We hadn’t noticed this before, but specialty 3D printing service FigurePrints is now into the MineCraft business. FigurePrints, long-time Fabbaloo readers may recall, was featured in one of our very first posts in 2007. They’ve been around a long time. What do they do? They extract 3D information from online games and produce the… Continue reading FigurePrints Moves Into Minecraft
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How To Screw Your 3D Print
We don’t mean ruining it! We mean being able to successfully insert screws into your 3D printed model for attaching other components. Let’s be clear: you can make much more interesting objects when you use multiple components. But how do you fit them together? One could resort to designing matching slots in each piece… Continue reading How To Screw Your 3D Print
3D Systems Picks Up Robots, And More
Industry giant 3D Systems has made another acquisition, and this one appears to be a little different than previous purchases. They’ve acquired specialty 3D print service MyRobotNation, whom we’ve written about in the past. MyRobotNation’s specialty is, well, robots. Personalized robots. The service provides users with a very easy to use (and fun) interface… Continue reading 3D Systems Picks Up Robots, And More
MIT Plans To Replace 3D Printers
There are quite a few different approaches to producing 3D objects using additive manufacturing (as opposed to subtractive manufacturing; you know, carving and chopping), but MIT’s latest idea is perhaps the most advanced we’ve yet seen. While most 3D printers either deposit or fuse in-place material into solid objects, MIT’s experiment involves a massive… Continue reading MIT Plans To Replace 3D Printers
A Call For A 3D Printing X-Prize
After re-reading our post on entrepreneur Peter Diamandis’ new book, Abundance, we were reminded that Diamandis was the original proposer of the X Prize. The X Prize is now a foundation that pays for the development of amazing technological achievements. The most famous X Prize was the first one, which spurred the development of a… Continue reading A Call For A 3D Printing X-Prize
Sculpteo Alumides!
3D print service Sculpteo announced the availability of a new 3D print material: Alumide. What is Alumide? It’s a mix of polyamide and aluminum powder yielding 3D prints that are stronger than just plastic but weaker than metal. Like plastic and some metals, it can actually bend slightly, making it useful for objects undergoing minor… Continue reading Sculpteo Alumides!
3D Printing a Pulsar
A pulsar is a very strange astronomical object that is the result of a collapsing star. The conservation of angular momentum means the small collapsed star spins very rapidly, causing it to “pulse” its radio signals on a very reliable frequency, hence the name “Pulsar”. Peter Walters and Katie Davies of England’s University of… Continue reading 3D Printing a Pulsar
Hod Lipson in The Inquirer
There’s a terrific interview with 3D printing researcher Hod Lipson of Cornell University in The Inquirer. Lipson discusses his life and how it led him to performing advanced research on 3D printing and related technologies. He talks about how 3D printing technology is sometimes viewed mistakenly by the general public: Lipson says people… Continue reading Hod Lipson in The Inquirer
The MiiCraft Hi-Res 3D Printer
Another resin-based personal 3D printer is in the works, as pointed out by Ponoko. The MiiCraft team have been working on a device that cures resin with UV light provided by a DLP Pico Projector. They don’t have a product available yet, but their goal is to produce one by June 2012 and price… Continue reading The MiiCraft Hi-Res 3D Printer
Print The Eiffel
A post on Objet’s blog shows off a totally amazing 3D print of Paris’ Eiffel Tower. This 20+ cm version is highly detailed and is made with Objet’s clear material. We’re particularly impressed with the lack of “stringies” that are so often found on prints from extruded plastic personal 3D printers. The problem is… Continue reading Print The Eiffel
Veloso 3D Printer Update
In an unusual post by Junior Veloso, the inventor attempts to clarify the nature of the shockingly powerful 3D printer his company is now developing. Evidently the project has been questioned by many who wonder about the quality and cost of the build kit. The kit is set to cost a rather scary USD$4,000.… Continue reading Veloso 3D Printer Update
Inspired by Biomimetics
We’ve previously written on research into the application of 3D printing in building construction. The idea is that rather than having a completely uniform interior geometry for building materials, we create variably shaped interiors. In other words, instead of bricks with solid or uniformly latticed interiors, more material occurs in places where more physical stress… Continue reading Inspired by Biomimetics
Chocolate 3D Printer Now Available
The folks at the University of Exeter who were experimenting with 3D printed chocolate that actually tastes good have spun off the technology into a commercial venture, Choc Edge. Their first product, the Choc Creator V1, is now available for pre-order. What is it? It’s a true 3D printer that is specifically designed to… Continue reading Chocolate 3D Printer Now Available
An Introduction to Dental 3D Printing
Many of our readers are operate or are keenly interested in personal 3D printers, but they are also aware that 3D printing was originally used for industrial uses. One of those uses is in dentistry, where “personalized fit” is essential. Creating one-time unique dental shapes is the business of dentists and 3D printing technology is… Continue reading An Introduction to Dental 3D Printing
Should You Protect Your 3D Design?
You’ve spent hours to create the perfect 3D model in your favorite 3D tool. Do you own this digital property? Probably, but can you prove it? Exactly. That’s the problem that’s solved by third party intellectual property registration services, such as ProtectRite. They’ll accept (for a fee) your digital file and timestamp it within… Continue reading Should You Protect Your 3D Design?
Heated Chamber For Personal 3D Printers
This idea is hot – literally. Instructables member UglyBuddha created and posted a design for a Heated Build Chamber for his RapMan personal 3D printer. No, he doesn’t install a heated chamber into his RapMan. Instead he builds a heated chamber around the 3D printer! Wait a moment. Why would one require a heated… Continue reading Heated Chamber For Personal 3D Printers
The Cube on CNN
Big media coverage for 3D Systems this week: 3D Systems CEO Abe Reichental appeared on CNN to demonstrated their new USD$1300 “Cube” personal 3D printer. Reichental explained the basics of 3D printing to the audience and said that although 3D printing has been around for decades for industrial applications, 3D Systems is now “democratizing” the… Continue reading The Cube on CNN
Tutorial: Fix Your Messed Up 3D Scan
If you ever try to do 3D scanning at home using the rudimentary tools now available, you’ll quickly realize it isn’t particularly easy. Sure, the capture part of the job is relatively straightforward, but the clean up phase is often quite difficult. Typical raw scans contain not only stray data points and somewhat inaccurately… Continue reading Tutorial: Fix Your Messed Up 3D Scan
The Ultimate 3D Print
What is the “Ultimate 3D Print”? We’ve all seen fantastic designs made by incredible artists. Some of them are generated using complex mathematical algorithms, while others are carefully crafted by hand. They’re amazing. But are they the ultimate 3D print? Does the single item you should print exist among them? We think not. … Continue reading The Ultimate 3D Print
Printing a Buckliball?
We’re always fascinated by those gift cards that pop up into ingenious 3D structures when you open them up, but could something like this be done in 3D? It turns out you can with a new design called the “Buckliball”. The Buckliball is a sphere that can grow or shrink by twisting its form… Continue reading Printing a Buckliball?
$600 Resin 3D Printer Kit Available
3D printer inventor Junior Veloso has transformed his home experiments in ultra-high resolution resin-based 3D printing into a business launch. The as yet unnamed 3D printer is now available in kit form for pre-order on Indiegogo at a cost of only USD$599. The USD$599 is actually the price for a “Basic Kit” that includes… Continue reading $600 Resin 3D Printer Kit Available
3D Printing Can Be Green
Eco-blog GreenProphet recognizes the potential green value of 3D printing in a recent post. They were inspired by Objet’s recent experiment in 3D printing an entire car dashboard (which, by the way, has been done before by 3D Systems as you can see an entire Mercedes dashboard in their lobby). Objet’s automobile experiment attempted… Continue reading 3D Printing Can Be Green
3D Printing Plastic AND Metal
Whoa – 3D printing plastic AND metal at the same time? There are many kinds of 3D printers in the world these days, most printing only plastic and some able to print metal. But printing both? That’s exactly what a joint initiative between ABS plastic 3D printer manufacturer Stratasys is doing with metal 3D printer… Continue reading 3D Printing Plastic AND Metal
The Free Universal Construction Kit
There’s a growing amount of free 3D models, as you may have noticed, and a recent addition is the Free Universal Construction Kit by The Free Art and Technology Lab (FAT). They are a “an organization dedicated to enriching the public domain through the research and development of creative technologies and media.” And in… Continue reading The Free Universal Construction Kit
No Future For FDM 3D Printers?
Sometimes the ideas in several Fabbaloo posts add up to another idea. In this case it has to do with our thoughts about resin-based 3D Printing. First we saw a microscopic 3D printer offering fantastic print speeds and then we see several developments in open source resin-based 3D printing. We also see challenges with… Continue reading No Future For FDM 3D Printers?
Intellectual Property Rights vs 3D Printing
In a post on Tech.pinions, reporter Steve Wildstrom writes his thoughts on the collision of 3D printing and intellectual property rights, which we’ve discussed previously on several occasions. All agree this will be a messy business, at least until we figure out the answers. Wildstrom thinks that it may be possible for 3D printer… Continue reading Intellectual Property Rights vs 3D Printing
Open3DP is Now Open3DP
The busy folks at the University of Washington’s Solheim Additive Manufacturing Laboratory in their Mechanical Engineering Department have opened up again. Opened up? That’s right, they were “intellectual property” closed for several weeks as their legal department imposed a rather crushing IP regime upon them. However, they’ve managed to overcome this by convincing their… Continue reading Open3DP is Now Open3DP
MakerBot Replicator User Guide Available
MakerBot has published a “User Guide” for their new Replicator personal 3D printer. It seems like an obvious thing to do for almost any product, but we think this is important. Why? 3D printing is still very new to almost everyone, particularly the market targeted by MakerBot’s latest device. Many people still need… Continue reading MakerBot Replicator User Guide Available
Are FabLabs Enough?
We’re reading a fascinating and provocative article by entrepreneur Nick Pelling detailing his thoughts around the uses of 3D printing, manufacturing processes and creativity. Pelling feels that the simple Fablabs sprouting up all over are insufficient for inventors and entrepreneurs to truly prototype for mass production. Prototypes “for looks”, just aren’t good enough. … Continue reading Are FabLabs Enough?
Rome, Digitized
Rome Reborn is a breathtaking project at the University of Virginia in which historians and 3D modelers are attempting the impossible: build a highly detailed, massively comprehensive 3D model of the city of Ancient Rome. It’s not just a single model, either. They’re intending on building several models representing the state of the Eternal City… Continue reading Rome, Digitized
3D Printer Assisted Super Bowl Ads
We know that 3D printing was used extensively or partially in the production of several recent movies, including Iron Man and Coraline. But did you know that 3D printing was employed to assist the development of some of this year’s Super Bowl advertisements? Objet reports that 3D printing was used in two Bridgestone ads… Continue reading 3D Printer Assisted Super Bowl Ads
Extreme Redesign Finalists Announced
Stratasys sponsors the Extreme Redesign 3D Printing Challenge each year and they’ve just announced the finalists in the three categories: Art & Architecture; Middle / High School Engineering; College Engineering. An inspection of the list shows a huge variety of entries from across the world. This challenge is not a US-only event by any… Continue reading Extreme Redesign Finalists Announced
3Dify From Matherix Labs
Some weeks ago we wrote on a breakthrough in inexpensive 3D scanning by ReconstructMe, which permits true, 360-degree 3D capture of 3D models of real objects. While ReconstructMe works quite well, it requires a super-powerful graphics card in your Windows PC simply because it’s producing the 3D model in real time as you scan. … Continue reading 3Dify From Matherix Labs
Adafruit’s 3D Printing Badges Unboxed
Readers may recall electronics kit producer Adafruit now offers a variety of “scout badges” for technical accomplishments. One of the badges recognizes expertise in 3D printing. Limor and Phillip of Adafruit were kind enough to send us a batch of said badges for review and as you can see, they look very attractive (click… Continue reading Adafruit’s 3D Printing Badges Unboxed
3D Printing Movie Props At Home
We just finished reviewing a rather interesting Instructable detailing the steps you’d take to produce a complete, wearable Iron Man mask with your 3D printer (with some red and gold paint, of course). Maker samohtep takes you through the process of developing the model, printing the pieces, painting, finishing and assembly. The result is… Continue reading 3D Printing Movie Props At Home
Microscopic 3D Printer
Numerous readers pointed us to a post by the Vienna University of Technology who recently made a very significant breakthrough in microscopic 3D printing. What is this breakthrough? They were able to successfully perform actual 3D printing operations at a microscopic scale, building the racing car you see in the image here. How “microscopic”… Continue reading Microscopic 3D Printer
Resin-Based 3D Printer Developments
We’ve observed a few developments in resin-based 3D printing recently. While most personal 3D printers today use the fused deposition modeling approach (melted plastic squirted in a precise path, layer by layer), the resin approach is very different and in many ways offers advantages. The resin approach involves light-curable liquid resin. Simply illuminate the… Continue reading Resin-Based 3D Printer Developments
MakerBot Software Update
MakerBot has released a new version of the ReplicatorG software that drives their personal 3D printers. ReplicatorG version 0034 now includes a few new features, including an optimization to speed up heating of both the heated build platform (image above) and the twin extruders (if using their new two-headed Replicator). Another interesting feature included… Continue reading MakerBot Software Update
Open3DP is Now Open3DP
The busy folks at the University of Washington’s Solheim Additive Manufacturing Laboratory in the Mechanical Engineering Department have opened up again. Opened up? That’s right, they were “intellectual property” closed for several weeks as their legal department imposed a rather crushing IP regime upon them. However, they’ve managed to overcome this by convincing their… Continue reading Open3DP is Now Open3DP
Scream A 3D Print, Literally
A truly amazing installation of what’s called “Production Art” is now open for viewing – and screaming – at Rabobank HQ in Utrecht, Netherlands. Screaming, you ask? That’s exactly what visitors must do when the visit Alicia Framis’ “Screaming Room” exhibition. You scream, the waveform is recorded and translated instantly into a 3D model (a… Continue reading Scream A 3D Print, Literally
Hilldrup’s Fragments in Time
We caught news of an interesting artistic application of 3D printing, on display this past week in Munich at the 84Ghz exhibition. Artist Daniel Hilldrup created two works from his series Fragments in Time using 3D printing tech from Objet. One item is imaged here, showing a candle holder with the wax seemingly melting… Continue reading Hilldrup’s Fragments in Time
Hear and Feel Your Favorite Sounds
This is interesting – Shapeways has teamed up with online Sound sharing site SoundCloud to produce “The Vibe” a very unique 3D model creator. From your SoundCloud account you can select your favorite sound, perhaps a song or yourself speaking. This sound’s waveform is automatically transformed into a visible representation of the wave as the… Continue reading Hear and Feel Your Favorite Sounds
Optomec’s LENS 3D Printers
Is that 3D object you just printed weak? Does it bend, break or snap loudly if you give it a loving squeeze? If so, you might consider 3D printing it in metal instead of wimpy plastic. But how, you say? My printer can’t do metal! If that’s the case, you might want to… Continue reading Optomec’s LENS 3D Printers
3D Printing Seeps Into The Arts
When you envision the opening of a new school for the Creative and Performing Arts, sponsored by filmmaker Sir Richard Taylor, head of WETA, you’d think you’d see typical film and acting facilities and equipment. Cameras, stages, studios and the like. The new Creative and Performing Arts Centre at Scots College in Strathmore,… Continue reading 3D Printing Seeps Into The Arts
Make Your Own iPhone Case, and More
There’s a great Instructable now available showing how to design and 3D print an iPhone case. You might not find that particularly interesting, but we found one aspect quite intriguing. It was the method of design. While one might simply obtain the dimensions of an iPhone and then design around that, the Intstructable did… Continue reading Make Your Own iPhone Case, and More
3D Printing For Graphic Artists
Graphics.com, a publication dedicated to the 3D arts recently posted “Fundamentals: 3D Printing of Digital Models”. In this piece they take the reader through a basic explanation of 3D printing concepts and a walk through the lifecycle of a print: design, print and finishing of a trophy award (see image). No big surprises, but… Continue reading 3D Printing For Graphic Artists
SparkLab: BuildMobile
Of all the Kickstarter-style 3DP projects we’ve seen lately, the SparkLab concept may be the most valuable to society. No, you won’t get a fancy sculpture but you will get the satisfaction of supporting the spread of 3D printing and DIY making knowledge. What is the SparkLab concept? It’s quite simple. They proponents realized… Continue reading SparkLab: BuildMobile
Insects Au Gratin
What might you expect to find at an exhibition entitled, “Insects Au Gratin”. Why yes, you guess correctly. This exhibition details 3D food printing, but with a twist: the print material is a flour made from “dried insects combined with soft cheese.” Why would anyone do this? Because: “Insects Au Gratin looks… Continue reading Insects Au Gratin
The Indymaker Color 3D Printer
Finally – we’ve been waiting for this! Maker Doug Keenan of Indianapolis has designed a personal 3D printer that has a very unique feature: Four Color Printing. The Indymaker Color 3D Printer accepts up to four plastic filament spools, which may be of different colors. A special switch delivers different color plastic to the print… Continue reading The Indymaker Color 3D Printer
RMIT’s AMP Needs a TC
So many acronyms! Let’s translate the headline for you: the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology’s RMIT University’s Advanced Manufacturing Precinct (AMP) is looking to hire a new Technical Coordinator. Why do we find this posting of interest? Because: RMIT University’s Advanced Manufacturing Precinct (AMP) facility brings together research, design and advanced manufacturing in… Continue reading RMIT’s AMP Needs a TC
3D Systems’ 2011 Financial Results
3D Printing industry leader 3D Systems recently announced their year-end financial results for 2011. We wondered how the incorporation of their many newly acquired companies affected their results. Overall it seems that the acquisitions have assisted 3D Systems in raising their results. Here’s the highlights as we saw them: Full year revenue increased… Continue reading 3D Systems’ 2011 Financial Results
The Stelliform Owl
California-based customer service rep Grant Miller is one of many folks who moonlight as a 3D artisan when not doing their day job. Miller’s particular interest lies in “toys, statues and animations” and he’s been freelancing in this area for some time. To produce a “portfolio piece” he drew upon his love for owls… Continue reading The Stelliform Owl
Adafruit Offers 3D Printing Badge
Do you remember those Boy Scout badges you’d get when you were a lot younger? We don’t as no one here was a Scout, but the point is that the scout badges represented the achievement of a particular skill, like swimming or handicrafts. Now we see electronics site Adafruit establishing skill badges for several DIY-style… Continue reading Adafruit Offers 3D Printing Badge
3D Print From Your Android Phone
Several tools have emerged that permit viewing or even development of 3D models on your iPad or iPhone – although intricate modeling on an iPhone with your fat fingers is not particularly fruitful. We had some concerns that those not using iOS devices might be at a disadvantage. But not now as some 3D modeling… Continue reading 3D Print From Your Android Phone
Shapeways’ Peek Into Imagination: Finds Apple’s Siri
Popular 3D print service Shapeways often runs contests to stimulate creativity – and increase their print volume. This past week saw the conclusion of a rather interesting competition to answer the abstract question, “What Does Siri Look Like?” Siri, of course, is Apple’s voice-powered omnipotent assistant. There were multiple entries to the contest, each… Continue reading Shapeways’ Peek Into Imagination: Finds Apple’s Siri
A Conversation On 3D Printer Piracy
We were reading an interesting article in The Guardian interviewing Steve Purdham, founder of successful internet jukebox service We7. Purdham spoke of how he believes the Jukebox idea is the ultimate destination of what we know today as “radio”. Then suddenly the article says: In conversation, Purdham veers from the pragmatic to the preposterous.… Continue reading A Conversation On 3D Printer Piracy
Playing With FreeCAD
Can’t afford a big-time 3D CAD modeling software program? You’re not alone and you’re not without solutions. There are free 3D modeling software options, including the very popular but impossible to learn Blender. But Blender just isn’t CAD. Each 3D modeling system is best used for certain kinds of designs and if you are designing… Continue reading Playing With FreeCAD
Create Your Own Museum With 3D Printing
There was quite a bit of media buzz the other week when it was revealed that the venerable Smithsonian of Washington DC has been digitizing and 3D printing some of their famous works. Imaged is the famous statue of second US president Thomas Jefferson that was scanned & modeled by Studio EIS and 3D printed… Continue reading Create Your Own Museum With 3D Printing
A 3D Printed Heart
We were contacted by designer Mat Schwartz, who’s been experimenting with jewelry printing. Recently he made something unique for Valentine’s Day: a heart. He had been developing jewelry in the form of traditional rings but then was inspired by a Circulation Research report project he’d been working on: If you have been following the… Continue reading A 3D Printed Heart
Will China Be Harmed By 3D Printing?
Last summer we contemplated the idea that China could be harmed by 3D printing, based on a post in Forbes. The idea was that legions of inexpensive Asian workers who’ve been displacing expensive North American workers would have the tables turned when 3D printing takes hold in North America, permitting consumers to simply print their… Continue reading Will China Be Harmed By 3D Printing?
3D Printing Saves Bike Light
German designer and bicyclist Thorsten Wilms writes on his recent personal collision between biking and 3D printing. He had purchased a headlamp for his new bike, but found that the existing contraptions attached to the handlebars didn’t leave sufficient space to attach the new lamp. After trying a couple of variations, he gave up… Continue reading 3D Printing Saves Bike Light
Rapidshape’s 3D Printers
Have you heard of Rapidshape’s line of 3D printers? The one year old German-based company markets several units that focus on jewelry development, as they have significant experience in the lost wax casting process. Rapidshare currently offers three different models: the S60 mini, midi and maxi. These printers use a photo-sensitive resin to form… Continue reading Rapidshape’s 3D Printers
3D Printing Muscles
Organovo, the 3D Bioprinting startup, announced they’ve received USD$6.5M in a private placement investment to bolster their research budget. Organovo has been working on the problem of 3D printing live human tissue – but not with the intention of surgically inserting said tissue into live humans. No, instead they wish to create live human… Continue reading 3D Printing Muscles
The Useful iPod Nano Watchband
You’ve no doubt seen those squarish iPod Nano’s in the Apple Store. They’re so square that someone long ago thought they’d be easily transformed into a Dick Tracy-style watch by merely adding a band. And so it went, until Fernando Sosa decided to improve the design using 3D printing. Sosa has produced an Instructable… Continue reading The Useful iPod Nano Watchband
GrabCAD Ceramic 3D Printing Contest
GrabCAD is pretty huge library of useful mechanical 3D models – evidently well over 25,000 models as of this writing. But that’s not what we want to talk about. No, we want to talk about their new design contest that closes on Friday, March 16th. The theme for GrabCAD’s contest s unusual and specific: Design… Continue reading GrabCAD Ceramic 3D Printing Contest
The 3D Printed Art of Robert Geshlider
Artists have begun leveraging 3D printing technology to produce wondrous creations. This week we encountered an artist who is pushing the technology to its limit by creating perhaps the most amazing 3D printed pieces we’ve ever seen. We contacted California-based Robert Geshlider and asked him a few questions about his work, some of which… Continue reading The 3D Printed Art of Robert Geshlider
Ten Years of Inexpensive 3D Printing
Industry giant Stratasys just reminded us that it’s actually been ten years since they introduced a low cost 3D printer to the world. The term “low cost”, is of course, relative. At the time 3D printers were industrial behemoths costing major dollars. The Dimension introduced in 2002 cost just under USD$30,000, enabling many small businesses… Continue reading Ten Years of Inexpensive 3D Printing
The Case for Finer 3D Printer Resolution
CNET published an interesting article on Quirky, the New York based startup that crowdsources inventions. Reporter Rich Brown visited the company in hopes of seeing how they make use of 3D printing technology in a design firm. He describes his thoughts on the collision design firms such as Quirky vs. up and coming 3D model… Continue reading The Case for Finer 3D Printer Resolution
Tinkercad Now Sculpteos
Everyone’s favourite web-based 3D modeling software now has another partner: 3D print service Sculpteo. Previously Tinkercad could automatically send your 3D design directly to Materialise, Ponoko or Shapeways, but now you have a fourth option: France-based Sculpteo. Actually there is a fifth option: download the 3D model to your own computer and print it… Continue reading Tinkercad Now Sculpteos
HP Launches a New 3D Printer. Not!
We suddenly awoke to read the startling headline: “HP launches new 3D printer” and envisioned a grand update to HP’s long-term relationship with Stratasys. Perhaps a new low-cost 3D printer is now available? Maybe even a consumer version? Um, no. They launched the HP Topshot Laserjet Pro M275 in the UAE today. What… Continue reading HP Launches a New 3D Printer. Not!
3D Systems In USA Today
A great piece on 3D printing appeared recently in USA Today. While the piece says nothing we haven’t already known about here, there is something to notice: USA Today is a very consumer-oriented publication. It’s about as mass-media as you can get and still be a newspaper. The fact that such a publication has… Continue reading 3D Systems In USA Today
Pleasant3D Now Open Source
Zaggo, author of one of our favorite 3D modeling utilities, Pleasant3D, announced that the project is now going open source. Evidently the author, like many of us, was simply too busy to do further work on the software and has passed it on for the community to improve. We think this is an excellent… Continue reading Pleasant3D Now Open Source
3D Systems Deploys Print3D
Industry giant 3D Systems acquired software plugin maker Print3D in April last year and this week saw 3D Systems announce the technical outcome of that acquisition: Print3D is now released as a free plugin for major 3D modeling tools for direct integration with 3D Systems’ print services. Instead of exporting your 3D model and then… Continue reading 3D Systems Deploys Print3D
RAPID 3D Printed Clothing?
The annual RAPID additive manufacturing conference takes place this May in Atlanta and we’re expecting to see some interesting product announcements as usual. However, this year there might be something unusual in the plan, since the conference just put out a call for designers to submit “your most innovative 3D printed fashion piece”. … Continue reading RAPID 3D Printed Clothing?
3D Printing Produces Abundance?
Peter H. Diamandis is well known as the originator of the recent series of X-Prizes that have launched a couple of new 21st century industries. He also founded the Singularity University, too, which led to a unique extra-terrestrial 3D printing initiative, Made In Space. Diamandis and partner Steven Kotler have just come out with… Continue reading 3D Printing Produces Abundance?
Design with ImplicitCAD
Have you heard of OpenSCAD? It’s an open source software project that can be used to produce 3D models without a visual interface. How’s that work again? You write a kind of computer program whose instructions gradually generate all the pieces of your model. It’s a grand idea that we’ll delve deeper into in the… Continue reading Design with ImplicitCAD
Fabbster Beta Launch
The mysterious Fabbster 3D printer that we first wrote about last year is becoming less mysterious. The device, made by German-based Sintermask GmbH is about to be launched in a beta program. First, here’s the highlights of the new 3D printer: Large build envelope: 23 x 23 x 21 cm Incredible print speed… Continue reading Fabbster Beta Launch
3D Printed Dino Robots
We know folks have 3D printed dinosaur bones before. What could possibly be better than that? We know one thing: 3D Printed Dinosaur Robots! The project to produce these entertaining items has in fact a very serious scholarly purpose. Researchers at Drexel University are 3D printing scaled down dino bones and attaching artificial muscles… Continue reading 3D Printed Dino Robots
Win an Objet 3D Printer
There seems to be a great many 3D printing contests lately, often offering a prize of “your object being 3D printed”. Some even offer a personal 3D printer as a grand prize. But the prize in Instructable’s “Make it Real” contest is a little different. Say, USD$50,000 different: they’re offering a complete Objet 30 3D… Continue reading Win an Objet 3D Printer
Thingiverse Terms Changed
3D Model download site Thingiverse has made a dramatic change in its licensing terms. As most startups tend to do, the initial version of legal terms are typically cobbled together from other sources. MakerBot Chief Bre Pettis writes: I went and looked at Blip.tv’s and Etsy’s and Youtube’s and I basically copied them and… Continue reading Thingiverse Terms Changed
More 3D Printed Shoes
After jewelry, the most frequently 3D printed item of clothing seems to be shoes. Some of the designs we’ve seen up to now were totally fantastic but were perhaps more arty than you’d care to wear in “real life”. Now we’re seeing more practical 3D printed shoe designs by artist Hoon Chung of the University… Continue reading More 3D Printed Shoes
Trademark vs. 3D Printing
Helen Sloan of World Trademark Review writes an interesting analysis of the effect of 3D printing on trademarks. This was prompted, of course, by the recent announcement by The Pirate Bay that they’re adding a category for 3D object files. The implication is that anyone would theoretically be able to download a 3D model of… Continue reading Trademark vs. 3D Printing
3D Printer in the Home of the Future
The UK’s Channel 4’s new show “Home of the Future” takes the idea of a futuristic home beyond just and idea; they’re building it for real! The imaginative home includes numerous 21st century features, some you’d expect to see, like an internet-equipped refrigerator in the kitchen and others you might not expect like the… Continue reading 3D Printer in the Home of the Future
3D Model Printed – Literally
3D models are printed on 3D printers every day, yes? This time engineers at Objet attempted to print an actual 3D model – an object that *looks* like a 3D model. And they succeeded. Just look at the image above (click for larger view) and you’ll see what we mean. This image is not computer… Continue reading 3D Model Printed – Literally
3D printing Down Under
Would you happen to be in the beautiful city of Adelaide, Australia on February 20th? You may be able to attend the “3D Printing Forum: The Next Industrial Revolution?”, which promises to be an interesting introduction to various 3D printing topics. According to the Australian Network for Art and Technology (ANAT), the event includes: … Continue reading 3D printing Down Under
The 10 Barriers to 3D Printing In Your Home
Slashgear predicts 3D printing will “explode at a rate incomparable to its 2D predecessor”. We all hope so, but will this actually come true? Things happen when they’re easy – and that might not be the case just yet in the world of personal 3D printing. We considered some of the major barriers to mass… Continue reading The 10 Barriers to 3D Printing In Your Home
It’s Valentine’s Day At BotMill
Normally a day for lovers, Valentine’s is apparently a day for shopping at BotMill, makers of some fine assembled personal 3D printers. BotMill is selling their assembled Glider personal 3D printer for USD$1320 and the DIY Axis Kit for only USD$990 – both are USD$75 off their normal price – and offered with free… Continue reading It’s Valentine’s Day At BotMill
DAZ Studio, Bryce and Hexagon Available for Free!
DAZ 3D has a spectacular offer on now for some 3D tools that readers may find of interest. These three software tools retail for over USD$800 and are apparently available at no charge through February. The tools include: DAZ Studio Pro 4 – A tool for designing and animating human shapes and related… Continue reading DAZ Studio, Bryce and Hexagon Available for Free!
Stackable 3D Print Design
Tom Modeen is at it again, developing weird but artistic techniques for producing 3D objects with 3D printers. This time he’s interrupting the 3D print operation before it completes, revealing the usually hidden inner support structure. By printing similarly sized objects, one can take these partial prints and manually assemble them in different combinations to… Continue reading Stackable 3D Print Design
3D Printing Stack Exchange?
You may have heard of StackOverflow? It’s a very popular question and answer website for computer programming topics. The makers of StackOverflow now permit the same software to be used for question-answer sites on other topics. But which topics get a site? At Area51.StackExhchange.com discussions are held to determine whether a topic warrants a Q/A… Continue reading 3D Printing Stack Exchange?
The New Tinkercad
Tinkercad, the amazing web-based solid 3D modeling tool has recently improved its capabilities. This tool permits creation of basic 3D printable objects without an expensive software and more importantly without a lot of training. Tinkercad uses WebGL, so be sure to use a reasonably modern web browser. What did we notice about Tinkercad? Gorgeously… Continue reading The New Tinkercad
Open3DP Goes Closed3DP?
The folks at the University of Washington who’ve been doing stellar work researching 3D printing in concrete, ceramics, glass and other unusual materials have gone dark, so to speak. It appears that the suits at their university have issued new rules regarding participation with outside groups. Specifically, they say: it has become increasingly… Continue reading Open3DP Goes Closed3DP?
A 3D Printed Jaw
This was bound to happen: a person receives a transplant of a major body part made specifically for them by 3D printing technology. In this case the body part was the lower jaw of an 83 year old woman from Europe, which had become infected and required removal. 3D scanning techniques captured the precise… Continue reading A 3D Printed Jaw
We Built About 8,000 Mouths
Did you catch the movie Coraline? If you did you might have noticed that much of the movie was not made using conventional computer graphics. Instead the producers 3D printed billions (well maybe not quite that much, but a Whole Bunch) of character parts that were then used in Stop-Motion filming. The movie was a… Continue reading We Built About 8,000 Mouths
The $300 Desktop 3D Printer?
Another 3D printer startup has emerged: the Makibox A6, billed as: “The $300 Desktop 3D Printer”. The project is led by Jon Buford, who hopes to raise USD$40,000 by the end of February through the funding site Makible. Buford says: “we’ve set out to build the most affordable, compact, and easy to use 3D printer… Continue reading The $300 Desktop 3D Printer?