We’ve long followed Stratasys’ publicly reported financial results, as it and 3D Systems tend to mirror public investor feelings about 3D printing. This quarter’s financial results are a little different because this is the first quarter where the “new” Stratasys includes recent acquisition, Objet. So what happened? Plenty! Revenue is up 23% and income… Continue reading Stratasys-Objet Announces First Quarterly Results
All
3D Printing Changes Everything
Yup.
SuperScan Digitizes the World
A partnership between digital scanning company CyArk and science media company Science Visualization could bring the world’s treasures to a science center near you. The team combines expertise to create a traveling exhibition that commences in 2014 called, “SuperScan: Digitizing the World”. CyArk has been digitally scanning notable structures across the world. Science Visualizations… Continue reading SuperScan Digitizes the World
CGTrader’s Model Competition
3D model site CGTrader is running a contest for, obviously, the best 3D model uploaded to their site by March 15th. There is an extensive list of prizes available to the winner and two runners-up. If you haven’t checked out CGTrader, it’s one of several large 3D sites that served 3D rendering models. This… Continue reading CGTrader’s Model Competition
Parametric Parts’ CadQuery
Looking for an easy way to generate parametric 3D models? Tired of OpenSCAD? There’s a new approach from Parametric Parts that permits easy programmatic generation of 3D models: CadQuery Wait a sec, what’s “programmatic”? It’s a method of creating a scalable 3D solid model using commands instead of visually through a graphics interface.… Continue reading Parametric Parts’ CadQuery
Forbes Points to 3D Print Services
We’re reading an article from Forbes in which they predict the “early action” on 3D printers will be in the form of services. They correctly state that the number of home 3D printers is kinda small right now, saying: the number of US households that actually own one of these super-cool devices is less… Continue reading Forbes Points to 3D Print Services
Design of the Week: Coffee Filigree
This week’s selection is the Coffee Filigree by Brian Drescher of The Netherlands. Drescher says: Another variation of the coffee cup design…organic filigree. An example of common objects transformed into art via 3D printing. Click the blue animation button to see it from all angles. Available also as a full-scale (10cm) table-top object. … Continue reading Design of the Week: Coffee Filigree
$2M Worth of 3D Printing Pens and a Big Implication
The amazing 3Doodler 3D printing pen seems to be rather popular: it’s Kickstarter fundraising campaign has now passed the USD$2M mark and it’s still rising. At this rate, the USD$75 handheld 3D printing device could potentially raise USD$4M or more. Now that’s a lot of 3D pens! More importantly, if there are suddenly… Continue reading $2M Worth of 3D Printing Pens and a Big Implication
The MakerBot Digitizer Desktop 3D Scanner
MakerBot announced, but did not release, a personal 3D scanner at SXSW yesterday that could dramatically change how personal 3D printers are used and accepted by the general public. Perhaps the biggest problem facing home 3D printer owners today is finding the right 3D models to print. Unless one is a designer equipped with… Continue reading The MakerBot Digitizer Desktop 3D Scanner
Nike’s 3D Printed Talons
Nike’s new Vapor Laser Talon football shoe wouldn’t exist without 3D printing technology. The shoe manufacturer used metal 3D printing technology to prototype a special plate and traction system for the new footwear. According to Nike’s MJP Performance Director, Lance Walker: Nike’s new 3D printed plate is contoured to allow football athletes to… Continue reading Nike’s 3D Printed Talons
A New Industrial RepRap Emerges
Designed by brothers Jonas and Simon Kühling, the Kühling&Kühling Industrial 3D printer is a true RepRap. Incorporating many features of previous RepRap incarnations, the Kühling&Kühling advances the state of the art by adding a suite of new features that can help create better prints. Among these new features are: A heated chamber capable of… Continue reading A New Industrial RepRap Emerges
PBS On 3D Printing
PBS has produced a brief seven minute video providing an overview of 3D printing, including interviews with Solidoodle, Shapeways and Wired. They cover the possibilities of the technology, whether for good or evil and generally get you wound up about the future. Exciting! Via YouTube
3D Printed Solar Cells? Maybe Not
A report on Knovel proposes that solar cells could be made much more efficiently with 3D printing techniques. It seems that the cost of producing solar panels stays high as new design approaches squeeze more watts out of each square inch. One highly efficient design involves producing a solar “cube” rather than a solar… Continue reading 3D Printed Solar Cells? Maybe Not
Peeking Inside Solidoodle’s Factory
TechHive has gained access to Solidoodle’s New York factory to get a close look at the production process used by the small 3D printer manufacturer. What we found interesting was the fact that a bank of 23 Solidoodle printers run continuously making Solidoodle parts! A factory made of the item it makes. TechHive… Continue reading Peeking Inside Solidoodle’s Factory
Al-Jazeera On 3D Printed Guns
A video report on Al-Jazeera explores the 3D printed gun scenario. While we’ve written (probably too much) on this topic, Al Jazeera’s Phil Lavelle points out one aspect not written so much about: what happens outside of the USA? Within the USA, proponents of 3D printed guns suggest that the US Constitution permits such… Continue reading Al-Jazeera On 3D Printed Guns
Dyeing At Shapeways
While on our recent visit to Shapeways in Queen’s, NYC, we noticed vats of color dyes. Why color dyes? It’s all in the finishing. Some people expect “finished” objects to emerge from their 3D printer, but in fact they often require “finishing”, which might be simply removing excess plastic material created during printing or… Continue reading Dyeing At Shapeways
4D Printing?
Researchers at MIT’s Self Assembly Lab have developed a new technique for 3D Printing which they call “4D Printing”. It’s 3D printing of objects designed to change their shape after printing. By exposing the printed object to a different external environment – think light, water, pressure, etc., specially designed joints in the object react… Continue reading 4D Printing?
3D Printed Mammoth Steaks?!
Modern Meadow is 3D bioprinting startup developing a method of 3D printing “meat and leather” ultimately for human consumption. They combine advances in biotech with 3D printing to eliminate the need for real animal food production, which is hugely energy intensive. Recently Modern Meadow’s Andras Forgacs performed a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything). The… Continue reading 3D Printed Mammoth Steaks?!
MakerBot’s Replicator 2X Ships
MakerBot’s latest and greatest personal 3D printer is now in the mail – if you ordered one, that is. The Replicator 2X, announced at CES in January has emerged from manufacturing. Coincidentally, MakerBot has also released version 2.0 of MakerWare, the software used to drive the MakerBot. The 2X differs from its sibling, the… Continue reading MakerBot’s Replicator 2X Ships
3D Printed Gun: Mission Accomplished?
Ars Technica spent some time with Defense Distributed’s Cody Wilson examining the latest version of DefDist’s 3D printed gun. Actually the gun is not 3D printed; one key part, the lower receiver, is 3D printed. The rest of the weapon is made of conventional (and less complex) metal and plastic parts. Previous attempts… Continue reading 3D Printed Gun: Mission Accomplished?
Perfectly Smooth Your 3D Prints – But Be Careful!
After the initial thrill of seeing a 3D print emerge from thin air, 3D print newbies often notice the layering effect. This is, of course, caused by the gradual deposition of plastic layers during the build process. Depending on the layer resolution selected for print, these layers could be very visible, or not. The… Continue reading Perfectly Smooth Your 3D Prints – But Be Careful!
Design of the Week: Filament Clip
This week’s selection is a purely functional design: the Filament Clip by Thingiverse maker Elk. There’s not much to say about its structure, because the value of this design is in its function. It simply holds the end of a filament against the spool, as you can see in this image by Thingiverse maker… Continue reading Design of the Week: Filament Clip
Zayger Watches
An interesting Kickstarter project involves 3D printing: Zayger Watches are limited run, unique wristwatches. They’re offered in a wide variety of colors, straps and shapes. The maker, one Shlomo Mockin of Brooklyn, NY, discovered how 3D printing could enable inexpensive production of limited run pieces that could be made into unique wristwatch designs. He… Continue reading Zayger Watches
Stratasys Reorganizes Its 3D Printer Lines
We’ve been patiently waiting for changes in Stratasys’ product lineup since they officially merged with Objet and now we’ve found out what they’re doing. Stratasys arrived into the merger with two product lines: Dimension, which included smaller FDM machines such as the 1200es, uPrint and Mojo, and Fortus, which included large full-on production 3D… Continue reading Stratasys Reorganizes Its 3D Printer Lines
Another 123App: Creature
Autodesk has been rapidly adding apps to their free suite of consumer 3D apps, with the most recent addition being 123D Creature, with which you can create “creatures”. The USD$7.99 iOS app is similar to others in the suite, permitting easy generation of a 3D model. This app is focused on limb-based objects that… Continue reading Another 123App: Creature
Nissan’s Delta Wing Testbed Utilizes Additive Manufacturing
Efficiency is the name of the game when it comes to car design, and Nissan isn’t taking any prisoners with their Deltawing racer. According to Nissan, the concept behind the Deltawing is “to half the aerodynamic drag, half the power, half the mass, half the fuel consumption, and half the tire consumption [while]… Continue reading Nissan’s Delta Wing Testbed Utilizes Additive Manufacturing
Real 3D Printed Ears. No, Really!
It’s always a thrill to see an object emerge from a 3D printer. The object, previously visible only as an intangible digital model displayed poorly on a 2D screen is suddenly in your hand. But imagine the thrill if that object being printed was intended to literally be part of you. That’s precisely… Continue reading Real 3D Printed Ears. No, Really!
Wirelessly Tag Your 3D Prints
Shapeways announced a very cool feature offered by their 3D print service: NFC tagging. If you haven’t heard of it, NFC stands for “Near Field Communication“, a short-range wireless technology. NFC is used in key fobs or other security devices. It simply receives a signal and responds with its own unique digital number. With… Continue reading Wirelessly Tag Your 3D Prints
NASA Gets Serious About 3D Printing
A post on Mashable describes the goings-on at NASA where they’re deeply investigating the possibility of using 3D printing technology on future space missions. As we’ve said before, 3D printing in space could be massively beneficial, as you’d need only bring the printer and some print media with you into space, where you’d simply… Continue reading NASA Gets Serious About 3D Printing
It’s In PrintaBase
What’s PrintaBase? It appears to be a searchable repository of 3D printing information. No 3D models here, just meta information. Their tagline is: The most comprehensive database for everything 3D printing. Like you, we’re wondering why their logo says “PrintaBit Beta”, when their site is “PrintaBase”. More than likely this will be… Continue reading It’s In PrintaBase
The Mystery of Modelyst
In recent days we’ve observed several printable 3D model repository startups. Some are existing non-printable 3D model repositories hoping to get in on the 3D printing craze, but some are brand new and dedicated to 3D printable models. Which brings us to Modelyst. What is it? Well, we’re not exactly certain. They have… Continue reading The Mystery of Modelyst
Feet As Big As You Want
The University of Washington’s Solheim Additive Manufacturing Laboratory has long experimented in radical approaches to 3D printing and now they’ve shown us another example technique for your 3D printing toolkit: Scaling. They were approached by the VA Center of Excellence for Limb Loss Prevention and Prosthetic Engineering to assist in the production of a… Continue reading Feet As Big As You Want
The Mysterious Pirate3D Printer
We’ve been peeking at the website of Pirate3D, a new startup attempting to build an inexpensive 3D printer. The Palo Alto, California-based company is not revealing much about their project. We don’t know the release date for the printer (although you can pre-order one in April). We don’t know the price of the unit.… Continue reading The Mysterious Pirate3D Printer
A Whale of a 3D Print
It was near the end of a South American expedition for Smithsonian Natural History Museum’s Nicholas D. Pyenson, when he learned fossil whales had been uncovered nearby. Examining the fossils, which had been uncovered by a road crew constructing a new highway across the Atacama Desert, Pyenson discovered the fossils were of a dozen… Continue reading A Whale of a 3D Print
An Interview With Neri Oxman
We’ve discovered a lengthy interview with 3D artist and research Neri Oxman of the MIT Media Lab, whose astounding explorations into radical structures using 3D printing have been featured here previously. In the 2200 word interview, published in Material Connexion, Oxman explains much of her 3D printing and artistic philosophy. We noted some highlights: … Continue reading An Interview With Neri Oxman
Prehistoric 3D Printing Video
And now some 3D Printing history. This amazing historic TV clip originates with a show entitled, “Good Morning America” and is dated from 1989 – twenty-four years ago. It’s so ancient they don’t even refer to the process as “3D Printing”, but use “Stereolithography”, the name of the process just then invented by Chuck… Continue reading Prehistoric 3D Printing Video
Design of the Week: Volta Necklace
This week’s selection is designer Phil Renato’s Volta, billed as “An evolving 3D printed necklace design with a serpentine linkage system.” The necklace has indeed evolved since we featured Renato’s work many months ago. Today it is a refined design that is becoming a true product for consumers. The design is based on… Continue reading Design of the Week: Volta Necklace
A Spanish 3D Print Service
We’ve learned of a 3D print service based in Spain: Fabber.cc. This service provides basic 3D printing services, providing prints in ABS or PLA plastic. The service doesn’t have an interactive pricing mechanism, but you can send in your 3D model and receive a quote for the work. This service seems to follow… Continue reading A Spanish 3D Print Service
3D Printed Human Replacement Parts Approved
Oxford Performance Materials announced that it’s finally received US Food and Drug Administration clearance for their OsteoFab™ Patient Specific Cranial Device. This is a 3D printed medical implant designed to replace missing bone structures. The advantage of this approach, is of course that the replacement parts can precisely match the missing elements. Extreme personalization,… Continue reading 3D Printed Human Replacement Parts Approved
3D Print A Car In 2500 Hours
You might recall the Urbee – the world’s first 3D printed car, developed in 2011 by Kor EcoLogic? The design of this amazing car pioneered several important 3D printing techniques. Now Kor EcoLogic is pursuing a second version of the Urbee, with intentions of going into production. Evidently they’ve “worked out the bugs since… Continue reading 3D Print A Car In 2500 Hours
CHART: Optimism for consumer-class 3D printers
A recent ENGINEERING.com survey revealed that our engineering and design readers are very optimistic about the future of the consumer-class 3D printers. But counter to the wishful claims made by those with a vested interest, they don’t believe that sweeping change is coming. Read More at ENGINEERING.com
Shapeways Meets Up
We’ve frequently seen notices from Shapeways (and other companies) announcing meetups. The problem is that these meetups are rarely happening in your city. Sure, if you are a Manhattanite or a Londoner, perhaps, but most people simply aren’t nearby. Shapeways proposes to solve this dilemma by having a meetup – everywhere! They’ve announced… Continue reading Shapeways Meets Up
Polychemy Offers More 3D Prints
As interest in 3D printing grows, so does the requirement for amazing 3D prints. One interesting source is Polychemy, who market a collection of eclectic 3D prints by notable 3D artists. Their catalog is not particularly large, but there are some terrific models stored within, some of which we’ve actually covered earlier. Artists include… Continue reading Polychemy Offers More 3D Prints
Three Colors For Your RepRap
Many readers may have a RepRap 3D printer, but most of them will print in only a single color at a time as they have but one extruder. Now you can purchase a personal 3D printer RepRap kit capable of printing not two but THREE colors. RepRapPro is now selling their “Tricolour Mendel 3D… Continue reading Three Colors For Your RepRap
Ultra-Lab Sells MakerBots
We’ve just discovered that MakerBot has yet another reseller, this time in Spain. Ultra-Lab sells the full line of MakerBot devices, including the Replicator Dual Extruder, Replicator 2 and the latest model, the Replicator 2X. In addition to MakerBot products, we understand that Ultra-Lab also sells plastic filament for the printers, electronics kits, e-textiles,… Continue reading Ultra-Lab Sells MakerBots
3Doodler – A 3D Pen Printer
It’s billed as the first “3D printing pen”, and we believe it is indeed the first handheld 3D printer that you can purchase. Wait, “handheld 3D printer”? That’s precisely what it is. The device is held in your hand and slowly waved through 3D space. As it moves, it extrudes melted thermoplastic, just like… Continue reading 3Doodler – A 3D Pen Printer
Someone NEEDS to Buy MakerBot?
We’re reading this article on Inside Monkey entitled, “Someone Needs to Buy MakerBot Already, Stratasys, Ltd. (SSYS)?” Ok. Really? The premise of the piece is that one of 3D Systems, Stratasys or Amazon (!) should acquire MakerBot. Wait, let’s correct that, one of these mega-corps should have ALREADY acquired little MakerBot. The author is… Continue reading Someone NEEDS to Buy MakerBot?
3D Printed Business Cards. Er, Cubes
CallingCube’s new product serves the same function as a business card: to get you noticed and remembered by a contact. Like a calling card, the CallingCube can contain information and logos. But it’s a cube. A 3D printed cube. To get your own, you simply specify characters and images to be placed on… Continue reading 3D Printed Business Cards. Er, Cubes
Design Of The Week: Safe T Bagel
This week’s selection is a practical one: the Safe T Bagel by Thingiverse contributor poetryinmotion. It’s not particularly artistic, but it is very functional. The method of use involves placing a bagel (or other bagel-sized and shaped food object) into the middle of the Safe T Bagel. Then simply slide a knife along both… Continue reading Design Of The Week: Safe T Bagel
3D Systems Teams with Creaform
If you’re considering a portable 3D scanner such as Creaform’s new Go!SCAN, you might want to consider the software you need to use the captured scans. Scans are not useful unless you can edit, trace, repair and convert them. Creaform has solved this problem by teaming with 3D Systems, who now provide a “simple… Continue reading 3D Systems Teams with Creaform
Point And Shoot 3D Scanning
The folks at Lynx Lab have launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for the initial units of their “Lynx A Camera”. It’s designed to be a point and shoot 3D camera, capable of capturing 3D shapes as well as motion. The Lynx A tries to put all the elements of 3D scanning in… Continue reading Point And Shoot 3D Scanning
Formlabs Forms Form 1’s
True to their pledge, Formlabs has begun production of their resin-based personal 3D printer, the Form 1. In an astonishing Kickstarter campaign last fall, Formlabs busted their speedometer in raising almost USD$3M. Now they have to deliver on those and other subsequent device orders. It’s obviously extremely challenging for a startup to begin… Continue reading Formlabs Forms Form 1’s
3D printing: Interest Long Overdue, Enthusiasm Not Sustainable
On Thursday, we reported on a Seeking Alpha article and discussed the market volatility in 3D printing and the possibility of an over-exuberant market. Seeking Alpha’s analysis appears to have created a self-fulfilling prophecy: On January 28, 2013, 3D Systems and Stratasys stocks fell 14% and 10% respectively. One day later they rebounded by… Continue reading 3D printing: Interest Long Overdue, Enthusiasm Not Sustainable
Necessity Causes Invention: A GoPro Scuba Mount
If you’ve never used a GoPro, perhaps you should. It’s an inexpensive but very specialized camera designed to be used outdoors in action situations. It’s the camera on the skydiver’s helmet or hanging from bike handlebars giving us those heart-stopping videos. As you might imagine, there are an infinite number of possible mounting… Continue reading Necessity Causes Invention: A GoPro Scuba Mount
3D Printing’s Effect on Retail
We’ve been reading Dalton Caldwell’s take on entrepreneur Marc Andreessen’s position that physical retail stores are in a bad position as they have to pay for not only inventory but also real estate, whereas online retail does not. Caldwell, who’s currently the CEO of app.net, believes that 3D printing could eventually affect physical retail as… Continue reading 3D Printing’s Effect on Retail
3D Printer Starves Astronauts
A science-fictiony proposal in Wired suggests future astro-colonists could feast on dishes prepared by 3D food printers. The concept seems like a good one; current astronauts are subjected to freeze-dried packets of former food, brought back from the dead by injection of lubricating water. While astros put on a brave face when describing their… Continue reading 3D Printer Starves Astronauts
Obama Likes 3D Printing
During last night’s annual State of the Union address, US President Obama actually mentioned 3D printing and positioned it as one of his key strategies for reinvigorating the US manufacturing industry. Specifically, he’s extending the experiment begun at the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute experiment, launched in August 2012. This institute attempts to speed… Continue reading Obama Likes 3D Printing
Ping Fu Doesn’t Break
Ping Fu is very well-known in the 3D printing community, as she created Geomagic, maker of powerful 3D software tools enabling freeform design, scan handling, metrology and most notably, haptic-based design (that’s using a touch interface). Recently Geomagic was acquired by 3D Systems, where Ms. Fu now becomes their Chief Strategist. Her journey to… Continue reading Ping Fu Doesn’t Break
Skanect Updated to Version 1.1
We’ve just learned that Skanect has been updated to version 1.1. While we were quite happy with version 1.0, there were a few additions that would make life even easier for those wishing to perform a quick 3D scan using a Microsoft Kinect. Now the folks at Manctl have added some of them. The… Continue reading Skanect Updated to Version 1.1
Micrometer Scale 3D Printing
German-based Nanoscribe announced a new micrometer-scale 3D printer, the Photonic Professional GT, billed as the “world’s fastest commercially available 3D printer for micro- and nanostructures”. The Photonic Professional GT uses a highly accurate, mirror-guided laser system to polymerize photosensitive material into solid objects of incredibly tiny size. The machine is capable of producing fine… Continue reading Micrometer Scale 3D Printing
Controversy At 3DLT
You may not have heard about 3DLT. It’s an online “innovation hub” that attempts to provide 3D creators a web presence for marketing their designs. If you’re a designer you can join their program and create a mini-marketplace for your designs or receive requests for custom work. But where’s the controversy? Wired… Continue reading Controversy At 3DLT
3D Printed Fish Tags
Perhaps you might not need tags for your fish, but the folks at Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) do. They’ve developed a way to 3D print titanium tags for tracking larger fish including Marlin and Tuna. Titanium was chosen as it does not react to salty ocean water and can withstand… Continue reading 3D Printed Fish Tags
ExOne’s IPO Is Hugely Successful
We mentioned the other day that ExOne, makers of 3D printers capable of printing in metal, sand and glass, went public by launching an IPO (initial public offering). Their shares went on sale to the public on February 7th at an opening price of USD$24.23. By the middle of the next day, the price had… Continue reading ExOne’s IPO Is Hugely Successful
Design of the Week: The Lost Boys
This week’s selection is artist Sean Dabbs’ “The Lost Boys”. It’s actually a small collection of designs related the the movie of the same name. We specifically liked the rendering of Kiefer Sutherland’s frightening vampire character, especially the teeth. Also included in the collection are vampire-like hands and feet. Dabbs is a UK-based… Continue reading Design of the Week: The Lost Boys
Advanced Manufacturing Seminars
Tuesday is the opening day of the Advanced Manufacturing Seminars. This event includes rapid prototyping content, specifically focused on 3D printing. The three-day event takes place in Anaheim, California at the Anaheim Convention Center. The speaker list includes some interesting folks, including: Jason Dunn, CEO of Made In Space. These are the guys… Continue reading Advanced Manufacturing Seminars
3D Systems Splits!
3D printing giant 3D Systems announced plans to split their stock. In the scenario described, owners of 3D Systems stock will receive additional shares. For every two shares owned on February 15th, share owners will receive an additional share. It’s a three-for-two split. Companies typically split their stock when the value grows significantly.… Continue reading 3D Systems Splits!
Three Dead 3D Printers
With numerous inexpensive 3D printers continually emerging, many won’t survive. But the latest wave of failures is not the first. Indeed, several bold attempts at creating revolutionary 3D printers came and went before the days of crowd funding. Today we’ll remember three notable 3D printers of the past. Desktop Factory was the original commercial personal… Continue reading Three Dead 3D Printers
Edinburg Scientist Print Stem Cells
Although controversial in the US, stem cell research offers some of the best opportunities to produce breakthrough medical discoveries, including growing tailor made replacement organs. In a new development for bioprinting, Dr, Will Shu of Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh said, “We found that the valve-based printing is gentle enough to maintain high stem… Continue reading Edinburg Scientist Print Stem Cells
Dongiverse
Oh dear. This was bound to happen. There’s now a parody of 3D model repository Thingiverse called, “Dongiverse”. As you might expect, it appears to hold actual 3D models related to its eponymous title. The site seems to be a layer on top of Thingiverse, as it simply links visitors to selected items in… Continue reading Dongiverse
3D Modeling? Where Do I Start?
Once you’ve got your personal 3D printer working and you’ve exhausted the usual sources of printable models, your faced with a dilemma: how do I create my own 3D models? You might ask someone trained in 3D modeling, but we think that’s probably not a good idea. We’ve found that pro 3D modelers tend… Continue reading 3D Modeling? Where Do I Start?
Type A Machines
Type A Machines produces the Series 1 personal 3D printer. It’s claim to fame? Bigness. They say: We were tired of building things that could fit into little boxes so we designed the Series 1 to fit really large objects without a drastic increase in overall machine size. Forget having to redesign your ideas… Continue reading Type A Machines
The Robo Personal 3D Printer
Yes, Robo is another one of those new 3D printers that appear on crowdfunding sites, but what makes it different? For one thing you’ll immediately notice that it’s got a very attractive case – and that’s just the start. Each new filament-based 3D printer startup focuses on a particular aspect to make them stand… Continue reading The Robo Personal 3D Printer
Hod Lipson’s book
3D printing afficiando Hod Lipson has just published a new book on 3D printing entitled, “Fabricated: The New World of 3D Printing”. Co-authored with Melba Kurman, the book “tells the story of 3D printers”. Lipson, Professor of Engineering at Cornell, is well known within the 3D printing community for his work developing concepts… Continue reading Hod Lipson’s book
The Future is 3-D Counts Down
We’ve been looking at The Future Is 3-D’s website and found they’ve been working on a new model to join their existing Glacier 3D printer: it’s called the “Avalanche”. We don’t know much about it, other than there’s a countdown page to the launch. We do know that their existing machine, the Glacier, is… Continue reading The Future is 3-D Counts Down
The List of Personal 3D Printers, 2013
After updating our resources page, we realized we had produced a useful list of personal 3D printers. If you’re in the mood for 3D printer shopping, we suggest you try our list. It includes links to companies offering low-cost pre-assembled, personal 3D printers. It does not include 3D printer kit options, which you can… Continue reading The List of Personal 3D Printers, 2013
3D Printing Resources
We’ve spent some time updating our 3D resources page. If you haven’t seen it, the page contains our list of key 3D printing resources. Areas of coverage now include lists for: Do It Yourself Options Hobbyist 3D Printers Commercial 3D Printers Popular 3D Print Services Popular 3D Print Related Books 3D Print Crowdsourcing Notable… Continue reading 3D Printing Resources
Global TV Features 3D Printing
Chief Correspondent Carolyn Jarvis of Canada’s Global TV presented a very comprehensive look at today’s state of 3D printing on their current affairs show, “16×9”. We bring this to your attention as this is perhaps the most mature examination of the technology we’ve recently seen by the media, which recently has tended towards the spectacular,… Continue reading Global TV Features 3D Printing
3D Printing Trade Shows in 2013
After wearing out several pairs of shoes walking through this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas checking out the increasing number of 3D printing booths, we thought we’d tell you which other conferences and trade shows might include 3D printing content. Here are the major events involving 3D printing, aside from local Maker Faires. … Continue reading 3D Printing Trade Shows in 2013
Design of the Week: Spiralis
This week’s selection is Spiralis by Shapeways designer Emm@nuel. There are actually two variations of Spiralis in the Shapeways catalog, the Spiralis+0,025-7cm and the Spiralis+0,025, which appear to differ only in size. Designer Emm@nuel describes Spiralis as: Mathematical oddity composed with 20 triskelions (triskelion, triskele) and 12 spirals. Definitely! You can… Continue reading Design of the Week: Spiralis
Nokia’s 3D Printing Adventure
Nokia has long used 3D printing internally to design cases and shapes for their handsets, but now they’re permitting customers to do the same. Nokia has released the 3D model files required for designing your very own back cover for their new Lumina 820 handset. The model includes the structures required to match the… Continue reading Nokia’s 3D Printing Adventure
makexyz Makes Your Stuff
You’re interested in 3D printing, but don’t have a 3D printer. You also don’t want to pay a high price to a 3D print service to obtain a print of your own 3D design. What do you do? One option, aside from finding a buddy with a 3D printer, is to use the makexyz… Continue reading makexyz Makes Your Stuff
Testing the Customizer
The magic of 3D printing is that you can make something totally unique that has never existed before; something that’s just right for you. But how do you get the models to do this? One way is to make use of Thingiverse’s new Customizer feature. It’s an add-on to certain models that permits… Continue reading Testing the Customizer
CHART: Readers predict 3D printing’s future
Strong, steady growth for the entire 3D printing industry is what our survey results show. According to our readers, that growth will be driven by advances in materials, output quality, speed and overall performance. What they aren’t accepting are the extremes: no growth or explosive growth. Read More at ENGINEERING.com
Advanced Manufacturing Seminars in February
Don’t forget to check out the Advanced Manufacturing Seminar conference that’s taking place in Anaheim, California from February 12-14th. It’s only a couple of weeks away so if you’re planning on attending, you’d best make some reservations. This conference is part of a rather large event involving thousands of manufacturing exhibitors. We understand that… Continue reading Advanced Manufacturing Seminars in February
New Space-Based 3D Printer
You might not realize it, but there are actually two companies pursuing asteroid mining today. One is Planetary Resources, backed by notables such as James Cameron, Larry Page, Eric Schmidt and more. The other company is Deep Space Industries. And they’re making a space-based 3D printer. Their purpose is to seek out asteroids… Continue reading New Space-Based 3D Printer
iRobot Moving Into 3D Printing?
A very detailed patent was recently issued to iRobot and Raytheon for a “Robot Fabricator”. iRobot is well-known for their Roomba series of household cleaning ‘bots, but they’re also manufacturers of many commercial and military robots. Raytheon is a long-time high-tech industrial focusing on military and electronics markets. Together they bring a huge amount… Continue reading iRobot Moving Into 3D Printing?
A DIY BioPrinter
Not satisfied with printing in plastic? Why not print ACTUAL LIVING CELLS? You can today if you can execute the Instructable created by BioCurious, which you can build for the incredibly low cost of USD$150. Simply acquire the necessary parts and follow all the assembly steps. This hack involves combining parts from a… Continue reading A DIY BioPrinter
FormFutura Sells Wood Filament
Most personal 3D printers require plastic filament of some kind or another. Recently some manufacturers have moved to use factory-certified cartridges, but many devices still can use “any filament” that meets the necessary dimensions. There are several online stores ready to sell you such filament, some trying to distinguish themselves by offering wider varieties… Continue reading FormFutura Sells Wood Filament
3D Printed Valentine Chocolates
The Shibuya Fabcafe in Tokyo is offering a very special service for two days in February: they’ll enable you to produce chocolates with your face on them! Wait, how does this work? You first get your face scanned by the FabCafe’s scanner. After some 3D model fixing, they 3D print a prototype of the… Continue reading 3D Printed Valentine Chocolates
Questions About Skanect
Manctl’s new version of Skanect should permit easy 3D scanning by anyone with a Microsoft Kinect and a computer. However, we wondered about several aspects. We asked Manctl’s Nicolas Burrus a few questions about the new version. Fabbaloo: The new release seems to be Windows only. Any hope of a Mac or Linux version… Continue reading Questions About Skanect
A New Version of Skanect
Readers may recall Skanect, a software tool that uses an inexpensive Microsoft Kinect to produce 3D scans of room-sized areas. Now creator Manctl has released a new version of Skanect that’s much more powerful. The new version is capable of taking 3D scans of objects instead of rooms. They’ve re-engineered the program to include… Continue reading A New Version of Skanect
The DeltaMaker 3D Printer
Aha! Another Kickstarter project has launched the DeltaMaker 3D printer. Recent 3D printer launches on Kickstarter have suffered from an inability to distinguish themselves from each other, but we believe DeltaMaker may not have that issue. Why? Because they’re using a very different design for their device: instead of the traditional 3-axis rail design,… Continue reading The DeltaMaker 3D Printer
Incredible 3D Fashion Video
There’s an increasing interest in 3D printed fashions, perhaps because of the novelty of 3D printing, but we suspect also because you’re able to create fashions that could otherwise not be manufactured. As wonderful as such fashion may be, it has been difficult for the public to understand it as 3D printed fashion shows are… Continue reading Incredible 3D Fashion Video
Design of the Week: Voronoi Yoda
This week’s selection goes to 3D artist Dzingof, whose 3D Voronoi Yoda caught our eye. It’s a Yoda, definitely, but with a twist: it’s composed of an incredibly complex interior shape. The secret to this design is its voronoi, which is the method of generating the fill. According to Wikipedia, voronoi is: … Continue reading Design of the Week: Voronoi Yoda
3D Printed Fashion In Paris Show
\As part of Paris Fashion Week, 3D printing giants Stratasys and Materialise collaborated with noted 3D fashion artist Iris van Herpen on her “VOLTAGE” haute couture show. van Herpen has previously produced fascinating 3D printed fashions and this show continued with some startling and revealing designs. Two of the eleven pieces made by van… Continue reading 3D Printed Fashion In Paris Show