MakerBot announced the availability of ânaturalâ colored filament. A minor announcement perhaps, but thereâs more to the story.
materials
Verbatim Makes 3D Printer Filament?
Who knew? The venerable analog media giant now markets their own 3D printer filament.
Itâs Time for Local 3D Printer Materials
An Irish company hopes to overcome the bane of 3D printer material purchasing: Shipping Costs.
Reusable HDPE Material Introduced by Diamond Plastics
Germanyâs Diamond Plastics GmbH, has introduced a new, reusable plastic powder of laser sintering.
How to 3D Print in Metal – At Home!
Extraordinary 3D printing experimenter Cosmo Wenman has come up with a feasible technique for producing metal objects using a personal 3D printer.
âGreenâ 3D Printer Filament?
Weâre looking at a new proprietary 3D printer filament from Avante Technology that could qualify as âGreenâ. And weâre not talking about the color.
MadeSolidâs Really Tough 3D Printer Resin
MadeSolid announced a new material, the âTough Resinâ for 3D printers using resin technology.
3D Printing⊠With Potatoes?
People have been experimenting with a filament made from solanyl. Itâs a biopolymer thatâs made from potato skin?
The First Graphene 3D Printer?
A startup hopes to develop not only graphene materials for 3D printers, but a 3D printer designed for graphene printing. But weâre not so sure.
Boeing and Lotus Join Forces to Advance AM Processes and Materials
One makes planes, the other designs race cars. It would seem that on face value Boeing and Lotus Racing have little in common aside from a need for speed. However, just beneath the surface both companies rely on different permutations of the same physical processes to achieve success.
i.Materialise Explains Silver 3D Printing
Have you ever wondered how 3D printing of silver or other precious metals is done? i.Materialise explains how they do it.
ColorFabb Sells Pellets!
3D printer material supplier ColorFabb is selling something new: plastic pellets.
New Composite Resins Could Lead to Larger, Stronger 3D Printed Structures
In wind farms across North America and Europe, sleek turbines equipped with state-of-the-art technology convert wind energy into electric power. But tucked inside the blades of these feats of modern engineering is a decidedly low-tech core material: balsa wood.
Graphene Filament for 3D Printing
Graphene 3D Labs is developing a new family of 3D printer filaments, the first being one made from graphene.
ColorFabbâs Metal Filament: bronzeFill
ColorFabb has made a habit of introducing new and unusual plastic filaments for personal 3D printers, and now theyâve made a breakthrough with a metal filament: bronzeFill.
Abrasion-Resistant Filament for 3D Printers
igus announced trials of âtribo-filamentâ, which apparently is substantially more wear-resistant than other 3D printer filaments.
IBM Computes New Polymers; Usable for 3D Printing?
IBM announced the discovery of two new classes of polymers, the first discovered in decades. Weâre wondering if they have any applicability to 3D printing.
Three New Amazing 3D Printing Filaments
A Kickstarter project hopes to launch not one, but three new filaments with properties weâve never seen before.
NASA Research Aims to Print Wood in Space
In a completely new twist for the world of 3D printing, two researchers are working to create a new bioprinting methodology that would see clumps of cells spawn custom engineered, non-living biomaterials.
Heat-Resistant PLA Could Expand 3D Printing Capabilities
PLA plastic, a commonly used 3D printing material, could be on the verge of becoming more versatile thanks to research conducted by Taiwanâs Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI).
Chocolate 3D Printing: Easy to Do?
UK-based Jonathan Keep has been experimenting with chocolate 3D printing, with rather delicious results.
Metal Powder Gets Cheaper
Metal producer Metalysis has invented a much more efficient method to make fine metal powder. Currently the price of titanium powder ranges from USD$200-400 per kg as it is made through a complex multi-step process. Metalysis’ new process involves a single step and should reduce the price accordingly. While this is quite important for… Continue reading Metal Powder Gets Cheaper
MakerBotâs Colorful Plastics
MakerBot is making a big deal out of their plastic selection, and they should. It’s a far cry from their initial selection of plain old colors years ago. Today you’ll find it includes a really terrific set of colors that they’ve grouped into: true colors, translucents and specialties. They offer ABS, PLA, dissolvable and flexible… Continue reading MakerBotâs Colorful Plastics
The Scoop on ABS and PLA
Most personal 3D printers use PLA or ABS plastic, but how much do you actually know about these materials? Aside from the fact that ABS’s melting temperature is somewhat higher than PLA, and that ABS is somewhat stronger than PLA, most 3D printer owners could be challenged to say more. Don’t fear: there is… Continue reading The Scoop on ABS and PLA
Hands on with ColorFabbâs PLA Filament
We happened to score some ColorFabb filament and gave it a test in our lab. This material, as we’ve written before, is not actually pure PLA plastic. It’s a hybrid mix of PLA and PHA, intended to provide a bit better flex and durability. We found the filament to have a rather different unboxing… Continue reading Hands on with ColorFabbâs PLA Filament
t-glase: A Clear Plastic for your 3D Printer
As the market for personal 3D printers expands, so do your options for plastic filaments. Along with the standard ABS and PLA filaments that have been available for many years, we’ve seen a number of fascinating experiments with different filaments, including some involving wood and ceramics. Now Taulman offers another unique filament: t-glase. What makes… Continue reading t-glase: A Clear Plastic for your 3D Printer
FilaFlex is indeed Flexible
Another filament innovation has emerged from Recreus: Filaflex, a flexible filament. Using this material, your personal 3D printer might be able to 3D objects that are quite flexible, yet durable at the same time. How durable? Well, it seems that Recreus believes you can print usable footwear with this material as shown above. There’s… Continue reading FilaFlex is indeed Flexible