D Metal Printing

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