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?
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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
Can We Paddle into 3D?
Fabbaloo was recently contacted by a reader with an interesting problem. He’s interested in printing a prototype paddle blade. What’s the issue, you ask? The prototype blade exceeds 20 inches in one dimension (the long axis, obviously) and that is, um, slightly bigger than the typical 10″ build chamber on most 3D print services. Sure,… Continue reading Can We Paddle into 3D?
Programmable Matter
Ok, this is it – 3D Printing is obsolete! No, we’re just kidding. But it could come to pass eventually if the predictions of Intel CTO Justin Rattner come true. ZDNET reports on his keynote address at the Intel Developer Forum, in which he discussed a concept called, “Programmable Matter”: The idea of… Continue reading Programmable Matter
Lego Polar 3D Printer
Yes, it is apparently possible to build a working 3D printer out of Lego blocks! Don’t believe us? Check out the link below to Instructables, where Gene Hacker provides a step-by-step process for creating the device. Interestingly, he used a Polar coordinate system rather than the traditional XYZ scheme, because “I didn’t have… Continue reading Lego Polar 3D Printer
The ProJet™ SD 3000 Printer
3D Systems has announced the availability of their new ProJet™ SD 3000 Printer, which is said to be directed to “professional in-office model-making by design and manufacturing businesses of all sizes”. The 254Kg (560 Lb) office-friendly unit comes in three models: HD – Capable of “UHD” resolution of 656x656x800 DPI (xyz) SD… Continue reading The ProJet™ SD 3000 Printer
Z-Corp Spreads
Z-Corp, makers of the very popular Z-Corp 3D printers used by many 3D print services, recently announced they have struck a deal with EDST, the “largest PLM and 3D Visual Simulation solutions provider in India”. Evidently EDST works with some 650 clients across India in a variety of industry segments. What does this mean? We… Continue reading Z-Corp Spreads
Shapeways Gets Wired
Wired Magazine’s GeekDad blog reviewed the Shapeways 3D printing service. We’ve covered them before, and found Shapeways to have very interesting characteristics, ranging from their business model to their extremely easy-to-use friendly interface. By and large Wired agrees, but they did identify three key disadvantages of Shapeways (or similar services): It’s expensive. The cost per… Continue reading Shapeways Gets Wired
Discovery Channel Prototypes!
Along with Mythbusters, Discovery Channel is set to debut a new series entitled “Prototype This!” in October this year. The show involves four genuine experts in a variety of prototyping and related skills. Each episode they attempt to “rapidly prototype” something interesting. CNet managed to get a reported on scene at their studio… Continue reading Discovery Channel Prototypes!
Shapeways Creator Launched
Last week Shapeways, one of the newest and most interesting consumer-oriented 3D print services, launched a new beta of their user-friendly “Shapeways Creator” software. It is their answer to the difficult question of enabling laymen to design their own 3D objects without having to learn complex 3D software (which Shapeways also accepts, if you… Continue reading Shapeways Creator Launched
Gartner Predicts 3D Printing Future
Each year Gartner, a leading IT research firm, posts a list of technologies they feel that will dramatically affect business over the next decade. This year’s list includes Web2.0, Service-Oriented Architecture and Virtual Worlds, which are all expected to have near-term impact. Meanwhile, RFID, Surface Computing, Augmented Reality, Mobile Robots and our favorite topic, 3D… Continue reading Gartner Predicts 3D Printing Future
Stratasys Ships FDM 900mc
Stratasys, makers of high-end 3D printers, announced they’ve taken on a “record number of orders” for their newest product, the FDM 900mc direct digital manufacturing machine. In this case, the number is 17 pre-sold units. Now hold, on, you say, 17 isn’t a very big number. Actually it can be a large number. Remember the… Continue reading Stratasys Ships FDM 900mc
The New Way to Take Footprints
We’ve all seen proud parents taking too many pictures of their newborns. Sometimes people even take plaster casts of their tiny feet, preserving their impression in 3D for eternity – like these folks did here. This got us thinking. If it were possible to easily perform a 3D scan of baby’s feet, would… Continue reading The New Way to Take Footprints
3D PreFab Home
It’s not a home, exactly, but at least some components of a prototype home of the future were manufactured on a Z-Corp 3D printer for the “Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling” exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. According to DesignNews on wall: has been fabricated from a… Continue reading 3D PreFab Home
Shapeways Gets Bent
Shapeways, the latest consumer-oriented 3D printing service that’s making a huge splash across the internet, slipped in an announcement last month about a new print media: “White Strong & Flexible”. This unusual material enables designers to make objects that bend! The example shown above illustrates the possibilities. While most printing services do not… Continue reading Shapeways Gets Bent
Motley Fool Questions Stratasys
Motely Fool, a popular financial analysis site, recently examined Stratasys’s quarterly results, which showed a drop in the number of units shipped from the previous year – but also showed higher revenue. Stratasys explains this by suggesting they are moving to a higher-end model, where the 3D printers offer more features – at a higher… Continue reading Motley Fool Questions Stratasys
Indiana Jones in 3D
Desktop Engineering reports that Precision CAD/CAM Systems recently used a 3D Systems ProJet 3000 to produce a mold for an Indiana Jones action figure. Initially they believed the new technology would simplify and speed up their prototyping process (which it undoubtably did), but they discovered that the 3D model was in fact sufficiently accurate to… Continue reading Indiana Jones in 3D
More 3D Printing Videos
We’ve uncovered some interesting 3D printing videos that demonstrate RepRap, Fab@Home and the Shapeways 3D print service, all on a single web page, thanks to The Scientific Indian Via The Scientific Indian
RepRap Child Destroyed!
Readers may recall the RepRap project recently hit a milestone: their machine was able to (mostly) reproduce itself. The resulting child was, of course, of great historical interest. It was taken to OSCON 2008 for show and tell, but apparently did not make it back: Instead of simply smacking the box around a few times… Continue reading RepRap Child Destroyed!
What Z-Corp Ink is Made Of
We’ve been following a thread in the reprap forums that discusses the composition of inks, started by a post linking to two UK Material Safety Data Sheets that evidently show the composition of Z-Corp’s binder and powder. The binder contains: 1-10% Glycerol 0-2% Preservative (Sorbic acid salt) <1% Surfactant <20% Pigment 85-95% Water The powder… Continue reading What Z-Corp Ink is Made Of
Are We Ready for 3D Printing?
Simon Wardley asks (and answers) the question: Why would consumers want mass customisation. The answer to that is probably because that they’ve been primed to want it. In order to limit the commoditisation of physical products, advertisers have been pushing the concept of “designed for you” to the public for the past twenty years. The… Continue reading Are We Ready for 3D Printing?
Extinct Lemur Ressurected by 3D Technology
Scientists from the Stony Brook University Medical Center recently used 3D technology to reconstruct the skull of an extinct mammal. The Hadropithecus stenognathus is a species of giant lemur now extinct, with only two examples of skulls known to exist. The examples were in fact merely pieces of skulls. However, researchers noticed… Continue reading Extinct Lemur Ressurected by 3D Technology
Competition for Desktop Factory?
Desktop Factory, the designers of an upcoming desktop 3D printer that intends on breaking the USD$5,000 barrier, may have competition. It’s the black box on the desk pictured above. What we find interesting is 3D Systems’ new V-Flash “desktop” model, apparently priced at USD$9,900. Twice as much as Desktop Factory’s target price. It’s… Continue reading Competition for Desktop Factory?
3D World Systems Conference
We’ve just reviewed the agenda for the upcoming October 20-23 3D World Systems Conference in Charlotte NC, USA. The conference is intended for professional users of 3D Systems printers, such as the SLA and SLS Pro printers, and is probably not appropriate for hobbyists to attend. However, it’s interesting to note the presentation topics include… Continue reading 3D World Systems Conference
Yahoo! There’s a 3D Yahoo Group!
Exactly – on 22 July a new group was founded on Yahoo Tech Groups. Here’s the description: Moderated group forum for sharing details concerning homebrew 3D printers. Discussion of all aspects of the mechanical, electronic, and software design of your 3D printing system as well as your results is encouraged! The idea here… Continue reading Yahoo! There’s a 3D Yahoo Group!
A Special 3D Printer?
Open Source projects are terrific because they often “fork” spin-offs that develop ideas further and in different directions. We’ve just learned of one based on the famous Fab@Home 3D printer design. This printer is being built by fabCom and control software is being created by EU Edge, from whom we learned about the project.… Continue reading A Special 3D Printer?
3D Print War Rocket is Fail
Hydra’s Lair is the blog of Matt Beauchamp, an art teacher with “a passion for collecting, painting and gaming with miniatures.” He’s been working on miniatures for a pulp sci-fi game, “War Rocket”. But unfortunately this happened: Since the War Rocket ships are smooth and lack the ‘greeble’ of Star Wars style ships,… Continue reading 3D Print War Rocket is Fail
Steampunk 3D Printer
Design students at the Victoria University of Wellington have created a kind of “Steampunk” 3D printer. It’s not clear if this is simply a modification of RepRap or Fab@home, but it seems to do the job. The interesting bit is the main action component: a sewing machine! We suspect this unusual device is… Continue reading Steampunk 3D Printer
An Invitation to Shapeways
Shapeways is a 3D printing service we’ve talked about before. We’ve covered many print services in the past, and the reality is that they are all operations focused around a fleet of 3D printers that must be kept busy. So what’s the difference between them? We think it’s the choice of audience and… Continue reading An Invitation to Shapeways
Radiohead in 3D
Band Radiohead has produced a video that makes extreme use of 3D modeling and scanning tools. The video “House of Cards” is entirely made from 3D scans and models of live actors and actual neighborhoods. Of course, once captured electronically, the actors and neighborhoods can be blown up! Actually the models fragment and blow… Continue reading Radiohead in 3D
3D In Your Dreams
Josh Mings from SolidSmack is a prolific blogger, most often found discussing aspects of 3D modeling with SolidWorks, a popular 3D design package. A recent post on SolidSmack caught our eye, in which Josh described his night obsession with 3D modeling: How are you suppose to get a good nights sleep when your… Continue reading 3D In Your Dreams
Fabr Update
Lou Amadio has provided an update on his quest to design and build his own inexpensive 3D printer. Lou has chosen to bypass the RepRap and fab@home projects and go his own way, and a key design element is to use off-the-shelf parts only. We’ve covered Lou’s adventure before, twice. In this update,… Continue reading Fabr Update
Figurines Printed on the spot in Akihabara
Tsukulus Co. of Japan now offers figurine printing at their Akihabara location in Tokyo. Their ZCorp 450 can punch out figurines based on your own designs. Prices for a typical figurine are 8000 yen, or a little over USD$80 each. This seems like the right thing to do, since the “Akihabara Electric Town”… Continue reading Figurines Printed on the spot in Akihabara
Equipping Your Lab Via 3D Fabbing
Plausible Accuracy proposes a question: Labs often require specialized or one-time parts, jigs or other components. Typically they are roughed together, sometimes “straight out of the trash bin”. The post suggests that lab workers are by definition, “Tinkerers”, and that they are constantly called upon to solve small and unique experimental construction issues. The idea… Continue reading Equipping Your Lab Via 3D Fabbing
Does 3D Fabrication Alter Our Reality?
We all shop at our local stores, and sometimes online too, but our concept of retail may change as a result of rapid manufacturing. A fascinating post by Marta Lyall proposes a transformation in our thinking. Today we visit a physical retail store and shop based on our visual perception of what’s present.… Continue reading Does 3D Fabrication Alter Our Reality?
Can We Print a Human?
That’s the question being considered by Duncan Graham-Rowe of New Scientist. The premise is whether the components that make up each of us can be replaced using modern technology. Replacement bones are discussed, and as we’ve talked about before, they are a very good candidate for 3D print technology: they are relatively small 3D objects… Continue reading Can We Print a Human?
Tiny 3D Trains
An intriguing discussion is taking place on Trainboard.com, a place for model railway engineers to discuss, well, model trains! User ppuinn asks, “Has anyone used 3D printers to make structures for their model railroad?” We think that is an excellent question, since railway engineers will have need for all manner of small plastic building items,… Continue reading Tiny 3D Trains
Additive Manufacturing: The Edge of the Wedge
Stratasys announced the sale of multiple large FDM 900mc 3D printers to “an unnamed Fortune 500 company”. The mysterious company will be using these high-powered devices to produce “plastic parts for end use”. Evidently this form of “Direct Digital Manufacturing” is rapidly increasing for low-volume runs. According to Stratasys CEO Scott Crump: More and more… Continue reading Additive Manufacturing: The Edge of the Wedge
KMODDL?
What is it? It stands for Cornell University’s Kinematic Models for Design Digital Library. A recent post at the Steampunk Workshop pointed out this interesting library of models. Great for Steampunk fanatics with a 3D printer and a mathematical bent. We believe libraries of this type will prove incredibly useful for hobbyist 3D printers. The… Continue reading KMODDL?
Desktop Factory CEO Cathy Lewis, Part 2
Yesterday we posted part 1 of our interview with Desktop Factory CEO Cathy Lewis, in which she discusses some of the key issues facing the start-up company. Today we conclude the interview: Fabbaloo: 3D printing is a new concept, foreign to many consumers. How will you go about educating the public? Or do you foresee… Continue reading Desktop Factory CEO Cathy Lewis, Part 2
Desktop Factory CEO Cathy Lewis, Part 1
Recently we had the opportunity to speak with Cathy Lewis, CEO of Desktop Factory, a company focused on delivering a breakthrough product for the 3D Print industry: an inexpensive desktop 3D printer suitable for use in small businesses, schools and even homes. The sub-USD$5000 device isn’t yet available, but CEO Cathy Lewis and team are… Continue reading Desktop Factory CEO Cathy Lewis, Part 1
Signs of 3D
Another innovative use for 3D printing has appeared as reported by Today and Tomorrow. PRINT magazine commissioned a cover from Artist Karsten Schmidt, who: used the Gray-Scott reaction diffusion model in a Processing sketch (an open source programming language) to generate a 3D typographical model. While this project was intended as a magazine cover,… Continue reading Signs of 3D
Chaos for 3D Printing at 25c3
The annual Chaos Communication Conference takes place in Berlin this December, and the call for papers has been issued. Categories include: Hacking, Socieiy, Culture, Community, Science and Making: The ‘Making’ category is all about making and breaking things and the wonderful stuff you can build in your basement or garage. Most welcome are submissions dealing… Continue reading Chaos for 3D Printing at 25c3
Surface Saturation
Tim Pickup posted a very interesting report on investigations taking place at the Centre for Fine Art Print Research in Bristol, UK. In addition to ideas regarding advanced scanning, modeling and the printing of “impossible” objects such as Klein Bottles, one item caught our eyes: surface quality. Some of the highlights: The researchers apparently… Continue reading Surface Saturation
Super Paper 3D Printing?
New Scientist reports on a very intriguing development involving plain paper. Researchers at the Swedish Royal Instititue of Technology have produced a very strong paper product by leveraging nanofibres that naturally occur in cellulose – a material available virtually everywhere. Conventional paper production involves destruction of these nanofibres, but the Swedish research crew developed a… Continue reading Super Paper 3D Printing?
3D Printing Gets FAT
No, we don’t mean the industry’s been eating too much. Instead we’re talking about a concept recently described by Design News. FAT is an acronym for “Fabricating and Assembly Tools”. Here’s the concept: 3D printers of today often don’t produce objects robust enough for use in retail products However, they do produce objects sufficiently robust… Continue reading 3D Printing Gets FAT
Lyons Recognizes 3D Printing
While some have begun to notice the growing 3D Printing industry, we now see someone focused on the Printer industry in general write on the topic. Jim Lyons, Printing and Imaging industry observer reports on a variety of new printing technologies, including drug, organ, electronics, solar cell printing and of course 3D printing. He… Continue reading Lyons Recognizes 3D Printing
The Most Expensive 3D Model?
The folks at Blossom posted several articles recently detailing their work to design and produce a rather unusual 3D object. It’s a small-scale model of a strange and complex sculpture, as you can see in the rendering pictured here. Evidently the shape of the object baffled the 3D printers as it had a double-layered shell… Continue reading The Most Expensive 3D Model?
Desktop Factory Update
Last week Desktop Factory’s periodic newsletter provided an update on their progress. For those who haven’t heard, Desktop Factory is a startup company that intends on producing a relatively high-quality 3D printer at a cost of less than USD$5,000. At this price point the device will become affordable by a much larger audience than today’s… Continue reading Desktop Factory Update
A Future 3D Media Problem
We’ve been thinking about the future world of 3D printing, where theoretically everyone has a 3D printer at home, probably sitting right beside their 2D paper printer. We predict a printing media issue will develop. What might that be? Consider the current situation of 2D paper printers: your 2D printer requires media (ink & paper,… Continue reading A Future 3D Media Problem
Fabidoo Update
It’s been a while since we’ve looked at Fabidoo, so we recently took a look at their current offerings. For those who haven’t heard of them, Fabidoo is one of many 3D print services now available around the world. Print services are all the same, yet different: they all have a 3D print engine in… Continue reading Fabidoo Update
Protospace
A new lab opens today (25 June 2008) in Utrecht, Netherlands: Protospace. They offer lab-space for prototypers and various equipment, including 3D printers (Z Corp). The style of the operation is “based on the FabLab concept of MIT professor Neil Gershenfeld”. Lab managers can provide advice on the state-of-the-art equipment. Via Protospace (Dutch only)
Tailor-Made Bones… by an AI
The Guardian reports on just-in-time fabbed titanium bone replacements. But that’s not what the story is really about. Siavash Mahdavi faced the problem of producing 3D objects that were both strong and light for robotics applications, where power is limited but robust limbs are also required. Simply making hollow objects was not sufficiently strong, so… Continue reading Tailor-Made Bones… by an AI
Atoms are the New Bits
Hank Williams is one of many who are discovering the world of 3D printing, and he’s written up his thoughts in a recent post. He’s intrigued by the idea of printing his own tools and clothes, but came up with a very profound notion: the truly more open and explosive playing field is in using… Continue reading Atoms are the New Bits
The Tooth Fabber
This one is so obvious we didn’t even think of it until mjarkiver wrote up his recent experience at the dentist. We’ve all been there before, where a section of a tooth is to be replaced. Typically, the remaining surface on the tooth is prepped by leveling and smoothing. Then a mold is obtained by… Continue reading The Tooth Fabber
Hilarious Future of 3D Printing
No, the future isn’t hilarious – that’s the name of the blog we’re talking about today! Hilarious posts an introductory, but well written piece on their view of the future of 3D printing and desktop manufacturing. In the post they, like we, see today’s current cost and effort to achieve home-based manufacturing as difficult barriers.… Continue reading Hilarious Future of 3D Printing
A Strange Fusion of Sculpture and Manufacture
Painting Polygons recently interviewed Chris Cornish, a 21st century artist and designer. According to his website, Chris Cornish works in photography, digital film, sculpture and 3D computer media. Recent film works address aspects of spectacle and reality, locating 3D environments within the illusory space of video. Although presented as moving images, Cornish’s films are marked… Continue reading A Strange Fusion of Sculpture and Manufacture
Wohlers on Home Manufacturing
Terry Wohlers of Wohlers Associates, a consulting firm specializing in manufacturing technology, recently offered his opinion of 3D printing’s effects on consumers. The premise of his article is that he disagrees with the notion of home users being able to print arbitrary parts or equipment on demand. We believe this will indeed occur, but agree… Continue reading Wohlers on Home Manufacturing
Fabbing Fabrics
Technothreads is an exhibition taking place in Dublin, Ireland from 26 April to 25 July 2008. The purpose of the exhibition is to offer a glimpse into the future of fabric, both from a design and technical point of view. From their website: Conceptual Couture concentrates on the use of science by fashion designers at… Continue reading Fabbing Fabrics
Vespa Mod
People continue to find unusual uses for 3D technology, and today’s post is no exception. An article from Instructables describes how a Vespa scooter was modded to include iPod capability: speakers were installed in the Vespa’s fuselage and and iPod holder was added to the handlebars. The parts were made with 3D print technology. Why… Continue reading Vespa Mod
RepRap Reproduces
RepRap is an open project that provides a design for a home-built 3D Printer with a difference: the design is capable of printing itself. We’ve described RepRap before, but this time a significant milestone has been achieved: RepRap has actually reproduced! We have a picture of the results of the reproduction process from the RepRap… Continue reading RepRap Reproduces
10,000 For Stratasys
Leading 3D printer manufacturer Stratasys passed a significant milestone this week: they’ve shipped their 10,000th device. The lucky owner turns out to be PSA Peugot Citroen Brasil, who acquired a FDM 400mc. Via FoxBusiness
Scaling Up the Bear
A frequent item of discussion of 3D printers is the volume of the build space. You’d think that bigger is better, and we generally agree. However, there are times you may wish to print an object that exceeds the size of your build chamber. So, what are your options? Buy a bigger printer? Use special… Continue reading Scaling Up the Bear
A Resolution for Resolution
Last week we enjoyed reading Tim Pickup’s excellent review of several contemporary 3D printers. But hidden inside the article was something that we found intriguing. Tim pointed out a chart that compared the 3D print resolutions of various 3D printers. As you can see in the chart, there are vast differences in print quality between… Continue reading A Resolution for Resolution
ZCorp Expands
One of the most popular makers of 3D Printers, ZCorp is expanding. They’ve announced two developments: A new Vice President of Global Sales A new Director of Business Development In addition, their press release reveals they have added 22 more staff since January, and now comprise 161 staff in total. Analysis: 3D Printing continues to… Continue reading ZCorp Expands
3D Printers Reviewed
Tim Pickup reviews several 3D printers in a recent post. Included: Prodigy Plus ZCorp 310 Plus ZCorp 450 ZCorp Z510 RepRap Fab@Home Desktop Factory V-Flash Tim’s conclusion: ZCorp Z510, based on object quality, speed and media cost. Evidently many 3D print service operations have come to the same conclusion, as we seem to bump into… Continue reading 3D Printers Reviewed
MPP: Metal Printing Process
A interesting article appeared this week describing a new approach to 3D printing being undertaken in Europe by Norwegian research institute Sintef. The process attempts to use powdered metals “based on the process principles of xerographic printers”. This additive process works very similar to that photocopier machine down the hall: by changing the electrostatic properties… Continue reading MPP: Metal Printing Process
3D Printing Challenge: The Winners
Dimension has announced the winners of their annual 3D printing challenge. A few weeks ago we reported on this competition. The challenge is open to students in three categories, and we even selected the entries we liked the best. Did they win? Nope. Well, one of our three choices turned out to be correct, but… Continue reading 3D Printing Challenge: The Winners
EMP 3D Print Services
Another 3D print service: EMP Designs. Like most service bureaus, this UK-based company accepts .STL files and produces the requisite output. No instant quotes here, though. Via EmpDesigns
Nutella Printing
If it flows, melts or powders, someone will eventually stuff it down the media hopper of a 3D printer. Today’s discovery is “Nutella” printing. Yes, it’s true. Darkeye squeezed some of that brown goodness into a fab@home unit and printed elegant edible edifices on bread! For those readers keeping track, here’s a list of the… Continue reading Nutella Printing
Through The Barrier
Previously we reported on a breakthrough in 3D software that permitted Revit 2009 users to easily access 3D Print Services via a special .STL exported for Revit 2009. Now Bim & Beam are collecting sample images of printed 3D objects that result from the use of the new software. Via Bim & Beam