We ran across an interesting service that provides post-print finishing services, specifically in metal. According to their “about”: 3DDC is the first European company to set up a metal coating facility specifically for products that have been produced using rapid prototyping (RP) and rapid manufacturing (RM) technologies. The Metaliseā¢ itā¦ process was developed by AT-3D… Continue reading Finish it with Metal
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EBF3: Electron Beam Freeform Fabrication
Electron Beam Freeform Fabrication is yet another approach for 3D printing, this time developed by the rocket scientists at NASA. They have good reasons for developing EBF3: to save weight on cargo flights to the International Space Station. You can imagine the hefty pile of spare parts that must be carried up yonder and stored… Continue reading EBF3: Electron Beam Freeform Fabrication
The Metal Process – Revealed!
We found a great video from Shapeways that takes you through the entire process of producing a metal object. From initial printing in stainless steel powder (with organic binder), through curing and bronze infusion that leads to the final item, you’ll see it all. Missing: the finishing stage. Get out the brushes and start polishing!… Continue reading The Metal Process – Revealed!
Extreme Redesign 2009
Dimension Printing has announced their annual “Extreme Redesign” competition for 2009-10. The annual event highlights innovative designs created by students. As usual, there are several categories of entries: High School College Engineering Art & Architecture This year Dimension have added a new feature: a US$250 Green Bonus, awarded to a student “whose design best displays… Continue reading Extreme Redesign 2009
MolƩculaire: The 3D Molecular Food Printer
Electrolux Design Lab is an annual competition where some truly amazing designs emerge. This year a 3D printer showed up among the various science fiction appliances. The idea is to pop open the top and insert a cartridge containing the print material, erm, the “food”. At the lower end a print head moves about the… Continue reading MolĆ©culaire: The 3D Molecular Food Printer
Objet Has 48
Forty-eight different kinds of digital materials, that is. They’ve just announced a eighteen more materials to add to their ever-increasing set. From their press release: The pack provides 3D printing users with 18 new materials comprised of combinations of VeroWhite and TangoPlus or TangoBlack Plus, the latest addition to the Tango Family. The new materials… Continue reading Objet Has 48
The World’s Largest Parts Service?
We received notification that 3D Systems, makers of various manufacturing devices, including the V-Flash and ProJet series of 3D printers and most recently acquirers of Desktop Factory, have done it again. From their press release, 3D Systems: ā¦ announced today that it acquired the assets of Acu-Cast Technologies, a leading provider of rapid prototyping and… Continue reading The World’s Largest Parts Service?
Developments in 3D Geographic Printing
RapidToday has a great article exploring several developments in the ability to print geographic scenes in three dimensions. We’ve written about this before, as a few point services offer this capability. But it’s hard to do. In RapidToday’s article, you’ll learn about: How one of the authors of NASA’s World Wind open source geographic project… Continue reading Developments in 3D Geographic Printing
CloudFab Invites
For those of you who missed it on Friday, Fabbaloo has an exclusive code to enter the private beta of CloudFab, a new consumer to maker link-up service. You can read all about CloudFab in a discussion with their founder, Nick Pinkston, right here!
Printing the NanoSeeker
Once in a while we read another piece about 3D printing and it causes us to step back and take stock of what’s really going on. This time it was an entry from Jon Hyland’s blog, where he’s been using a newly acquired 3D printer. Jon appears to be one who’s pushing the edge of… Continue reading Printing the NanoSeeker
Pirillo on 3D Printing
New video shows tech maven Chris Pirillo explain 3D printing to his online audience. Pirillo explains the basics, from 3D modelling, scanning to layered deposition techniques. He goes to great lengths to ensure his audience understands that you can’t actually replicate functioning devices, like a TV remote control. Well, not yet, anyway. Via YouTube
It’s Fabulous in the Cloud!
Today weāve managed to score an exclusive interview with Nick Pinkston, one of the principals behind a new distributed fabrication service: CloudFab, a new way to link makers with those who need things made. CloudFab is about to launch a private beta very soon, so letās find out what itās all about. Fabbaloo: Tell us… Continue reading It’s Fabulous in the Cloud!
The Weather Bracelet … and More
In another unique way of transforming an aspect of reality into 3D objects, fabricator, Flickr user mtchl has prepared an unusual bracelet, formed from the weather in Canberra, Australia. The circumference of the bracelet represents the 365 days of the year in question (July of 2008 through end of June 2009), and the outer edge… Continue reading The Weather Bracelet … and More
Could the Trabant ReMaterialise?
The Trabant, for those of you who aren’t familiar with it, was an automobile made in East Germany before reunification. For more than 30 years, the Trabant was one of the most popular vehicles in East Germany, and in fact when the wall came down in the late 1980’s, Trabants carried many migrating East Germans… Continue reading Could the Trabant ReMaterialise?
DAVID-laserscanner ā¦ in a Box!
We wrote about the free DAVID scanner software quite a while ago, and while it was inexpensive, it was mostly software and lots of instructions for how to set up your scanning platform and buying the appropriate cameras and lasers. Now that’s changed – A1 Technologies, the folks behind the very inexpensive RapMan 3D printer,… Continue reading DAVID-laserscanner ā¦ in a Box!
Glass Printing
We’ve seen many different materials being used as the print medium for 3D printers, including the obvious (titanium, wax, plastic) and a few rather bizarre ones (paper, nutella, pasta and sugar), but we haven’t really noticed Glass yet. Until now. According to PhysOrg.com news: A team of engineers and artists working at the University of… Continue reading Glass Printing
3D CSI
The popular crime TV show, CSI: NY, recently featured a 3D printer in an episode. In this sequence, CSI Detective Mac Taylor in white lab coat is using a powder-based 3D printer to reproduce a bullet apparently embedded in a horse, in order to identify the bullet. (Who writes this stuff???) We suppose one could… Continue reading 3D CSI
Creaform UNIversal Laser Scanner
Creaform have just released a new entry-level version of their 3D hand scanner: the UNIScan. Their well-known hand-held scanner has been around a while, but this version is substantially less expensive (USD$28,900, approximately 30% less expensive than their current low price model, the REVScan) and provides good value. Specifications: Weight: 980 grams (2.1… Continue reading Creaform UNIversal Laser Scanner
The “Most Complex Join”
The picture illustrates very clearly the problem here: how to fit the tabletop to the stand? By using a monstrously complicated join pattern! How can one create such a complex pattern? Designer Daniel Dendra used audio from Cairo streets to generate the intricate patterns, and then mapped them first to the tabletop and then a… Continue reading The “Most Complex Join”
Ooo! Smooth!
Shapeways has added a new material: White Glaze, or as we like to call it: Smooth! Evidently the white coats in Shapeways’ secret lab toiled for weeks trying various concoctions until they came up with White Glaze, which exhibits terrific reflective characteristics as you can see in the image above. By the way, White Glaze… Continue reading Ooo! Smooth!
The 20,000 Meet the 6,000
This is quite interesting – a partnership between Ponoko, producers of a terrific personal manufacturing and sales platform, and ShopBot, makers of inexpensive CNC Routers. What they’ve done is create a new gathering place for both designers and fabricators: 100KGarages.com. The idea is that designers (or shoppers) on Ponoko who find a great design now… Continue reading The 20,000 Meet the 6,000
MCOR Exhibits in the UK
MCOR, who market a unique 3D printer based on paper media, have been doing significant marketing lately. This time they are participating at the 100% Design Exhibition in London, taking place at Earl’s Court between Sept 24th and 27th. This “world-class interiors show” apparently draws more than 25,000 attendees. According to MCOR’s press release, they’ve… Continue reading MCOR Exhibits in the UK
RedEye’s iTunes
RedEye On Demand (Stratsys’s 3D print service bureau) compares 3D print services with the iTunes store in their recent newsletter. While one service delivers digital music and other digital content, the other delivers physical objects. How can the two be compared? Both have been highly disruptive to existing business models. iTunes, of course, cut… Continue reading RedEye’s iTunes
FOC Left and Right
The most recent issue of Freedom of Creation’s newsletter describes a project they undertook for ASICS, in which custom packages were designed and made containing half of a secret object. The idea was to promote the notion of bringing two sides together, an admirable philosophy for any environment. From FOC: Asics launched their Left… Continue reading FOC Left and Right
Wanna Git SKDBing?
Bryan Bishop tells us of some very interesting work taking place at the Automated Design Lab at the University of Texas at Austin. As is often the case, when two different worlds collide, interesting things happen. This time it’s software management and manufacturing. In the highly complex world of software management there are monstrously… Continue reading Wanna Git SKDBing?
First Surface
An interesting new service popped up this month: First Surface. According to their website: First Surface delivers innovative precision surface finishing services using a proprietary Micro Machining Process (MMP). Working from its own treatment labs, First Surface is poised to provide manufacturers with custom finishes to meet their specifications. And First Surface has an… Continue reading First Surface
Anyone Care for a Used Objet?
That’s right – Object Geometries, makers of the Connex series of 3D printers now has a trade in program! According to their application form: We are excited to offer you a new trade-in program, designed so you can benefit from even more innovative and advanced Objet 3D printing capabilities. Though your Eden 3D printing… Continue reading Anyone Care for a Used Objet?
Jon Seeks a Service
Fabbaloo reader Jon writes: I have a pair of orthotic shoe inserts that are maybe a foot long and 4 inches wide. They are made out of a hard plastic. Do you think they can be scanned and “printed” in a softer, more rubbery plastic? ā¦ I switched health insurance companies and my new provider… Continue reading Jon Seeks a Service
ZCorp Translates
ZCorp just launched a new version of their website – in Russian! If you happen to be able to read Russian, you might want to try it out here. According to their press release: The new site demonstrates Z Corporationās commitment to Russia and the Russian-speaking regionās superior technologists with a wealth of new… Continue reading ZCorp Translates
Stratasys Adds Four More
Four more build materials, that is. Specifically made for their Fortus 900mc 3D printer, the new materials have improved properties: SABIC’s ULTEM 9085: Strong and lightweight, this material’s claim to fame is its resistance to heat, smoke and toxicity. We suspect it might show up in aircraft. PC-ABS: Similar to existing materials, but has added… Continue reading Stratasys Adds Four More
Fabber’s Market
RapidToday has an interesting analysis of a new service, Fabber’s Market, which intends on linking designers and manufacturers – with an emphasis on 3D printing and other heavy-duty rapid manufacturing tech. The service operates somewhat like eBay, where you must choose between the roles of a “Supplier”, where you seek clients for your parts,… Continue reading Fabber’s Market
That’s My Face!
Well, that’s not any of us in the picture above – it’s actually from a video of the “Thats My Face” 3D print service. It’s another head-print service that we’ve been writing about lately. It’s one of the many face-oriented print concepts they provide. Pricing: “From USD$109”. Like the others, it seems that you… Continue reading That’s My Face!
TerrainPrint!
You always wanted a piece of land you can call your own, right? Now you can do that – and carry it with you, too! TerrainPrint is a service that: TerrainPrint can create a 3D model of anywhere on earth. Use our software which works just like Google Earth to choose where you would… Continue reading TerrainPrint!
Biomedical Solutions Materialise
We ran across an interesting video that talks about Materialise’s ventures into the medical manufacturing space. We’ve posted about medical uses of 3D print tech before, but Materialise specializes in this niche, and have for quite some time. Materialise produces 3D software specifically designed for this market: Mimics, which can transform medical 2D CT or… Continue reading Biomedical Solutions Materialise
3D Futurism
Futurist Brenda Cooper writes of a revelation she recently had when discussing the current state of 3D print tech. She was shocked to see how fast things are evolving with the technology – “I found myself dreaming of 3D printers for a few days. After all, I could already buy one.” She correctly points out… Continue reading 3D Futurism
The 3D Package
Interesting article at Packaging Digest that explains how several packaging companies are using 3D printing tech to prototype various types of intricate packages and retaining structures for parts. Some companies look at new technology such as 3D printing and think outside the box, but these companies are literally thinking OF the box. One of… Continue reading The 3D Package
3D Printer Choices
We bumped into a comprehensive list of 3D printers, and a detailed chart comparing all currently available 3D printing options costing less than USD$20,000. The chart is prepared by Castle Island, who offer a paid newsletter, “The Additive Fabrication Spy” (USD$199/yr) covering in detail the 3D print industry. The printers covered include the Do-It-Yourself variety… Continue reading 3D Printer Choices
Wear Your Land!
Some people just seem to carry the weight of the world on their shoulders, but now everyone can by trying out Fluid Forms’ new Earth Brooch product. It’s a silver cast of a topographical section of the earth’s surface that you select. Once you’ve picked your area, a 3D printer produces a three… Continue reading Wear Your Land!
Objet Rubberizes
Objet, makers of the Polyjet line of 3D printers, have introduced “CastaldoĀ®ās VLTā¢ [Very Low Temperature] molding rubber”, which should greatly simplify the making of jewelery prototypes. The new material should permit the creation of jewelry molds in “as little as one hour”. The advantage of the rubber is that it cures at a… Continue reading Objet Rubberizes
Model Factory Hiro Uses 3D Printing
Model Factory Hiro, a Japanese maker of highly intricate model car kits makes good use of 3D printing technology in their development process. In Mech9’s video and extensive write up, we can see the entire process from choice of car (Misao Hiro, President: “Something I like”) to the final preparations. Model Factory Hiro primarily… Continue reading Model Factory Hiro Uses 3D Printing
(Un)Limited Design Contest!
The Dutch FabLabs have organized a design contest that may be of interest to Fabbaloo readers. According to Bas van Abel, Creative Director of the Waag Society: Why put up with existing products when you can make your own? Today, powerful digital fabrication technology lets you design and build almost anything, and we want… Continue reading (Un)Limited Design Contest!
Desktop Factory Resurrected
We’ve been following the saga of Desktop Factory for quite some time, beginning with its promising start attempting to manufacture the first commercial high-quality 3D printer with a price less than USD$5,000. More recently though, they’ve had severe financial difficulties, possibly related to the economic climate of late. Last month CEO Cathy Lewis announced… Continue reading Desktop Factory Resurrected
EGO3D Busts!
Recently we’ve been babbling about the idea of making 3D Busts of yourself or your friends, and it turns out there is a service that does just that: EGO3D, which launched on 2 July of this year. This amazing service uses only three photographs (inevitably, police style: front, left and right profiles) to generate… Continue reading EGO3D Busts!
SOLIDO Video
We bumped into a great video detailing the operation of the new SOLIDO SD300 Desktop 3D Printer. The video shows all steps from design through our favorite moment (striking the “Build” button) through to pulling the completed printed object out of the device. Via YouTube
Puzzling BitTorrent and 3D Printing
There’s a fascinating interview of Bram Cohen on the Shapeways Blog. That name sounds familiar? It should, because he’s the inventor of BitTorrent, that famous or infamous highly efficient network transfer protocol that swept the world and changed how big media companies operator forever. But what’s this got to do with 3D printing? Turns… Continue reading Puzzling BitTorrent and 3D Printing
Is It What I Want?
Mateusz Pozar of Monocultured poses an interesting question: what happens when 3D printing technology advances sufficiently such that the printed objects are just as good as the original? His answer: If the remix and DIY approach will hold true for personal fabrication (fabbing) then you’ll be forced to shift gears from “is it what it… Continue reading Is It What I Want?
2.1D Printing with Roland’s VersaUV
It’s not exactly a 3D printer, but we’d call it a “2.1D” printer. Basically it’s an inkjet printer equipped with UV-hardened “ink” that can produce a raised effect on the 2D printouts. Another way to look at it is that the VersaUV LEC-300 is a 3D printer with a Z-axis of only 0.04mm. The… Continue reading 2.1D Printing with Roland’s VersaUV
MakerBot Peeks into Mainstream
Crain’s New York Business.com has published a mainstream article on MakerBot, makers of the first affordable and easy-to-use 3D printer kit. We’re very pleased to see articles like this, which bring 3D printing tech to those who’ve never had exposure. Fabbaloo readers have likely had the experience of explaining current 3D technology capabilities to… Continue reading MakerBot Peeks into Mainstream
Desktop Factory Ends. Or Begins?
We’ve written much about Desktop Factory over the past year and a half. They’ve attempted to build the first commercial 3D printer priced at less than USD$5,000. And they almost made it happen. Recently they’ve undergone severe financial issues that brought the company near to collapse. In fact, according to their most recent news… Continue reading Desktop Factory Ends. Or Begins?
Stratasys Results
As is customary (and required), Stratasys announced their latest quarterly results. We like to examine them because we suspect they may shed light on the state of the 3D printing industry. And it turns out that their revenue was still down as compared to the same quarter last year, USD$24.6 vs. USD$31.3 in 2008. Unit… Continue reading Stratasys Results
Anticipating 3D
Interesting post on JIN SAOTOME’S DANGEROUS BLOG! where John Mallamas describes his state of anticipation of the arrival of practical 3D printers. He’s a “self taught action figure/toy customizer” who saw a sample printed object and realized the potential for his efforts. Interestingly, he predicts a scenario similar to one we’ve espoused: What does this… Continue reading Anticipating 3D
MathMorph
This intricate model was designed by Jonathon Anderson by adapting the MathMorph techniques. MathMorph? It’s described this way: First, a series of computer models were generated by computer algorithms, cellular automation, and mathematic equations using Maya and Houdini programs. These computer models were fabricated as physical prototypes by the Stratasys FDMTM (Fused Deposition Modeling)… Continue reading MathMorph
Build Your Own 3D Scanner?
You know you want to. Now you can! There’s a relatively straightforward approach for making an inexpensive 3D scanner using stuff you probably are sitting beside right now, and several websites detail methods of doing so, some even including software you can use yourself. The approach is described by Jean-Yves Bouguet and Pietro Perona… Continue reading Build Your Own 3D Scanner?
From 3D, Comes Infinium!
The University of Michigan has spent more than USD$1M to produce the above pictured Infinium solar car, which is to take part in the World Solar Challenge race across Australia. Yes, “solar” means the sun will be the only fuel for this bad boy during the 1,800 mile six day race. Why are we… Continue reading From 3D, Comes Infinium!
From Hands to Model
ZCorp, one of the leading 3D Printer manufacturers, also makes and markets 3D Scanners, such as the ZScanner 800 shown above. In a recent article posted by The Engineer Online and republished by ZCorp, they describe the case of Portuguese product development firm Protosys. Protosys recently assisted a boat manufacturer who had difficulties with hull… Continue reading From Hands to Model
Yet Another Kind of Repository?
With all the chatter about 3D model repositories lately, we thought we’d add another twist to the puzzle. Could a virtual world act as a 3D model repository? There are many virtual worlds available today, including Second Life and grids built on its open source cousin OpenSim, the upcoming BlueMars, There and others. Each of… Continue reading Yet Another Kind of Repository?
Simple Wins. Every Time
A brief post on the Daily PLM Think Tank Blog resonated with us. The topic was the complexity of interfaces to PLM/PDM systems (Product Lifecycle Management and Product Data Management). The same problem infects many of the 3D design tools used by those who 3D print. The interfaces are often overwhelming. We’ve seen many times… Continue reading Simple Wins. Every Time
New MCOR Video
The mysterious paper-fed MCOR Matrix 3D printer has made its TV debut on the Irish Late Late Show in this 5 minute interview. The founders of MCOR, Conor and Fintan MacCormack, explain the basics of 3D printing to the presenter, but along the way there were a few tidbits of interest: MCOR claims to… Continue reading New MCOR Video
3DFilter: Just a Small Box
Many years ago you might recall the early days of web search, where there were several services competing to be the best search engine. At the time, the leaders might have been yahoo, altavista and others. But they were bested by upstart Google. Not only did Google provide excellent results, but they tried a… Continue reading 3DFilter: Just a Small Box
MakerBot Distributes Itself!
The buzz over MakerBot, the budget 3D Printer is clearly intense. Sufficiently intense that demand for their amazing device has almost outstripped their manufacturing capacity. However, being an inventive crew, they’ve come up with a pioneering solution that we don’t think has been attempted before. They are crowdsourcing a portion of their manufacturing. Even… Continue reading MakerBot Distributes Itself!
netfabb Studio 4.2
Yes, it’s just been updated and available for download. netfabb is a lightweight Windows software tool specifically engineered for additive design. netfabb offers a “basic” version completely free of charge, which includes these features, among others: Advanced model browsing and STL management Automatic part fixing, mesh editing and analysis Measurements and quality assurance Packing… Continue reading netfabb Studio 4.2
Shapeways Bends Metal… and Thinking
Shapeways offers metal prints with their new stylus generator, and we think they are quite amazing. The level of detail present in the image above, combined with the metallic material evokes a feeling we don’t get too often when examining 3D printed objects: it’s not plastic! It’s metal, obviously, but it just *looks* so… Continue reading Shapeways Bends Metal… and Thinking
Resistor Video
A short video highlights the methods of NYC Resistor, a hacker group who’s goal, according to founder Bre Prettis is to: Figure stuff out Break things to understand how they work Share whatever we learn Make stuff with whatever we can find In the video, Bre shows off the groundbreaking MakerBot 3D printer kit.… Continue reading Resistor Video
New 3D Economy?
Futurist James Cascio recently examined the effects of “Desktop Manufacturing” in Fast Company, and we tend to agree with all of his key points: Manufacturing is likely to undergo the same kind of “creative destruction” that the printing and media industries have gone through Desktop manufacturing will spur more local production, especially for esoteric objects… Continue reading New 3D Economy?
Designer Power
An interesting concept got stuck in our heads, as you can see above. It’s from the Power Of 8 project in London, UK. What is it? According to their site: In this collaborative project, 8 people from different walks of life work together to build a public conversation about their individual aspirations for a… Continue reading Designer Power
Human Brain!
Admit it: you did something wrong sometime in your life and someone told you: “Get a brain!” Well, now you can! A recent .STL upload to the Thingiverse model repository does just that. It’s a 3D model of an actual human brain! Now before you speculate on exactly *how* Jordan Miller obtained this anatomical… Continue reading Human Brain!
Busted!
In amongst last week’s torrent of posts from Shapeways, there was one describing a cool HP Lovecraft bust printed on their 3D print service. You can buy one yourself for USD$17 or USD$33 for the 12 or 15cm versions, respectively. However, this got us thinking again. Shapeways (and other 3D print services) often try… Continue reading Busted!
CATIA Design Visualization Contest
A post at 3D Perspectives shows some of the great entries into their recent Design Visualization Contest. While some of the visualizations were well beyond the capability of 3D printers alone today, others might well be attempted on current technology, such as Dominik Wolm’s second place winning entry above. Via 3D Perspectives and YouTube
Hands-On Design. For Real!
Josh at SolidSmack posts on a just-discovered video of a truly amazing development: using touch-screen multi-touch gestures to design a 3D model! The software is from SpaceClaim Corp, makers of SpaceClaim Style, Engineer and Viewer. If you look closely in the HD version of the YouTube video, you’ll see they are demonstrating with SpaceClaim… Continue reading Hands-On Design. For Real!
The Ultimate 3D Printer?
Week after week, our research reveals new features available from 3D printer manufacturers. Printers may be faster, higher quality or have other terrific enhancements. But we realized that sometimes a great feature is available only on from one manufacturer, and we’d like to see it combined with a feature from another manufacturer. That got us… Continue reading The Ultimate 3D Printer?
Designers: Needed or Not?
We’re written on this topic before, where the proposition goes something like this: 3D printing devices and technology become widespread; either they’re installed in homes or are in easily usable nearby service centers Consumers use the devices and begin designing their own models. But, they’re 3D laymen The need for designers begins to dry up.… Continue reading Designers: Needed or Not?
OBJET’s PolyJet Technology
We’re written about OBJET’s amazing PolyJet technology before, but recently we ran across a great video that shows several truly interesting applications of this feature. For those who haven’t heard of it, PolyJet enables the printer to use more than one kind of material during a single print run. In other words, you might have… Continue reading OBJET’s PolyJet Technology
Cisco 3D’s 10 Times Weekly
We all know that designers are more frequently found using 3D printers today, but there’s a wonderful article in TCT Magazine describing Cisco’s experience. Cisco, of course, is the mega-congolomerate that makes networking equipment among other ventures. Much of their product line involves physical objects that are installed in data centers or homes. Those objects… Continue reading Cisco 3D’s 10 Times Weekly
See It Now – 3D Printing on Paper!
The unusual MCOR Matrix 3D Printer is now revealed in a video taken at a public exhibition in Dublin. MCOR informs us that this is in fact the “first and only” official video of their product, a 3D printer that uses plain old paper as its media. Yes, that’s right – paper is used… Continue reading See It Now – 3D Printing on Paper!
Light Fixture Design
What do you get when you combine barnacles, a ZCorp 450 3D printer and garlic? A really cool light fixture, of course! Designer Zach Kron created this curtain panel after extracting the fundamental design elements from the biological items and aggregating them into the above light fixture. Zach’s experimentation leads him to this tip:… Continue reading Light Fixture Design
Battery Printing
Leslie Gordon of Machine Design.com writes on the possibilities of printing electronics, and specifically batteries. We all know that 3D printers can easily create cases for electronics, but what about the electronics themselves? This is difficult to achieve on traditional one-material-at-a-time 3D commercial printers, but experiments being undertaken by the fab kit makers is… Continue reading Battery Printing
3D Printing Really Is Less Expensive
ZCorp issued a press release describing the experience of Converse, the footwear manufacturer using ZCorp technology in their design process. The interesting bit is that they’ve stated the savings they’ve found in actual dollars. Here’s the results from the press release: They “can produce a shoe model in two hours, or nearly 30 times… Continue reading 3D Printing Really Is Less Expensive
3D Parts On Demand
Shapeways has announced a great new feature for their 3D printing service that should benefit designers. It’s a 3D parts model database. The database currently has approximately thirty items in it, including a variety of nuts, sprockets, gears, bearings, coils and other fundamental parts. We suspect these components would be useful in many designs.… Continue reading 3D Parts On Demand
Big Things Brewing at Ponoko
Ponoko slipped out a very interesting admission last week regarding a new capability they’ve been working on for two years. It’s the ability to plug your own fabrication device into their network! Apparently in Q4 of 2009, they’ll release the new function, while they are searching for beta testers today. According to their blog… Continue reading Big Things Brewing at Ponoko
Following Fabbaloo
Our blog began in November 2007, and now has many readers, yourself included. But we’d like to point out there are several ways to read us: From the website via your favorite browser By feed subscription. Add this link to your favorite reader (ours happens to be Netvibes, after a slight diversion to Streamy –… Continue reading Following Fabbaloo
A Different Input
The process seems straightforward: Design a model with 3D Modeling software Tweak the 3D model for printing suitability Send the 3D model to a 3D printer Play cards while the printer buzzes Enjoy your printed model The fundamental element of this sequence is the 3D model itself, that digital artifact that represents the desired… Continue reading A Different Input
Fab@Home Video
With all the buzz lately around MakerBot, RepRap and other kits, don’t forget about Fab@Home, one of the senior kit initiatives. We’ve found a video that shows the entire Fab@Home sequence, from assembly of the printer itself to printing operations. Printed: Cup, Watchband, Chocolate! Via YouTube
Chicago: A Modeled City
The Chicago Architecture Foundation is presenting “Chicago Model City” from now until November of this year. It’s a gigantic and highly detailed three-dimensional model of the windy city’s downtown towers. Note the relative size of the individuals in the image above. City models are not a new phenomenon – but in the past their… Continue reading Chicago: A Modeled City
3D Printing Up For Award
Could a 3D Printing company win the prestigious World Technology Award? MCOR technologies, whom we’ve written on several times in past months, is nominated in the IT Hardware (Corporate) category for their amazing plain paper-based 3D printer. The World Technology Awards are an annual event featuring numerous awards in many categories: … nominees are… Continue reading 3D Printing Up For Award
MakerBot to CES?
MakerBot, the spirited startup who’ve begun selling a USD$750 3D Printer kit, stated something ominous on their blog: “CES 2010 Here We Come!” CES is, of course, the famous annual Consumer Electronics Show, typically attracting well over 100,000 attendees to their Las Vegas exhibition. We’ve experienced the intimate pleasure of squeezing into McCarran Airport… Continue reading MakerBot to CES?
Ponoko Overwhelmed
Ponoko, the innovative self-manufacturing service recently opened a new hub in San Francisco to more rapidly serve their North American clients. Previously, Ponoko had only one manufacturing hub at their secret New Zealand base. Now we find that demand for service at the USA hub has apparently outstripped Ponoko’s capacity: With our new USA… Continue reading Ponoko Overwhelmed
Stamp Your Website!
Recently we described Shapeways’ new rubber stamp service, where images are transformed by software and 3D printing into a custom rubber stamp. But now we find a truly innovative use of rubber stamps that brings that pre-20th century technology into the 21st. It all has to do with something called “QR Codes”. They are… Continue reading Stamp Your Website!
Kali Bites
Those guys at MakerBot weren’t kidding when they said the MakerBot was hackable. We thought they meant tweaking the build sequence or experimenting with unusual print media. No, they meant teeth. And lots of them. Via Flickr
A 3D Collision
There’s a sweet spot somewhere in the middle of the 3D printer market being pursued from two directions. That sweet spot could be described as the place where inexpensive 3D printers could be obtained by any small business or any interested consumer, where supplies and designs are easily found and used. The 2D printing… Continue reading A 3D Collision
3D-Bioplotter
envisionTEC produces a rather unique device called the “3D-Bioplotter”. No, it does not print small mammals. Instead, it produces scaffolds. What are scaffolds? Tissue engineering often requires a “scaffold” on which to grow living tissue, otherwise, we assume, you’d end up with misshapen blobs of living goo. The scaffolds represent the desired final shape… Continue reading 3D-Bioplotter
Nanofactories
Those of us who follow the 3D printing space can envision the likely near future: Bigger build chambers Different, more functional materials (did we say Metal?) Faster printing operations Better resolution Lower costs Greater public awareness More 3D print service bureaus Vast libraries of 3D models But what happens after that? In an provocative post,… Continue reading Nanofactories
MakerBot at Google TechTalk
Enjoy a great 35 minute video of Adam Meyer, one of the three founders of MakerBot, speaking at TechTalk. Adam provides a good overview of the “juggernaut of 3D industry”, Makerbot Industries. He speaks of the inspiration for MakerBot, beginning with the RepRap project and eventually leading to MakerBot’s first product, the Cupcake printer.… Continue reading MakerBot at Google TechTalk
Aureus!
envisiontec’s latest 3D printer is the Aureus, announced in March of this year. The desktop 3D printer (although we’re never certain whether “desktop 3d printers” could actually sit on a desk, this one included since we don’t know the device’s weight) offers some interesting features: A built-in PC permits offloading some processing to the… Continue reading Aureus!
Kraftmark’s FabEpoxy
If you were to purchase a big-time commercial 3D printer from one of the industry leaders (Dimension, Objet, ZCorp, etc.) you get more than just the printer. You also get the right (or obligation) to purchase specialized print media from the manufacturer, sometimes at high prices. The quality is good, as the media is… Continue reading Kraftmark’s FabEpoxy
ZCorp Gets Harder
New material is now available from one of the most popular 3D printer manufacturers: ZCorp. They recently released zp150, a “premium composite build material” that can be used in their 450 and 650 3D printers. What is so interesting about this material? 40 percent increase in āgreenā strength for improved ease of use 40 percent… Continue reading ZCorp Gets Harder