Of course we do! We at Fabbaloo would have little to write about otherwise. However, there are those who may think otherwise. We’ve been looking at tech from Total Immersion, a company that produces Augmented Reality. What’s Augmented Reality? Simply put, it is a way of adding virtual objects to real life situations. In reality… Continue reading Do We Really Need 3D Printing?
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Everyone Needs A Print Service!
We were perusing Kijiji for some, um, stuff, and we ran across a very interesting advert: Address: Toronto, ON View mapDate Listed: 21-Dec-08 Hi everyone,Im offering best prices for 3D prints , manufacturing , solid works objects. From design objects to complete done 3D product (3D PRINT). Feel free to contact me on my email.… Continue reading Everyone Needs A Print Service!
Shapeways Bumps into Ponoko
Shapeways, the European-based 3D print service that is working very hard to make it easy for laymen to produce 3D objects, is stepping into Ponoko’s territory. Ponoko is a repository of 3D models and designs that you can manufacture on demand. Ponoko also allows you to sell prints made from your plans to anyone perusing… Continue reading Shapeways Bumps into Ponoko
SporeZ
Z Corp has taken another step to integrate its equipment into the personal manufacturing cycle. Recently they struck a deal with Bentley software to link with the construction industry. Now they touch the gaming space by providing a way to easily 3D print your Spore creations. Um, what’s Spore again? The Spore Creature Creator is… Continue reading SporeZ
Top 3D Printing Stories of 2008
During 2008 we published a ton of articles on 3D printing and we’ve noticed a few major stories and trends that were hidden within the daily posts. Let’s try and sort out the big items that came to be during 2008 right here: The rise of sophisticated specialized printing services. Let’s face it; there have… Continue reading Top 3D Printing Stories of 2008
Can You Print a Stadium?
Yes you can, although it will be a touch smaller than you’d expect. That’s precisely what HOK Sport is doing. They are one of the world’s leading architectural firms specializing in major sports facilities. Among their projects is the London 2012 Olympic Stadium. According to a recent Z Corp press release, HOK recently acquired… Continue reading Can You Print a Stadium?
Where’s Your Face?
It was inevitable. Both people and companies are using 3D print tech to wander into all manner of niche services, and today we’ve found another one. The eponymously named ThatsMyFace.com now offers the ability to produce 3D statuettes of your own face! It appears to be an entirely online process, in which you start by… Continue reading Where’s Your Face?
40,000 Lights are Better Than One
That’s the claim made by Huntsman Advanced Materials, who recently announced the availability of their new Araldite Digitalis. It’s a stereolithography machine that produces 3D objects by selectively hardening pixel-sized areas of a resin. Most stereolithography machines utilize a laser to gradually “draw” each layer of pixels into the media resin. Huntsman Advanced Materials has… Continue reading 40,000 Lights are Better Than One
Easton Predicts A Consumer Manufacturing Future
Tom Easton, Professor of Science at the Thomas College in Maine has just released a PDF of an interesting article he’s written for The Futurist magazine. Easton suggests that the combination of low-cost 3D printing technology and new business approaches triggered by commonly available internet connectivity will result in a new world for consumers. Gone… Continue reading Easton Predicts A Consumer Manufacturing Future
There’s Another Stereolithography Vat In Town
While we’re on the topic of giant stereolithography printers, we’ve just been tipped onto a video of another. This one is the iPro 9000 XL, evidently the largest commmercially available SL system. Amazingly, the build chamber is a 59 inch long vat full of liquid manufacturing media. Somehow we just don’t find SL videos as… Continue reading There’s Another Stereolithography Vat In Town
Shapeways Bends Metal
Not for everyone, however. The metal is bent only for the winner of their “metal 3D printing contest”, which closes on the 15th of January. Apparently the alloy metal is quite expensive and is being done only for the contest winner: The material that is used is also more expensive, because it is a Titanium… Continue reading Shapeways Bends Metal
RepRap Video
This wonderful video by Kyle Ronan shows a home-built RepRap printer in action. RepRap is an open source project that intends on providing the design for an easy-to-build 3D printer that is capable of reproducing all the parts that it’s made from. And, it’s actually already done this! Still needs some assembly, however. Back to… Continue reading RepRap Video
Digital Stone Rises in China
We’ve seen examples of interesting uses previously, and here’s another one. Four sculptors were to build exhibits for the Digital Stone Exhibition in China. The purpose of the exhibition was to demonstrate the links between the 21st century digital world and traditional stone carving techniques. Western artists first produced some 20 3D models, “Digitally Sculpting”.… Continue reading Digital Stone Rises in China
Z Corporation Leads the Way
You might not be familiar with “Project Lead The Way”, but it’s a: not-for-profit organization that promotes pre-engineering courses for middle and high school students. PLTW forms partnerships with public schools, higher education institutions and the private sector to increase the quantity and quality of engineers and engineering technologists graduating from our educational system… Today,… Continue reading Z Corporation Leads the Way
Stratasys Smoothes it Out
One of the shocks encountered by those first seeing a 3D printed object is that they aren’t always smooth. We’re all used to seeing and feeling totally smooth/polished plastic objects, and when we handle or look closely at a 3D printout we instantly recognize roughness. This often puts the objects in a bad light,… Continue reading Stratasys Smoothes it Out
Giant Prototypes
The typical 3D printer of today has a rather small build chamber, usually 10 cm, give or take. The more expensive devices have somewhat larger build chambers. Parts that don’t fit within build chambers must be broken down into smaller pieces that are manually assembled later. But an anonymous tipster put us on to a… Continue reading Giant Prototypes
Print That Chopper!
Stratasys’s service division, RedEye RPM produced a rather eye-catching surprise at the recent Autodesk University conference in Las Vegas. Yes, it was a complete, life-size custom designed motorcycle made entirely from parts produced on a 3D printer. According to their press release: The prototype chopper included many fully functional parts, including: articulating steering, illuminating headlights,… Continue reading Print That Chopper!
A 3D Spime Gateway in Every Home
We noticed an interesting article on the Cisco blog, where author Dennis Mancini postulates the future of Spime technology. Spime? Proposed by author Bruce Sterling, a Spime is “a type of technological device that, through pervasive RFID and GPS tracking, can track its history of use and interact with the world,” according to Wikipedia. While… Continue reading A 3D Spime Gateway in Every Home
Guitar Technology Fabbed
GooCart reports on a musical adventure involving his ’98 R8 honeyburst guitar and 3D printing. Evidently the pick guard did not fit, so he “scanned the ’53 GT guard into my 3d software and modified it for the R8, then I used our 3d printer for this cutting template”. The new part (pictured) will be… Continue reading Guitar Technology Fabbed
Automake Makes
What do they make? Objects you design, or at least “co-design”. It’s a very interesting concept, somewhat reminiscent of the approaches used by Shapeways, Ponoko and other consumer-oriented 3D print services. Here’s the issue: printers can produce objects from 3D models, but where do the models come from? It turns out that you need quite… Continue reading Automake Makes
Shapeways Goes Brown!
The consumer-oriented 3D print service Shapeways has improved their shipping capability by teaming up with UPS. UPS is well-known for their ability to efficiently organize shipping operations in an end-to-end fashion, and it looks like Shapeways has taken up their offer. This means they will be able to ship printed objects anywhere in the world… Continue reading Shapeways Goes Brown!
Desktop Factory Update
Desktop Factory is a startup company seeking to build a usable 3D printer at a cost of less than USD$5,000. Their device is still under development, but we’ve seen some tantalizing evidence that they are getting closer to a release date, touted to be in 2009. They’ve recently issued a status update, as they usually… Continue reading Desktop Factory Update
The Objet Eden260V
Objet, a manufacturer of 3D printers renowned for their ability to print objects using more than one type of print media, have announced a new device that goes well beyond their previous devices. The Eden260V is a small-footprint 3D printer suitable for office location. Larger-scale Objet devices used their unique “Polyjet Matrix Technology” to print… Continue reading The Objet Eden260V
ShapeShop 3D Modeling Software
A new 3D Modeling tool has emerged: ShapeShop! It claims: ShapeShop is a new 3D modeling and design tool with a fun, easy-to-learn interface. Sketch-based shape creation and editing tools make it simple to quickly translate your ideas into a 3D shape, and drag-and-drop decal compositing makes texturing simple. Best of all, ShapeShop is free!… Continue reading ShapeShop 3D Modeling Software
World’s First Consumer 3D Camera – And it Prints, Too!
Before you get too excited, it’s not what Fabbaloo readers might expect or want. Yes, the camera, pictured above, will indeed take 3D pictures as it clearly includes stereoscopic capability. And it (or an associated printer) will produce “3D Prints”. But they are actually 2D prints that merely look 3D, like holograms. According to the… Continue reading World’s First Consumer 3D Camera – And it Prints, Too!
The 3D Printer in You
No, we’re not suggesting there’s a ZCorp 510 next to your left kidney. But there ARE 3D printers inside of you. Many of them. That’s a least the analogy suggested by Phun Yan Yan, guest blogger for the NUS School of Computing in his article “Biology for Computer Scientists”. He proposes: This predefined sequence of… Continue reading The 3D Printer in You
AutoCAD 3D Bonus Pack
A new Bonus Pack is available for AutoCAD via your subscription. In fact, there are three available. The first provides extra measurement techniques, PLINE and rotation functions and a few other items. The second permits PDF underlays. The one we’re interested in is the third, the “3D Printing Bonus Pack”. What does it do? Well,… Continue reading AutoCAD 3D Bonus Pack
Two Hours to Stargate!
Madox has done the impossible – building a real Stargate in less than two hours! Heh, it’s not a *real* Stargate, but it is a true 3D object you can hold in your hand. And the iris does open and close, mostly. What’s this all about? Engineer Madox observed the recent 66% off materials cost… Continue reading Two Hours to Stargate!
Desktop Factory Test Sample Video!
BadBrad is back at it, and this time he’s somehow managed to infiltrate the secret Desktop Factory laboratories to try out the highly anticipated, world’s first sub-USD$5,000 3D printer. The object he chose to print was an iPhone case, and as you’ll see in the video, it’s a little bit rough around the edges. But… Continue reading Desktop Factory Test Sample Video!
Ponoko’s Designmake Prime
Ponoko, one of the most innovative self-manufacturing services we’ve yet seen, has come up with a new service for makers: DesignMake Prime. It’s similar to their regular service, which allows individuals to create designs, manufacture products and even sell them online. But the the new service has some key differences. Here are the new bits… Continue reading Ponoko’s Designmake Prime
An Interview with Sculptor Bathsheba Grossman
We’ve noticed Grossman before and been very impressed with her work. Now we find a full-length interview with the sculptor from Desktop Engineering Online, in which she explains how she came to use 3D print tech. Highlights we observed: Grossman feels that she was “backed into” working with 3D printing as a way to accomplish… Continue reading An Interview with Sculptor Bathsheba Grossman
Oklahoma 3D Printing
We’ve seen 3D printers appear at many educational institutions across the world and reported on them previously. Here’s another example, this time at Oklahoma City Community College as reported by the Pioneer Press. While this type of event has been repeated many times over in other schools in the past and soon in the future,… Continue reading Oklahoma 3D Printing
ReFabbing!
Tipster Jean-François Allie points us at a couple of very interesting projects that exploit 3D fabbing in a way we hadn’t considered: ReFabbing! The idea springs from observation of tremendous waste deposits of unused manufactured gear. For example, what happens with that old toothbrush, cell phone or other non-functional plastic thingy? They get thrown into… Continue reading ReFabbing!
ProMetal
Clank! That’s what you will hear when you drop an object printed by the ProMetal 3D print service. Their tagline says, “Functional direct metal parts printed directly from CAD”. According to their website: Using a sophisticated 3-D direct metal printing process, artists are able to produce fully functional metalwork projects from CAD drawings in… Continue reading ProMetal
Print Your Christmas Angel
We’ve already seen 3D print services try to overcome the “I don’t know how to build a 3D model” problem by specializing in pre-made designs. Typically minor customization is offered, such as color, size or adornments. These services have been very successful, as the majority of the population doesn’t have a hot clue how to… Continue reading Print Your Christmas Angel
Individual Olympic Shoes Fabbed
3D Systems recently assisted Loughborough University in the UK to produce highly customized shoe soles for olympic athletes. Researchers observed that the margin of victory in recent Olympic track events has been vanishingly small, sometimes as low as 0.01 seconds. You can’t get much closer than that. But a close margin of victory means that… Continue reading Individual Olympic Shoes Fabbed
Sketch Furniture Into Reality
Swedish design firm FRONT is pioneering a rather unusual method of developing 3D furniture models. They use 3D motion capture techniques to trace the movement of a sketch artist’s pen in three dimensions. The sketch artist, in this case, is drawing life-size furniture in empty space. Once you have a 3D model, what might you… Continue reading Sketch Furniture Into Reality
David Scans in 3D for Free!
Well, almost. The David 3D Laserscanner software can do some of the job using equipment you probably have lying around your shop. You need a handheld laser, a calibration backdrop, a good webcam and the David-Laserscanner software running on a Windows PC. Yes, we did say “handheld laser”. The system requires your hand and arm… Continue reading David Scans in 3D for Free!
Round the Clock FigurePrints
You’ll recall FigurePrints, the 3D print service that specializes in transforming your World of Warcraft avatar into an actual, hold-in-your-hand figurine. It seems they’ve generated a bit of interest among WoW players. So much so, that they’ve decided to operate 24×7 nonstop punching out WoW figurines! Their Vancouver, Canada production plant now has eleven… Continue reading Round the Clock FigurePrints
Stratasys Defies Economic Swing
Stratasys, makers of the Dimension line of 3D printers, recently released their 3rd Quarter 2008 financial results. Surprisingly the company produced “record third quarter revenue”, some 16% higher than the previous year. Their income also increased 15% year over year. Now, we don’t know how you feel, but it seems to us that there is… Continue reading Stratasys Defies Economic Swing
New 3D Printer Video
We just bumped into this fascinating video which takes us briefly through the entire lifecycle of a 3D print process. In this case, the goal is a to produce a small pile of wrenches. A wrench is designed on a CAD system The CAD model is sent to the printer The printer produces the objects… Continue reading New 3D Printer Video
Organ Printing Pondered
We encountered several reports dealing with the fantastic idea of printing human organs using 3D printing technology. The premise is to deposit cells in the appropriate shape. Various prototypes have been attempted, including liver tissue, branched vascular trees and cartilage. The bad news is that the experts predict it could be decades before such… Continue reading Organ Printing Pondered
A Jeweler’s First Time
MadeByDan reports on his first experience using 3D print technology. Ironically, it was not jewelry that came out of the printer, but instead o a simple platter. We expect that he’ll soon be printing jewelry models too. He used Shapeways, a popular 3D print service. Here’s the part we found most interesting: I thought it… Continue reading A Jeweler’s First Time
Shapeways Repackages!
Those model railway fans we wrote about the other week are pressing hard on Shapeways. They’re attempting to print a model of a Dutch steam heater car, and have had some difficulties. Some parts were not printed correctly, and the standard Shapeways packaging actually distorted the shape of the parts while in transit. Not Good!… Continue reading Shapeways Repackages!
Desktop Factory is Ponoko’d
Our friends at the revolutionary manufacturing service Ponoko recently interviewed Cathy Lewis, CEO of Desktop Factory, the company attempting to market a quality 3D printer for less than US$5,000. We’ve interviewed Ms. Lewis here, but Ponoko covered different areas. Some highlights we noticed: Desktop Factory believes their big opportunity lies in providing 3D technology to… Continue reading Desktop Factory is Ponoko’d
Take the Train from Shapeways
Shapeways, that upstart 3D print service that seems to be everywhere these days has another set of fans: model railway builders. A recent blog post on the Shapeways blog tells the tale of how they were contacted by Dutch specialist train builders who wanted to “test whether 3d printing could be a feasible option for… Continue reading Take the Train from Shapeways
3dtotal GrowIts a Service
The variety of 3D printing services continues to astound us. This time we have a partnership arrangement between 3dtotal (“The CG Artist’s Homepage) and GrowIt (a rapid prototyping print shop). While the basic mechanics of the printing are provided by GrowIt, there is extensive instructions and assistance to model builders available on the 3dtotal site.… Continue reading 3dtotal GrowIts a Service
Paper Launched!
Remember mcor technologies? They are the folks building a 3D printer that uses plain old ordinary paper as its media. In fact, the printer is beyond development – they launched it two weeks ago at the TCT Exhibition in Coventry, UK. According to their press release: The Mcor Matrix is the only 3D printer in… Continue reading Paper Launched!
CoReFabulous Chair!
Designer Amar Eloueini’s CoReFab chair is constructed using digital design and produced using 3D Print technology. At first glance the chair is certainly interesting, but it gets more intriguing when you learn how it was designed: CoReFab#71 is one chair within a series of infinite possibilities. This chair is the result of a computer designed… Continue reading CoReFabulous Chair!
RepRap Chicken and Egg: Solved?
RepRap, the project aimed to develop a 3D printer that can reproduce itself, has an obvious problem. Where do you get the first printer from, if you don’t have one to print itself? Yes, you could order a kit, or make it from plans. But there is now an easier way: using the Ponoko personal… Continue reading RepRap Chicken and Egg: Solved?
3D Printing from Amazon?
That’s the proposition by Tony Hirst in his blog, OUseful.Info. Tony examines the digital assets of Amazon and their growing electronic distribution mechanisms. And then the eureka moment: So here’s where it struck me: Amazon is increasingly capable of turning digital bits into physical stuff. This is good for warehousing, of course – the inventory… Continue reading 3D Printing from Amazon?
Alaris 30 Video
We’ve uncovered a video that demonstrates the new Objet Alaris 30 3D printer. We wrote about this amazing new device last week, but you must see the video. They obviously highlight all the statistics, but videos of the resulting objects really brings it home for us. They’ve printed objects that fit together, and fit together… Continue reading Alaris 30 Video
3D Printing is Name This’d
Yeah, that’s an awkward title for certain. But it’s about an interesting name validation on NameThis. For those that are not familiar, Name This is a Web2.0 service that crowdsources the generation of names for products, services, sites or groups. If you want a name, you post a description and then Name This’s users have… Continue reading 3D Printing is Name This’d
Z Corp Engages Bentley
Z Corp announced a special arrangement with Bentley, makers of various products related to building, construction and architecture. Bentley’s software is used by a majority of such firms, and the deal is to ensure smooth use of Z Corp’s 3D printers from Bentley’s software. We have two observations on this development: Z Corp is making… Continue reading Z Corp Engages Bentley
ModelMakers Doomed?
An interesting thread at pushpullbar.com debates the future of professional architectural modelmakers. These are the guys that take the blueprints or designs from the architects and create miniature 3D representations in cardboard or other materials. The proposition posed by poster Curlz says: As a current student of a modelmaking degree and hoping to get a… Continue reading ModelMakers Doomed?
Z Corp 650 Announced!
Z Corp has reacted to the Objet Alaris 30 announcement with one of their own: the shiny, new ZPrinter 650! Here are the highlights we found interesting: Color! ZPrinters have done color before, but the 650 adds a separate black print head, which means the 650 will punch out truly black stuff. This is so… Continue reading Z Corp 650 Announced!
Print3D Service
Yet another 3D printing service has appeared, Print3D. While there are numerous 3D services, we thought Print3D had an interesting angle on price quoting. Rather than sending your model to the service for analysis and subsequent quoting, they instead provide a plugin to your favorite 3D modeling tool that can develop a quote for you… Continue reading Print3D Service
Print Your Sketchup Objects
Google Sketchup, by far the most popular 3D modeling tool in the known universe, now has a great way to send your Sketchup model to a 3D printer. Simply install the new plugin from CADspan and you’ll be able to generate solid .STL files suitable for submission to most 3D print services and printers. The… Continue reading Print Your Sketchup Objects
Sell Property With 3D
We know that architectural firms produce 3D printed models of their designs in order to sell the proposal to a client, but what about more common realty activities? The estatepromo service goes all out by providing full 3D services to “Investors, Developers and Estate Agents”. They use “3D models, architecture visualisations and 3D printing” to… Continue reading Sell Property With 3D
Objet’s Alaris 30
Objet has announced a rather interesting new 3D printer, the Alaris 30 Desktop 3D Printer. The key features are: 30x20x15cm (11.81 x 7.87 x 5.9in) build chamber 600x600x900 dpi resolution, typically 0.1-0.2mm accuracy normal office or home power desktop format 36 hours of continuous unattending printing UV light curing during printing for immediate results Gel… Continue reading Objet’s Alaris 30
It’s All Wax
3D Systems has announced the ProJet CPX 3000 3D printer, and it’s claim to fame is that it can produce objects of fine detail using wax as the medium. This is a pretty specialized device, as you can’t just print a wrench or part requiring stability and strength using wax. And yes, it won’t sit… Continue reading It’s All Wax
Shapeways Goes Dark
No, they’re not shutting down; rather they are expanding by now offering a new hi-res black color for your 3D prints. The busy 3D print service has added this new color just in time for the Halloween object printing season. (Side note: is there a “halloween printing season”? Hmm.) According to the press release: Black… Continue reading Shapeways Goes Dark
The Cost of a Wrench
It’s apparently USD$49, including USD$14 that was “dissolved away” according to a post at the ChiefDelphi forums. Team222badbrad produced these wrenches on a Dimension 1200es, and the discussion contemplated the price of production. Poster Leav asked the inevitable question: “how much would it cost to fill the entire volume of the machine with plastic?… I… Continue reading The Cost of a Wrench
Rock Band 2 is 3D!
We posted about Rock Band 2 preparing a way to produce a 3D print of your character, and now it’s actually available to the public! If you head over here, you’ll see a section entitled, “Make Bandmates”, where you can “Order custom-made, detailed 6 inch figures of your characters!” However, commenter Lawman points out that:… Continue reading Rock Band 2 is 3D!
The Sarrus Linkage
Forest Higgs posts an interesting approach to a key problem in building a self-replicating 3D printer. This of course, is the main objective of the RepRap project. They’ve actually performed a replication already, but there are always ideas for improvement. That’s where the idea of a linkage comes in. As you might imagine, the 3D… Continue reading The Sarrus Linkage
3D Printing Hits BusinessWeek
Ubiquitous business magazine BusinessWeek recently wrote an overview of the 3D printing space. While there will be little news to Fabbaloo readers, it’s interesting that as time passes this technology is appearing increasingly frequent in the major media. BusinessWeek’s audience includes most of the major corporate executives, and we wonder what plans may be hatched… Continue reading 3D Printing Hits BusinessWeek
Behind the Sign
A few months ago we wrote on Karsten Schmidt’s work to produce a 3D sign to be used for a magazine cover. Today we ran across a rather long interview with the artist, who explains how the process was done. Highlights: Used a ZCorp 450 printer, which seems to be the most common device these… Continue reading Behind the Sign
Fabbaloo by Email!
We’ve deployed a new feature to help those who cannot use a newsreader to access Fabbaloo. If you roll your eyes to the right, you’ll see a friendly “Subscribe Via Email” box, in which you may enter your email address. Once registered, you will automatically receive an email every day from Fabbaloo containing that day’s… Continue reading Fabbaloo by Email!
Stratasys Gets Harder
New print media materials were recently announced by Stratasys for use in their FDM 360mc and FDM 400mc 3D printers. Both PC and PC-ABS are available for the 360mc, while the 400mc may now use ABSi and PC-ISO. According to the press release: PC is particularly useful for design or manufacturing engineers in the automotive,… Continue reading Stratasys Gets Harder
Mainstream 3D Breakthrough?
We wrote a while ago about the Discovery Channel’s new show, “Prototype This”. Well, it turns out that’s not the only show in town using 3D print tech. The CSI franchise, well known for pushing the envelope on various technologies, is doing the same with 3D tech. The premiere episode of CSI: NY involved the… Continue reading Mainstream 3D Breakthrough?
Extreme Redesign Repeats
For the fifth year Stratasys’ Dimension 3D Printing Group is running their annual Extreme Redesign: The Ultimate 3D Printing Challenge. According to the press release, it’s: a global design and 3D printing contest for high school and college students that awards scholarships to the winners. Over the past four years, more than 2,500 entries have… Continue reading Extreme Redesign Repeats
Berman Visits Desktop Factory
Our friend A. Michael Berman recently did an onsite inspection of Desktop Factory’s progress in their Pasadena labs. According to his post: I got a chance to make a brief visit to their office/lab in Pasadena a couple of weeks ago, and was very pleased to see the tremendous progress they are making. Long-time Fabbaloo… Continue reading Berman Visits Desktop Factory
Dreaming of 3D Food
We’ve written on the concept of a chocolate printer, and others have produced candy objects, and perhaps even eaten them. But blogger Andy Skeleton goes quite a bit farther, as he ponders various possibilities offered by 3D Food Printing. Among his perhaps not-so-crazy ideas: Print ice cream in layers containing messages, such that the “eater”… Continue reading Dreaming of 3D Food
The Birds!
Alfred Hitchcock could never have imagined what might happen to his work 45 years after it was released. And neither could we. An anonymous design student used frames from Hitchcock’s famous thriller, “The Birds” to create a 3D work of art portraying “an abstraction of suspense and tension between the mother and the woman of… Continue reading The Birds!
PrintAPart.com
We’ve encountered another interesting 3D print service. Most of them specialize in one aspect or another, and PrintAPart is no exception. They are squarely addressing the hobbyists, modelers and jewelers market, with ample examples of each. They use a 3D printer (unnamed, but perhaps Fabbaloo readers can identify it from the limitations specifications. Maximum part… Continue reading PrintAPart.com
Desktop Factory Update
Those amazing guys making the sub-$5,000 3D printer are still working hard to make their product perfect. Recently they issued an update on their progress, and here are the highlights as we saw them: They are “printing parts consistently and reliably” “We have not encountered any new or significant problems” “We have improved part quality… Continue reading Desktop Factory Update
A Distributed Manufacturing Timeline
We encountered an interesting discussion about the future of 3D printing as it applies to manufacturing. Currently items are generally mass produced in distant factories, and then shipped to your local big-box store where you can pick them up at low prices. The theory is that this model will only persist for items that truly… Continue reading A Distributed Manufacturing Timeline
Towson Report
We read Susannah Naree’s eclectic report on a visit to Towson University by designer Arthur Hash, who is one of many who are using 3D technology (among other techniques as you will see) to develop unique and innovative artistic designs. Hash’s website provides a rather unique dynamic display of his recent works, including the baby… Continue reading Towson Report
Mouse Brains
We don’t know about you, but if we received a 3D Mouse Brain as an anniversary present, we’d be pleasantly surprised. That’s exactly what happened when LiveJournal blogger Molliebatmit opened her first anniversary present. She writes: And yesterday, Adam came home with my anniversary gift. Now, some people might get a necklace or a pair… Continue reading Mouse Brains
Railway Fabbing
No, we don’t mean that we are making *actual* railways on 3D printers! Instead we’re talking about the miniature hobbyist kind of railway. Previously we reported on the beginnings of railway fabbing, but now it seems to be taking off. A big hat tip towards Jeroen Vanderschaaf who pointed out “Fabbing”, a relatively new blog… Continue reading Railway Fabbing
It’s Christmas Already at Stratasys!
Fabbaloo received several notices of a press release from Stratasys in which they announced they have: given over $400,000 to schools across the nation to underwrite the purchase of 3D printing systems for the 2008-09 school year. More than 40 schools received the $10,000 grants Stratasys’s program emphasizes providing 3D equipment to schools and students… Continue reading It’s Christmas Already at Stratasys!
C.STEM 2008
We missed this one until just now, so it’s already in progress: C.STEM 2008, a conference held this week in Torino, Italy. The conference’s theme is “Breeding Objects”, and offered an interesting selection of presentations and demonstrations. From their website: C.STEM 2008 – BREEDING OBJECTS presents a selection of visionary projects anticipating future developments in… Continue reading C.STEM 2008
Claytronics!
We recently posted on the topic of “Programmable Matter” as a futuristic concept. Well, it *is* futuristic, but perhaps it’s a little bit closer than we think. We encountered “The Claytronics Project” at Carnegie Mellon, whose mission is: This project combines modular robotics, systems nanotechnology and computer science to create the dynamic, 3-Dimensional display of… Continue reading Claytronics!
Cadalyst on 3D Publishing
We spend a lot of time thinking about designs and the technology to print those designs, but what about the notion of publishing designs? Once a model is produced, what happens to that model? Is it kept in a folder somewhere? Is it published on the Internet? What happens to that model once it is… Continue reading Cadalyst on 3D Publishing
What Supports 3D Printing?
We’re thinking not of financial matters here, but “matter matters”. Specifically, the issue of printing overhangs. A 3D printer deposits material layer by layer – and there’s kind of a major issue if there is nothing underneath the layer. Print media falls by gravity and your object doesn’t quite look like it should. Bad. The… Continue reading What Supports 3D Printing?
My Model is Shrinking!
We bumped into Lattice Technology, a company that produces 3D modeling software. What’s the big deal? Actually, it’s a small deal: Lattice uses a unique storage format, XVL, that offers tremendous space savings over conventional 3D storage formats. According to Bill Barnes, GM of Lattice: “Our converters use the industry’s best translation technologies and allow… Continue reading My Model is Shrinking!
The DesignDashboard
This intriguing tool gets more interesting the deeper you look into it. What is it? It’s a handy device to help you discover new design aspects of almost any complex design situation. According to their Q/A: The Dashboard maps design space and then lets you choose a path. Specifically you can use it to… Continue reading The DesignDashboard
Contour Crafting Video
Some months ago we reported on a really large 3D printing operation: Contour Crafting. This company is building a building-sized 3D printer. What for? Printing buildings, of course! The device (a large sized industrial machine) is essentially a gigantic 3D printer that uses concrete as its print media. By printing the digitized model of a… Continue reading Contour Crafting Video
So You Aren’t A 3D Modeler?
This is indeed an issue for the emerging 3D print services: people want to make things, but few are experienced 3D modelers capable of designing anything, let alone something terrific. Some companies have gone about solving this problem by having a wide selection of different professionally designed items, such as Ponoko or more recently Shapeways.… Continue reading So You Aren’t A 3D Modeler?
We’re Not Big Enough!
The 3D Print market is clearly at a very early stage of development. As such, there are fewer buyers than in a mature market. This means the costs of R&D must be absorbed by those fewer buyers. In other words, it’s gonna be expensive until there’s a lot more of us. To put this in… Continue reading We’re Not Big Enough!
Z Corp is the Fastest!
The fastest 3D Printer? Perhaps, perhaps not. But they are evidently one of the “fastest growing companies” in America, according to Inc.com, a very popular daily blog for entrepreneurs. Each year Inc.com selects the 5,000 fastest growing companies and publishes the results. This year Z Corp was positioned at #2734 of the 5,000. Stratasys, the… Continue reading Z Corp is the Fastest!
Is a 3D Print High Quality?
Many who encounter 3D printing initially react badly when they realize that the print resolution on today’s 3D printers is not so great. For fine details, the capability just isn’t yet there, at least with the lower cost 3D printers and services. However, that does not mean 3D printing is unusable. You simply… Continue reading Is a 3D Print High Quality?
More Avatars on the Way
Previously we’ve seen services that print World of Warcraft avatars (Figureprints) and others that print Second Life avatars (Fabjectory), but now comes a new service that can print your Rock Band 2 avatars: Z Corp will produce the avatar figurines on their own equipment in an apparent arrangement with the game producers, who say… Continue reading More Avatars on the Way
Digital Vases
Artists continue to exploit 3D technology. This week we encountered a report from Digital Collisions that spoke of New York based designer Joshua Davis, who recently used 3D tech to produce stunning vases, including the one pictured above. Davis evidently used Maya to produce the 3D model, which was then printed. The vase… Continue reading Digital Vases
3D Tissue Printer Video
We bumped into a rather interesting video explaining and actually showing the process of using a 3D printer to deposit live cells! The video explains the main issue with tissue deposition: lack of a scaffold causes the deposited cells to lack structural integrity; they flop all over. The 3D printer enables them to… Continue reading 3D Tissue Printer Video