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Hands On With The BFB 3000: Software

We’re continuing to evaluate the BFB 3000 3D printer, this time we’re focusing on the software experience. Previously we’ve looked at the unboxing and setup as well as its operation. Why focus on the software? Isn’t this all about the printer itself? We believe the entire experience is important, from end to end. And… Continue reading Hands On With The BFB 3000: Software

Shoes by Andreia Chaves

We’re fascinated by the idea of 3D printed shoes for some reason. Perhaps it’s the notion of always having a shoe that fits perfectly. On the other hand, it might the limitless number of astonishing designs one can imagine are possible. One such design was recently made by Andreia Chaves and Freedom of Creation. … Continue reading Shoes by Andreia Chaves

Fiberglass Reinforced 3D Printing?

We ran across what appears to be an experiment by remote control flyers who are trying to hack super-strong airplane parts. The video doesn’t really explain what’s going on, but it appears that they might be trying to sandwich some strong fiberglass fabric within a 3D print. If so they’d have to design their model… Continue reading Fiberglass Reinforced 3D Printing?

MyBestFit Could Be MyOwnScan?

There’s an interesting problem with women’s clothes: the sizes are inconsistent between brands, leading to a lot of experimentation before the right item is selected. However, MyBestFit now offers (at least in some major USA malls at high-end shops) a 21st century solution. They take a quick 3D scan of the buyer, similar to what… Continue reading MyBestFit Could Be MyOwnScan?

Will Flexible Grids Lead to 3D Printed Cloth?

Experiments at LMNts Tech Studio are demonstrating the feasibility of printing flexible materials. Using their high-end commercial Objet 3D printer and 3D modeling software, they designed and printed a kind of miniature ball-and-socket joint. They linked many of these joints together in a mesh. A Flexible Mesh. But wait – isn’t fabric a… Continue reading Will Flexible Grids Lead to 3D Printed Cloth?

StrataSys Goes Acquiring

It seems the big guys have their corporate acquisition shopping carts in motion recently. While 3D Systems was scooping up other companies last week, this week it’s Stratasys’ turn. They’ve announced the acquisition of Solidscape for USD$38M. What is Solidscape? They are a niche 3D printer manufacturer that specializes in high-precision devices for producing… Continue reading StrataSys Goes Acquiring

Cory Doctorow on Big Ideas

Writer and Boing Boing editor Cory Doctorow speaks eloquently in a new podcast on TVO about the future of regulation. Doctorow explains in plain language the troublesome future we may face if computing devices are regulated in the same ways we regulate specialized devices. He points out several examples where this approach simply won’t work… Continue reading Cory Doctorow on Big Ideas

Shapeways Glazes Over

We are continually amazed at the ingenuity of the Shapeways 3D print service; they seem to come up with new materials for their service almost every other week. Typically they experiment with them to see how well they are accepted and then decide whether and how to continue offering them. In the past they’ve pioneered… Continue reading Shapeways Glazes Over

Freedom of Creation: Absorbed!

We’ve written many times about the amazing 3D printed furniture and artwork produced by the design house Freedom of Creation, home of master designer Jyanne Kytannen. But today we learned that FOC, like many other 3D printing-related companies and services in recent weeks, has been acquired by industry giant 3D Systems. It’s been getting… Continue reading Freedom of Creation: Absorbed!

Hands On With The BFB 3000: Operation

In last week’s post we described the unboxing and set up of the BFB 3000 printer, which turned out to be a pretty good experience. Today we’re discussing the operation of the 3000. If you’re like us and have a dose of shiny object syndrome, you’ll definitely like the 3000. It’s a beauty to… Continue reading Hands On With The BFB 3000: Operation

Anderson Joins Ponoko

Wired editor in chief Chris Anderson has joined the advisory board of Ponoko. This is a very interesting development as it indicates growing and high-profile interest in personal manufacturing. Ponoko already has some interesting characters on their advisory board, including TreeHugger’s Graham Hill, CafePress’ Fred Durham and DesignLedFutures’ Ross Stevens. Anderson has for a… Continue reading Anderson Joins Ponoko

3D City Models Made By Missiles

Technology originally used for targeting missiles has been adapted to provide incredibly detailed 3D models of cities. Saab’s spin-off company C3 Technologies is gathering up a library of 20 city models suitable for licensing for mapping applications. We’re hoping they’ll make this data available for 3D printing, too. While we’re always watching for new… Continue reading 3D City Models Made By Missiles

A Really Big Unboxing

We thought we experienced a large unboxing when we uncrated a BFB 3000, but we were clearly outdone by i.Materialise. The 3D print service recently received a brand spanking new Fortus 900mc FDM large-scale production system from Stratasys. While we used a box cutter, i.Materialise had to use not only a crew of burly guys… Continue reading A Really Big Unboxing

Jewelry Design Challenge

3D print service i.Materialise is running a new contest for “new concepts, techniques and ideas in jewelry design”. Given the startling designs already present in 3D printed jewelry, we’re extremely interested in seeing what kinds of items are generated in this contest. i.Materialise thinks so too, because: Ten winners will be selected and their… Continue reading Jewelry Design Challenge

3DDC Results

On April 28th the key players in 3D printing from around the world went to Washington DC to try to influence policy makers on the best future for our technology, organized by Public Knowledge. The fear is that 3D printing could be severely hampered if restrictive regulations and digital property rights are misapplied to 3D… Continue reading 3DDC Results

The Mysterious BluePrinter

We’ve found another 3D printer manufacturer: the Denmark-based BluePrinter, but we can’t tell you much about it. The only information is a one-page website that not only includes the logo above, but also this enticing description: Blueprinter develops a 3D printer, which is based on Selective Heat Sintering (SHS). The proprietary SHS technology produces… Continue reading The Mysterious BluePrinter

OurBricks’ $250 Modern Life Contest

3D Model online sharing service OurBricks has launched a design contest where the prize is fame (and USD$250) and the theme is simply “Modern Life”. If that sounds perhaps slightly ambiguous, you’d be right. According to OurBricks representative Henrik Bennetsen: OurBricks is hosting a design competition for 3D artists. The theme is “Modern Life.”… Continue reading OurBricks’ $250 Modern Life Contest

Hands On With The BFB 3000: Unboxing and Setup

Fabbaloo Labs has obtained a brand-new, two-headed BFB 3000 3D printer for detailed experimentation and evaluation. We’ll talk about our unboxing and setup experience in this post, while upcoming posts will focus on the 3000’s operation and software. The BFB 3000 ships in a rather large 38kg box. It’s large for one obvious reason:… Continue reading Hands On With The BFB 3000: Unboxing and Setup

The 2Bot ModelMaker

It’s not exactly a 3D printer, but more of a 3D cutter. The 2Bot ModelMaker is intended for architects and students to print 3D representations of landscapes, layouts and terrain. From what we see, it appears to be a 50lb computer controlled drill that traverses an inexpensive 12″ x 12″ x 2″ foam board,… Continue reading The 2Bot ModelMaker

Tangles From Joshua

He may not be the first, and certainly won’t be the last, but Josh Harker is another artist leveraging 3D printing as a way to get his art to the world. He’s created an online store to market his works, which are created thru 3D print service Sculpteo. Admirers may purchase the works from his… Continue reading Tangles From Joshua

This Week’s 3D Systems Acquisition Is . . .

Print3D Corporation! They’ve been acquired by industry giant 3D Systems, who are now even giganticker. But what exactly does Print3D do? They are an industrial 3D printing parts service with a unique capability: they have a plug-in for CAD software to provide additional 3D printing features. Here’s what their plug-in does: The Print3D… Continue reading This Week’s 3D Systems Acquisition Is . . .

3D Printed CubeSat

You may have seen a freight train pass by hauling endless standard-sized shipping containers. Those containers make freight economical because the entire transportation system can safely assume their characteristics and adapt appropriately. There’s a similar standard for space satellites: CubeSat. It’s a one-liter 10 x 10 x 10 cm cube that can weigh no… Continue reading 3D Printed CubeSat

Shapeways Pops!

Shapeways has introduced yet another way to produce 3D models you can print with their 3D printservice: Image Popper. How does it work? Very simply: you upload a 2D image and then “raise” it to the desired depth. If this sounds too simple to produce useful models, you’d be wrong. In our experience, one… Continue reading Shapeways Pops!

Probing Knut’s 3D Brain

Berlin Zoo’s most famous resident, the polar bear banned Knut, died suddenly this past March. Apparently the bear, famous for controversy surrounding the practice of humans raising bear cubs, had an infection that led to encephalitis and accidental drowning. While Knut is gone, his brain lives on. It’s been captured in 3D by “some… Continue reading Probing Knut’s 3D Brain

MCOR Establishes US Base

3D Paper printer manufacturer has crossed the ocean to set up an American office for the first time. Up til now the company has operated solely in Europe, but expansion was always their plan. The new office, located in San Jose, Calif, will be the base from which they’ll launch into the US market. Of… Continue reading MCOR Establishes US Base

Shapeways Introduces New Detail Material

Shapeways, one of the leading 3D print services, is trialing a new pair of print materials that are specially designed for high detail. They’re taking cues from a survey in which clients demanded more detail and smoother prints. The new materials, dubbed eloquently in the typical Shapeways style, are “Frosted Detail” and “Frosted Ultra… Continue reading Shapeways Introduces New Detail Material

Web-Based 3D Modeling

A couple of months ago we wrote about a new web-based 3D modeling tool, 3DTin. Now there’s another web-based tool: TinkerCAD. The two tools are different. While 3DTin takes an extremely simplistic approach, TinkerCAD is somewhat more capable. 3DTin is essentially visual LEGO. You build your object by placing blocks in the intended arrangement. … Continue reading Web-Based 3D Modeling

Variable Steel Print Pricing At i.Materialise

When i.Materialise introduced stainless steel printing earlier this year they used a very straightforward pricing scheme: price by volume. Now they’ve announced a new scheme in which you’re encouraged to print larger steel models because the price drops as you increase the size of your model. The new pricing scheme is slightly more complex: … Continue reading Variable Steel Print Pricing At i.Materialise

Eat Your Face?

Easter is the time when many people eat massive quantities of chocolate, often in the shape of “bunnies”. But what about other representations? MIT researcher David Carr has developed this thought by creating a CNC-like machine that scans your face and carves it into a chunk of chocolate. A chocolate face-printer. It seems rather… Continue reading Eat Your Face?

3D Printers Mainstream in 2-3 Years?

We’re reading a piece from TVNZ that introduces the concept of 3D printing to their audience, who presumably is not familiar with such things. We see similar articles frequently, but this one had an interesting quote from Professor Olaf Diegel, Director of the Creative Industries Research Institute at the Auckland University of Technology in New… Continue reading 3D Printers Mainstream in 2-3 Years?

No Fears of Rampant 3D Copy Theft?

We’ve recently been seeing a torrent (no pun intended) of articles talking about the dangers of 3D print technology for rights owners. The premise is that at some point in the near future we’ll see 3D pirates capturing digital 3D models of practically everything in sight, followed by rampant illegal redistribution to 3D freeloaders. Free… Continue reading No Fears of Rampant 3D Copy Theft?

3D Printing in a Post-Scarcity World

We’re reading a short post on Singularity Hub that asks whether post-scarcity should be discussed more on their blog, due to a lack of awareness of the concept. We were certainly unaware of it – until we read their explanation: For people who don’t know what Post-Scarcity is, in a nutshell it entails everything… Continue reading 3D Printing in a Post-Scarcity World

Extreme Redesign Challenge Winners 2011

The winners of this year’s Extreme Redesign Challenge have been announced by Dimension Printing. The annual contest permits students from several levels to enter their designs in five categories: College Engineering; Art and Architecture; Middle School/High School Engineering; Puzzle and Game Design; Building or Bridge Redesign. This year’s winners include: College Engineering: Jeremy… Continue reading Extreme Redesign Challenge Winners 2011

Trimensional Upgrades, But Not Enough

This January we wrote about an amazing new USD$0.99 iPhone app that apparently was able to produce 3D models simply by taking a few snaps and applying image analysis. At that time the app could produce a 3D image, but not export models suitable for printing. That’s now changed as Trimensional now offers in-app… Continue reading Trimensional Upgrades, But Not Enough

thingmakers Postponed!

Don’t worry – it’s all good. The thingmakers conference, originally scheduled for May 4th, has been postponed until October of this year. Organizer Ivan Pope says: With huge apologies at such a late date – for various reasons, mostly good ones, we’ve postponed the conference until October this year. It will be bigger and… Continue reading thingmakers Postponed!

SYCODE Added to 3D Systems Empire

In an interesting move this week, 3D printing giant 3D Systems acquired SYCODE – a software company. Recently 3DS has been swallowing up hardware makers and service companies, but now they turn to the software world. What exactly does the Goa, India-based SYCODE company make? They offer a very wide breadth of plugin modules… Continue reading SYCODE Added to 3D Systems Empire

Capture That Dinosaur!

Or at least capture their footprints. Most dinosaur species are now extinct, save for those that fly, but the large extinct versions occasionally left behind amazing fossil footprints. We’ve been reading a report of how palaeontologists have been using 3D scanning techniques to capture detailed 3D models of these fossilized prints for later analysis. According… Continue reading Capture That Dinosaur!

3D Printing Companies Will Continue To Do Well

One might think that it’s not a good time to invest in 3D printing companies after their latest run up. However, according to a report by analysts at Piper Jaffray: Based on conversations with industry sources and Q1 channel checks, we believe demand in the 3D printing market has improved and we believe… Continue reading 3D Printing Companies Will Continue To Do Well

No Screw Ups After 3D/DC!

For several years now we’ve written about the legal and ethical complications that might occur when 3D printing tech enters the consumer realm. There is no shortage of pathological situations that might arise, be they related to copyright, patents or other regulatory regimes – all of which were designed for prior eras that didn’t include… Continue reading No Screw Ups After 3D/DC!

It’s 20% Off At i.Materialise

3D Print service i.Materialise has a special deal on until the end of this school year: 20% off regular prices for printed objects for students doing school projects. Why are they doing this? Because they’ve observed a significant bump in student prints during the months of April-July. In other words, the work that students… Continue reading It’s 20% Off At i.Materialise

MIT Looks at Printing Buildings

Architect and MIT professor Neri Oxman has been investigating new techniques for applying 3D printing to the science of building construction. We previously wrote of Neri Oxman’s exploits with MaterialEcology, where she leveraged the synergy of computing, ecology, material engineering and design to produce experimental forms. Now she’s investigating the issue of building materials.… Continue reading MIT Looks at Printing Buildings

Sketch to 3D Makes Modeling Easy

It’s always been a challenge to get the right models for printing. You may get lucky and find what you want in a freebie repository; you might find it for sale in a 3D print service’s library, or you might have to resort to designing the object yourself with a 3D modelling tool – if… Continue reading Sketch to 3D Makes Modeling Easy

Junior Veloso Is Really Hi-Res

We’ve written about Junior Veloso’s fascinating experiment in constructing a homemade resin-based 3D printer, but he’s recently made significant progress in developing the quality of his 3D prints. Just take a look at the image above and we’re sure you’ll agree he’s on the right track. The left side is printed at an incredible “50… Continue reading Junior Veloso Is Really Hi-Res

KIOSK By Unfold

There are many designers doing interesting things with 3D printing, but one of the more interesting groups is Antwerp-based Unfold Design Studio. For some years they’ve been designing interesting creations, some of which are for sale at their online store. Recently they’ve been working with 3D printer manufacturer Bits From Bytes on ceramic 3D… Continue reading KIOSK By Unfold

i.Materialise in 24 Hours

3D print service i.Materialise announced a new program to dramatically speed up delivery of printed items. You know the scene – you design a brilliant 3D model, send it to the service and then you wait for many days before the result is sitting in your hands. If you live in Europe you’ll actually… Continue reading i.Materialise in 24 Hours

Stratasys is Certified

Stratasys recently announced that they’ve achieved ISO 9001:2008 certification. For those of you unfamiliar with the intricacies of ISO manufacturing certifications, this particular cert deals with policies and procedures used to develop manufactured products. While the actual ISO documentation is extensive, Wikipedia summarizes this standard using “informal language”: The quality policy is a formal… Continue reading Stratasys is Certified

3D Printing In Your Mouth and Ears

One of the fascinating items we witnessed at 3D Systems HQ was the focus on medical applications. It seemed every few moments someone was running by with a platter of 3D printed teeth or similar. These were eerie to examine, as the detail was sufficiently spectacular to appear highly realistic. What we didn’t know… Continue reading 3D Printing In Your Mouth and Ears

3D Printing in Wood. No, Really!

It was April 1st this week, the day when every blog post must be read with great suspicion. One very clever post from Freedom of Creation described an incredible experiment in 3D printing using powdered wood. The following day it was revealed to be a hoax – and a good one. Their very realistic post… Continue reading 3D Printing in Wood. No, Really!

Microscopic 3D Models

We’re always looking for new sources of 3D models to print, and we found another potential source: microscopic imaging. Scientists at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Janelia Farm Research Campus are using a special microscopic high-speed imaging (e.g. video) system to capture moving images of teeny things in action, like a single cell dividing, for… Continue reading Microscopic 3D Models

The Anything Factory

During our recent visit to 3D Systems HQ we were able to walk through one of their production facilities. This is a room containing many large-scale 3D printers, each of which was going about its business printing parts for requestors. The facility was part of 3D Systems’ parts-on-demand business. But we had an interesting… Continue reading The Anything Factory

3D Printing is a Mini-Trend

A recent post by John Vanston in VentureBeat proposes that 3D printing (or “Advanced Digital Manufacturing (ADM)” as they term it) is a Minitrend “particularly applicable to large companies.” Vanston has written a book, “MINITRENDS: How Innovators & Entrepreneurs Discover Profit From Business & Technology Trends”. He says: Advanced digital manufacturing (ADM) processes build… Continue reading 3D Printing is a Mini-Trend

FABRICATE Conference

There seems to be no shortage of conferences related to 3D printing and digital design and manufacturing these days. One that’s coming up soon is the FABRICATE International Peer Reviewed Conference and Publication, taking place in London, UK on April 15th and 16th. According to FABRICATE: Discussing the progressive integration of digital design with… Continue reading FABRICATE Conference

3D Printing April Fool’s Round Up 2011

Ok, you may have been fooled by Freedom of Creation’s amazing wooden 3D printing post yesterday, but it wasn’t the only fib told in the 3D printing blogosphere on this year’s April Fool’s day. Here’s a compendium of notable tall tales: Freedom of Creation described a quite elaborate secret project to 3D print using… Continue reading 3D Printing April Fool’s Round Up 2011

3D Print Objects In Wood

Amazing? Yes. Inevitable? Probably. A huge step forward? Definitely! Of what do we speak? It’s Freedom of Creation’s latest successful venture into 3D printing using wood as the print material. Their new “Tree-D Printing” process involves using actual sawdust as print material. Their process is powder-based (or in this case, “sawdust-based”, we suppose) in… Continue reading 3D Print Objects In Wood

3D Printers Will Destroy Wages?

An interesting discussion on the Open Manufacturing group asks the question: in the future when personal manufacturing equipment is widespread, what happens to the traditional consumer-manufacturer-wage earner cycle? In other words, if everyone can easily build things, what happens? Will good salaries disappear because there will be fewer buyers for traditionally manufactured items? Patrick Anderson… Continue reading 3D Printers Will Destroy Wages?

Attend The thingmakers Conference – For Free!

London, May 4, 2011 is the date for the new thingmakers conference, where many of the creators of 3D printing technology will join with users in an “intense one day conference on the best of 3D printing and customized manufacturing”. According to organizer Ivan Pope: We’re trying to evangelize 3D printing and associated… Continue reading Attend The thingmakers Conference – For Free!

Clonedel Review

What’s a Clonedel? It’s the latest craze sweeping the RepRap hobbyist market. The folks at Open3DP figured a way to print molds of the parts required to build a RepRap Prusa 3D printer, and there are many who are trying this approach. Why? Because if you’ve got a mold, you can cast the same parts… Continue reading Clonedel Review

Who Needs 3D Printing Rules?

After reading Shapeways’ recent post discussing their new design rules for stainless steel prints, we thought we should weigh in. Shapeways has gone as far as developing a dedicated “Design Rule Repository. What’s in it? According to their post: This is a subsection of the website dedicated to design rules. Going forward, the blog… Continue reading Who Needs 3D Printing Rules?

Order Your Own Mini-Me

3D Print service Sculpteo now offers the ability to print a figurine with your own head on it! The process is pretty straightforward: take two police-lineup style photos of your face and send them off to Sculpteo with your order. Their artists will cook up a colorful design that you must approve before it’s printed.… Continue reading Order Your Own Mini-Me

Massive 3D Printer Unveiled

Is your measly 10x10x10cm build chamber too small for your big ideas? Perhaps you should consider acquiring a voxeljet VX4000, which has a build envelope of 400x200x100cm. Yes, that’s 4x2x1m or 13×6.5×3.3 feet! This item is so large it requires an installation area of 25x12x4.5m, or 14,500 sqft. Definitely not suitable for your office. At… Continue reading Massive 3D Printer Unveiled

3D Printed Curvilinear Antennae

Researchers at the Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory at Illinois have achieved something never before accomplished: printing an electronic antenna onto a curved surface. Why would you want to do this? According to electrical and computer engineering professor Jennifer T. Bernhard: These antennas are electrically small relative to a wavelength (typically a twelfth of… Continue reading 3D Printed Curvilinear Antennae

3D Printed Ornithopter Wings

Researchers at the Cornell Computational Synthesis Laboratory building a miniature ornithopter (that’s a flying device that uses flapping wing motions for lift) had a problem: the wings were difficult to create due to their small size and mechanical requirements. The problem was solved by using 3D printing techniques to create the wings. The… Continue reading 3D Printed Ornithopter Wings

A Look Inside the V-Flash

During our recent visit to 3D Systems we managed to get a look deep inside one of their intermediate-level 3D printers: the V-Flash. This device uses a unique method of deploying build material that results in the object being built upside down! Upside down or not, the printed results are of extremely high accuracy. … Continue reading A Look Inside the V-Flash

BetaSolution Hints At MakerBot’s Next Move?

MakerBot recently wrote on the availability of iFeelbeta’s “BetaSolution”, a chemical solution capable of dissolving PLA plastic. Why would you want to do this? You’d be able to freely use PLA as a support material in your 3D prints and very easily remove that support from your final object with this fluid. This would enable… Continue reading BetaSolution Hints At MakerBot’s Next Move?

More Interest In 3D Printing Companies

Maybe it was the Economist article, or perhaps the recent run-up in 3D printing company stocks, but there seems to be growing interest in the industry from the general public. We read an article recently that seems to be directing investors towards the industry. Seeking Alpha performs a great breakdown on the two publicly… Continue reading More Interest In 3D Printing Companies

MCOR on Golem

MCOR chief Conor MacCormack was interviewed by German IT news site Golem, in which he takes us on a detailed technical tour of their amazing paper-based 3D printer. Here’s the highlights: Up to 3 full reams of common A4 paper is accepted by the machine Sheets are fed, one-by-one, into the build chamber (or… Continue reading MCOR on Golem

3D Print with Sand, Pee and Bacteria

We are not making this up. It seems that there is always someone, somewhere trying to 3D print with practically any imaginable material. This time the mix is sand, pee (yes, human urine) and a certain type of bacteria. The premise is actually quite interesting: the bacteria (Sporosarcina Pasteuri) are capable of binding the sand’s… Continue reading 3D Print with Sand, Pee and Bacteria

A Visit to 3D Systems HQ

Last week Fabbaloo had a rare opportunity for an onsite visit to the not-quite secret headquarters of 3D Printing leader 3D Systems to speak directly with those in charge of engineering, sales and marketing. Located in the obscure city of Rock Hill, South Carolina, this is a place where 21st century magic truly occurs. … Continue reading A Visit to 3D Systems HQ

Shapeways Re-Silverizes

After an inexplicable absence, 3D Print service Shapeways has re-energized their silver printing capability. Originally introduced some time ago, their silver material disappeared for a short while but now is re-instated as an available material. According the Shapeways, the new silver has “a better price and the same amazing quality.” The cost of a… Continue reading Shapeways Re-Silverizes

Calling Makers: Emergency Dome Needed!

We wondered what Effalo’s next project might be, and now we know for certain: It’s a much larger geodesic dome, apparently to be used in a music video. Unfortunately, according to Michael Felix, principal of MakerFactory, they have less than two weeks to produce the dome and their extruder is broken! They’ve posted a series… Continue reading Calling Makers: Emergency Dome Needed!

AdderFab!

We’ve been following the folks at Open3DP for a while now as they proceed through experiments in 3D Printing. Lately they’ve been working on perfecting printing molds that have revolutionized the production of RepRap Prusa Mendel 3D printer parts. However, we now see they’re working on an entirely new project: an inexpensive, presumably open-source powder-based… Continue reading AdderFab!

Interview With An Organ Printer

We’ve written about Dr. Gabor Forgacs of the University of Missouri before because his work in developing techniques for 3D printing human organs is making great progress. His company, Organovo, has developed a bioprinter, which could be the only such device available for purchase today. Recently he was interviewed by PopTech. You can read… Continue reading Interview With An Organ Printer

Wanted: Micro-Robotic Fabrication Swarms

No kidding – the US Navy has put out a small business technology transfer solicitation (or STTR as they acronymize it) for proposals to “Develop a swarm of micro-robotic fabrication machines that will enable the manufacture of new materials and components”. Astonishing! More details: This topic focuses on a particular approach of using… Continue reading Wanted: Micro-Robotic Fabrication Swarms

Open Source Laser Cutter

We were contacted by Bart Dring of BuildLog.net, which provides a variety of resources for laser cutting tech. Bart says: I thought you might be interested in my new open source laser cutter. This is a second generation generation machine called the 2.x Laser. It is a much more robust and easier to build… Continue reading Open Source Laser Cutter

3D Systems Acquires A Service. Again

Not long after purchasing Bits From Bytes, 3D Systems has now acquired industrial rapid prototyping service QuickParts. Quickparts is a significant service that provides a variety of 3D printing technologies, including: Stereolithography(SLA) Machined Plastic Prototypes(MPP) Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) Selective Laser Sintering(SLS) QuickParts also provides injection moulding services. We’re contemplating what… Continue reading 3D Systems Acquires A Service. Again

STL 2.0 / AMF Advances

The 1980’s era STL file format most commonly used for 3D printing has been quite successful, but it does have issues, some of which will become more acute in the future when 3D printing technology advances. To rectify the situation, discussions have been underway for some months to develop a new standard, initially referred to… Continue reading STL 2.0 / AMF Advances

Laser Sintered Orthopedic Implants

Some of us require special orthopaedic implants to correct the scourge of “flat feet”, and as such they must be custom-made to fit each person’s foot. You might think this is a perfect candidate for 3D printing technology, which can produce customized implant shapes on demand. This is precisely what EOS has done with their… Continue reading Laser Sintered Orthopedic Implants

Tissue Engineered

While there have been several experiments attempting to achieve the almost unbelievable feat of printing actual human organs, there has been a breakthrough development by researchers at Cornell. The title of their paper tells it all: “Direct Freeform Fabrication of Seeded Hydrogels in Arbitrary Geometries”. Ok, maybe that’s not entirely clear. Here’s how we’d interpret… Continue reading Tissue Engineered

BotMill Makes Some Moves

3D Printer kit manufacturer BotMill has been making some serious moves to expand their business in the past while. In a discussion with BotMill Chief Gil Mayron, it was revealed that: BotMill now has a bigtime reseller on their team: Robot Shop, who now offer BotMill’s Axis 3D printer for sale on their heavily… Continue reading BotMill Makes Some Moves

Everyone Can Be On Cloud9!

We’ve learned that AnarkikAngels has just released a new release of their easy-to-use haptic 3D modelling software, Cloud9 v2.1 – but this one has no time limits. As far as we can tell, this means it’s free for use. According to Ann Marie Shillito of AnarkikAngels: Up to now we have limited the license for… Continue reading Everyone Can Be On Cloud9!

BfB Prints Clay!

Following up on last week’s amazing feat of printing mashed potatoes, the scientists at Bits From Bytes in Bristol have modified a RapMan 3D printer to use porcelain clay. In the brief experiment, they successfully printed a model head. While clay seems like an obvious choice for an unusual 3D printing material, we’re wondering… Continue reading BfB Prints Clay!

Furniture Fair Contest at Shapeways

Shapeways is running an interesting contest in which the winners will be given a spot at the 23d annual International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York City this May. Why would you want to enter this contest? Because the ICFF is: North America’s singular showcase for contemporary design, the ICFF draws the most intrepid… Continue reading Furniture Fair Contest at Shapeways

Flexible PLA is Available!

Following up on our earlier post, we’ve located a supply shop that can provide actual flexible PLA. This is not the same material that Vik Olliver is developing; he’s working on a formula to make PLA slightly “bendy”, able to take at least some level of shock, or perhaps a bullet or two. The material… Continue reading Flexible PLA is Available!

Flexible PLA?

There’s a lot to like about 3D Printing in PLA plastic: it’s recyclable, made from totally organic material, prints with a very elegant sheen, it doesn’t warp when printing, sticks well to properly prepared print beds and even has a fantastic sweet aroma too. And did we mention it doesn’t warp? It doesn’t warp!! … Continue reading Flexible PLA?

ZCorp Ships 6,000th 3D Printer

We don’t know a lot about 3D printer manufacturer ZCorp’s financial results, as they are not publicly traded. But there is evidence they’re having as much success as the two public 3D printer manufacturers. ZCorp announced they’ve shipped their 6,000th 3D printer, an incredible milestone. But that’s not all – they also announced record… Continue reading ZCorp Ships 6,000th 3D Printer

Early Retirement With A 3D Printing Investment?

Winning in the stock market is conceptually easy: buy low, sell high. But the secret is all in the timing. When do you buy? The answer is straightforward: when the stock is when you think it hits bottom. During the stock market crash of 2008 many stocks were in extremely distressed states, and were… Continue reading Early Retirement With A 3D Printing Investment?

MCOR Expands in Europe

MCOR, makers of the world’s only paper-based 3D printer, has just spread their wings across Europe by announcing relationships with two key equipment resellers. Germany-based mStore will sell MCOR’s product in Germany (obviously) as well as Austria and Switzerland. Meanwhile, Netherlands-based 3D Worknet will service Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy. Luxembourg, Norway, Russia… Continue reading MCOR Expands in Europe

MakerBot Takes A Bath?

Most 3D printing companies and services experiment by introducing new products from time to time, and MakerBot is definitely one of the most experimental of companies. This time they’ve introduced something quite radical that may revolutionize personal 3D printing in the future: Dissolvable print material. How does it work? Their new polyvinyl alcohol plastic… Continue reading MakerBot Takes A Bath?

New Colors At Shapeways? Again?

Leading consumer 3D print service Shapeways has added Indigo and Dark Grey color options to their awkwardly named but highly descriptive “strong and flexible” plastic material. It seems not a month goes by without the inventive mandarins of Shapeways announcing new colors or material availability. Don’t get us wrong – we think this is the… Continue reading New Colors At Shapeways? Again?

3D Printed Shoes Nominated For Award

You might have seen those amazing 3D printed shoes produced by Materialise. Well, they’re so impressive they’ve been nominated for the Brit Insurance Design Award, and as such they’re being exhibited in London until 7th August of this year at the Design Museum. According to Materialise: Within the fashion category are nominees Naim Josefi… Continue reading 3D Printed Shoes Nominated For Award

3D Printing Stock Companies Doing Well. Really Well

After looking through the recent financial statements from the two publicly traded 3D printing companies, 3D Systems and Stratasys, we’re very impressed. Both companies are flying high. 3D Systems, for example, had revenue rise from a mere USD$112M in 2009 to a massive USD$160M in 2010, with profit rising from USD$1M to USD$20M. Stratasys was… Continue reading 3D Printing Stock Companies Doing Well. Really Well

3D Printing Potatoes With The RapMan

The folks at Bits From Bytes are experimenting with Food Printing, which seems to be a growing area of interest for hungry 3D print operators. BfB have evidently been trying to print mashed potatoes, something we haven’t seen before. They seem to have been successful, judging from the images and video. BfB is collaborating with… Continue reading 3D Printing Potatoes With The RapMan

Shapeways Gets Own 3D Printer

For some reason we thought Shapeways was a 3D print service. Well, it is – but now they *really* are because they now have their very own 3D printer on site. Previously all of their work was outsourced to a variety of partners. Outsourcing printing isn’t that surprising, given the massive selection of materials they… Continue reading Shapeways Gets Own 3D Printer

Ten Year Old Speaks on 3D Printing

3D Printing always gets people excited whenever we mention it, and this excitement is all over. Consider the YouTube video of ten year old Schuyler St. Leger speaking at Ignite Phoenix, in which he describes with some passion his thoughts on 3D printing and the maker community. His hugely entertaining talk is definitely worth viewing. … Continue reading Ten Year Old Speaks on 3D Printing