Most of a toddler, that is. They’ve used their unique multi-material 3D printing capability to print the upper half of a human toddler. As you can see in the image, they’ve used a clear material for most of the body, with a harder, white material for the skeleton – which is embedded within the 10Kg… Continue reading Objet Prints a Toddler!
Usage
Virtual To Physical World Bridge Reopened
Long time Fabbaloo readers may recall a distant post describing the Fabjectory service that could 3D print your Second Life avatar. Fabjectory has long since disappeared, and we’re not likely to see a similar service because Second Life’s owner, Linden Lab, now strictly limits digital capture of in-world virtual items (including avatars) due to intellectual… Continue reading Virtual To Physical World Bridge Reopened
National Geographic Video: IKEA’s 3D Printers
Specifically, IKEA uses Objet’s Eden500V 3D printer. But do they print furniture? Not as far as we can see, but instead they’re using the printer to produce prototypes of utensils and other small objects in their familiar simplistic Scandinavian design style. National Geographic has posted a video of their process, in which Technician Johan… Continue reading National Geographic Video: IKEA’s 3D Printers
Concrete Printing at Loughborough U
Principle Investigator Dr. Richard Buswell of Loughborough University in the UK leads a project to develop a method of 3D printing concrete building components that’s been ongoing for several years. The components could potentially accommodate pre-made services, such as piping or electrical. The project will also enable the production of building geometries not easily done… Continue reading Concrete Printing at Loughborough U
Sit On Objet’s 3D Printed Chair
It’s always totally amazing to pull a new item out of a 3D printer, but it’s even more amazing when it has moving parts and startling when it’s a complete item that’s ready for immediate use. 3D Printer manufacturer Objet has just produced such an item using a new material on a new printer. The… Continue reading Sit On Objet’s 3D Printed Chair
Made In Space: Update
Last week we mentioned Made In Space’s achievement of testing two commercial 3D printers in a simulated weightless environment. But we wondered which 3D printers were used, as the material we saw did not specify the printer involved – only that one of the printers originated from 3D Systems. Today we see a press… Continue reading Made In Space: Update
Flying a 3D Printed Airplane
3D printed parts have been in production aircraft for some years now, but what about printing an Entire Aircraft? That’s what researchers Andy Keane and Jim Scanlan from the University of Southampton achieved. The 2 metre wingspan unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has both impressive design and performance: Almost 100Mph (160Kph) flight speed Near silent… Continue reading Flying a 3D Printed Airplane
Space-Based 3D Printers Pass Important Test
Space.com reports this morning on experiments undertaken by Made In Space to verify whether 3D printers can be used in orbit. Evidently two commercial 3D printers were tested during temporary zero-gravity environment simulation fights. We’ve written about Made In Space before, as they were formed last year to address the problem of efficiently solving… Continue reading Space-Based 3D Printers Pass Important Test
BioPrinting Stem Cells
Continuing with our recent (and totally unexpected) theme of bioprinting, more researchers at Harvard have found a more effective way to print biomaterial with stem cells. Stem cells are very specialized living cells with the unique ability to theoretically spawn any other type of cell in the body, which of course would be incredibly useful… Continue reading BioPrinting Stem Cells
Human Cloning in Akihabara
We’ve written about various methods of scanning yourself in 3D, then replicating your face, hands or favorite body part on a 3D printer. But what if you didn’t need a 3D printer and could simply walk into a retail location and get it done on the spot? That’s precisely what’s going on in Tokyo’s Akihabara… Continue reading Human Cloning in Akihabara
Printing Micrometer-Sized BioScaffolds
Scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute have developed a new way to 3D print bioscaffolds. Scaffolds are three dimensional structures on which organic material (cells) may grow into properly formed tissue structures. Typically the scaffold then dissolves, leaving the newly formed tissue. The new process involves hitting a liquid concoction mixture of polymers and proteins with… Continue reading Printing Micrometer-Sized BioScaffolds
From iOS Game to Reality With a 3D Printer
TUAW reports on one of the latest items from Voxelous, a company dedicated to producing real models of items from popular games. This time (but now sold out) was the runner from popular iOS game Canabalt. Here’s the details: Printed on a color 3D printer, dipped in super glue for strength, and given a… Continue reading From iOS Game to Reality With a 3D Printer
BioPrinting: Organovo Strikes Agreements
Organovo, the bioprinting startup that hopes to eventually print whole replacement human organs, has struck agreements with two pharma companies to assist in drug testing. Organovo will print tiny scaffolds on which human tissue can grow into lifelike shapes. These shapes tend to be better grounds for drug testing, as cells in a simple petri… Continue reading BioPrinting: Organovo Strikes Agreements
3D Printed Roboworm
New Scientist reports that Engineer Jordan Boyle from the University of Leeds has developed a “Roboworm” that can be used to burrow into small spaces. Such a device would be invaluable for earthquake rescues, where victims might be trapped under tons of rubble. While there are existing devices that can probe rubble piles, the… Continue reading 3D Printed Roboworm
Sneakey Captures Your Keys!
We’re always interested in ways to develop 3D models for printing, and this method is quite startling: Teleduplicating physical keys via optical decoding! Yes, they take a picture of your keys and then using sophisticated image analysis techniques can prepare a 3D model that duplicates the key shape. It’s, called, obviously, “Sneakey”. In… Continue reading Sneakey Captures Your Keys!
A 3D Printer Made of LEGO?
It’s true – Instructables user graphmastur has designed a RepRap-style 3D printer entirely out of LEGO parts. While he was obviously unable to attach a high-temp plastic extruder, he has included a common Sharpie marker pen instead. This enables the LEGO 3D printer to operate as a pen plotter. Why is graphmastur doing this?… Continue reading A 3D Printer Made of LEGO?
Fabbaloo Reader Needs 3D Print Assistance
Reader Andy Robb is a mechanical designer who’s interested in producing real-life versions of models he’s been working on. What kind of project? It’s a series of 1/6th scale model RC tanks, as pictured at left (click for larger image and check out the colored items that are likely what he’s seeking to produce). He’s… Continue reading Fabbaloo Reader Needs 3D Print Assistance
MCOR Prints The President
3D paper printer manufacturer MCOR recently scored a coup by not only meeting with the President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, to discuss 3D printing at the Áras an Uachtaráin (the official residence of the Irish President), but also offered to print a bust of her upon her retirement in October. It’s possible for this paper… Continue reading MCOR Prints The President
3D Printed Chocolate That Tastes Good
BBC news reports today on scientists at the University of Exeter in the UK who have developed a new chocolate 3D printer. Instead of extruding tasteless plastic, this printer is capable of extruding liquified chocolate into solid – and edible – objects. The process is similar to other extrusion-based 3D printers: squirt and solidify each… Continue reading 3D Printed Chocolate That Tastes Good
The Solar Sinter Project
While home 3D printers typical heat/melt plastic to produce objects, Markus Kayser has developed an eco-friendly 3D printer for “desert manufacturing” using only sand as the print material. The Solar Sinter focuses the heat of the sun to a small point using a large, sun-tracking fresnel lens. The focal point is so hot it… Continue reading The Solar Sinter Project
Parametric Clothing
A short while ago we wrote about Shapeways’ 3D printed Bikini, and we speculated on the complexity of software required to develop appropriately fitting 3D clothing. The subtlety of fashionable curves and comfort fit are extraordinarily difficult, as they would necessarily be unique to each and every person. Even slight variations could render a fashion… Continue reading Parametric Clothing
Billions For Organ Printing?
An article in the Washington Post explores the startling proposition of 3D printing human organs. This is an incredibly complex goal, since most 3D printing of today involves rather simplistic models: a shape made of a single consistent material deposited in a uniform manner. Yes, a few advanced commercial 3D printers might be able to… Continue reading Billions For Organ Printing?
Final Fantasy IV Character Lives!
We thought this was perhaps the coolest 3D printed thing we’ve seen this year. As you can see, it’s a version of the Cecil Harvey – Dark Knight character from Final Fantasy IV. It was prepared by Neal Bockhaut on a Dimension 768 3D printer. So what, you might say. Everyone has printed figurines… Continue reading Final Fantasy IV Character Lives!
Domes For All
EFFALO’s latest dome-building venture is perhaps their most ambitious: they are attempting to create two critical items, bundling them together as domekit.cc: A software tool that uses parametric design to generate a dome design of any desired size A DIY flexible connector for geodesic dome construction We’ve followed the progress of NYC-based EFFALO… Continue reading Domes For All
A Keygen for House Keys?
There’s been quite a bit of interest in using the OpenSCAD 3D Modeling tool for a variety of designs, but this one caught our eye. OpenSCAD, if you aren’t aware, is a free GPL open source 3D modelling tool that is non-visual. Instead of dragging, squeezing and pinching components into your model, OpenSCAD requires you… Continue reading A Keygen for House Keys?
The World’s Smallest Stop Motion Video
Nokia Cellscope: a very simple combination of a Nokia phone and a microscope, capable of seeing very small things at low cost. The idea is to enable those in third world countries to perform basic microscopy – and then instantly transmit results for expert analysis elsewhere. To celebrate the development of the Cellscope,… Continue reading The World’s Smallest Stop Motion Video
Neurosurgeons Are 3D Printing
There’s nothing like being able to hold something in your hand and inspect it. You can look from all angles close or far and can use your sense of touch to aid in understanding completely what you’ve got. That’s exactly the approach Hawaiian neurosurgeons at the Tripler Army Medical Centre are taking. They’re able… Continue reading Neurosurgeons Are 3D Printing
3D Scanning by UAV
You may have guessed we’re fascinated with new ways of capturing 3D models for printing, and this week we’ve found a rather unusual method: UAV images. Researchers at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne’s Computer Vision Laboratory have developed software to combine thousands of images gathered by UAVs into very usable 3D models. The software,… Continue reading 3D Scanning by UAV
3D Dino Prints
Another example of 3D data capture took place when a team from Southern Methodist University scanned prehistoric dinosaur tracks using 3D scanners out (literally) in the field. The team used a combination of hardware (including a NextEngine HD Desktop 3D scanner with ScanStudio HD Pro software, RapidForm XOR2 Redesign and LightWave 3D) to capture… Continue reading 3D Dino Prints
MIT Looks at Printing Buildings
Architect and MIT professor Neri Oxman has been investigating new techniques for applying 3D printing to the science of building construction. We previously wrote of Neri Oxman’s exploits with MaterialEcology, where she leveraged the synergy of computing, ecology, material engineering and design to produce experimental forms. Now she’s investigating the issue of building materials.… Continue reading MIT Looks at Printing Buildings
3D Printing In Your Mouth and Ears
One of the fascinating items we witnessed at 3D Systems HQ was the focus on medical applications. It seemed every few moments someone was running by with a platter of 3D printed teeth or similar. These were eerie to examine, as the detail was sufficiently spectacular to appear highly realistic. What we didn’t know… Continue reading 3D Printing In Your Mouth and Ears
Order Your Own Mini-Me
3D Print service Sculpteo now offers the ability to print a figurine with your own head on it! The process is pretty straightforward: take two police-lineup style photos of your face and send them off to Sculpteo with your order. Their artists will cook up a colorful design that you must approve before it’s printed.… Continue reading Order Your Own Mini-Me
3D Printed Ornithopter Wings
Researchers at the Cornell Computational Synthesis Laboratory building a miniature ornithopter (that’s a flying device that uses flapping wing motions for lift) had a problem: the wings were difficult to create due to their small size and mechanical requirements. The problem was solved by using 3D printing techniques to create the wings. The… Continue reading 3D Printed Ornithopter Wings
Calling Makers: Emergency Dome Needed!
We wondered what Effalo’s next project might be, and now we know for certain: It’s a much larger geodesic dome, apparently to be used in a music video. Unfortunately, according to Michael Felix, principal of MakerFactory, they have less than two weeks to produce the dome and their extruder is broken! They’ve posted a series… Continue reading Calling Makers: Emergency Dome Needed!
Laser Sintered Orthopedic Implants
Some of us require special orthopaedic implants to correct the scourge of “flat feet”, and as such they must be custom-made to fit each person’s foot. You might think this is a perfect candidate for 3D printing technology, which can produce customized implant shapes on demand. This is precisely what EOS has done with their… Continue reading Laser Sintered Orthopedic Implants
3D Printed Shoes Nominated For Award
You might have seen those amazing 3D printed shoes produced by Materialise. Well, they’re so impressive they’ve been nominated for the Brit Insurance Design Award, and as such they’re being exhibited in London until 7th August of this year at the Design Museum. According to Materialise: Within the fashion category are nominees Naim Josefi… Continue reading 3D Printed Shoes Nominated For Award
The Zoybar 3D Printed Guitar
It seems there is growing interest in 3D printed musical instruments. After the amazing 3D printed flute we now see another 3D printed guitar: The Zoybar TOR. This funky item is composed of a small number of parts (three) printed by Shapeways. Designed by Bård S D, this item is not available for sale… Continue reading The Zoybar 3D Printed Guitar
CNN Reports on 3D Printing Human Skin
A report today in CNN describes the incredible work being done to assist injured soldiers. While many types of injuries occur overseas, one of the most common is burned skin – evidently 5-20% of all combat injuries. A new initiative attempts to rebuild skin damaged in this way using 3D print technology. The approach… Continue reading CNN Reports on 3D Printing Human Skin
Dam Building With a 3D Printer
Of course you can’t *actually* build a dam with a 3D printer. Not yet, anyway. But for now you can build rather nice models of them – and that’s just what Marco Giubelli did with his RapMan 3D printer for his client. The model is of a proposed hydro-electric water storage dam on Lago… Continue reading Dam Building With a 3D Printer
EOS’s PEEK Craniofacial Implants
Accidents happen and sometimes tragic victims require replacement of critical bone structures. These replacement body parts have been constructed with Titanium for strength and durability. However, 3D printer manufacturer EOS has just developed a new process to produce craniofacial implants using PEEK, a high-temp, biocompatible plastic. The custom laser-sintered implants are desirable because they… Continue reading EOS’s PEEK Craniofacial Implants
3D Print a Kindle!
Not exactly, but it’s surprisingly close to printing a Kindle. Maker Stergios Stergiou has designed a combination case and magnifier that blows up an iPhone 4 screen to 6 inches in size – approximately the same size as an actual Kindle. This makes it much easier to read eBooks, for example. The device, called… Continue reading 3D Print a Kindle!
3D Printing Board Games
3D modeller Jeff Timothy is exploring the possibility of creating a new service focused on 3D printing board game pieces and equipment. This makes a lot of sense to us, as 3D printing would be a great way to create unique game pieces. And board game designers obviously need new pieces for their projects, don’t… Continue reading 3D Printing Board Games
Decades-Old Custom Guitar Scanned
Imagine designing amazingly intricate, one-of-a-kind electric guitar bodies years ago – and now wishing you could document your work while you still can. Then Imagine trying to produce a detailed 3D model of the guitar shown in the image here – with conventional measuring tools. Yep, you’d be there a very long time, and… Continue reading Decades-Old Custom Guitar Scanned
Scott Elliot Invents an Insert
Scott Elliot, owner of a very busy Solido SD300 plastic-sheet 3D printer has come up with yet another amazing design: shipping inserts to ensure safe travels for package contents. Since Scott uses the SD300, he is able to print items not possible with other extrusion-based devices. The plastic sheet approach can print objects with… Continue reading Scott Elliot Invents an Insert
Inventables – Materials for Inventors
We’re taking another look at maker material store Inventables, which we wrote about a year ago. At the Inventables hardware store, you won’t find very much that you could put through your 3D printer. Plastic filament is best purchased elsewhere. However, sheer amount of truly amazing materials available at Inventables is staggering. While we… Continue reading Inventables – Materials for Inventors
Fab-Enabled Fiction: Books That Print
Guest writer Andrew Monti proposes a unique way to use 3D printing in the publishing industry: Fabbed items from books. The idea is to include a QR code somewhere in a book that corresponds to a URL holding a 3D design. The design can then be printed. But how would it work in a book?… Continue reading Fab-Enabled Fiction: Books That Print
Printing Musical Instruments
Tipster Jb pointed us at a video of a rather startling project: Printing a complete musical instrument. In this case, MIT Media Lab researcher Amit Zoran attempted to print an entire and working flute in one operation. We’re not sure if printing an object of this complexity has ever been attempted before; we’ve seen some… Continue reading Printing Musical Instruments
Racing Prototypes
MCD Racing produces radio-controlled racing cars, 1/5 the size of real vehicles. These are not toys – they are highly sophisticated machines capable of winning world championships. These cars are capable of world record speeds of an unbelievable 260Kph (161mph)! Obviously they must be very carefully designed, perhaps with 1/5 the effort that goes into… Continue reading Racing Prototypes
PC Board Printed
We just noticed this development that was posted last July: a RepRap 3D printer was used to print a circuit board. Well, not completely – the 3D printer actually printed the etch resist, which protected the conductive bits from the acid bath. The resulting board was then cleaned up and had components mounted on it. … Continue reading PC Board Printed
Gift Giving? How About Gift Making!
It seems that some of the popular media are starting to catch on to 3D Printing, with the notion that gifts can be made rather than purchased. Perhaps this is a reaction against the fear of oppressive crowds at the shops, but we think it’s a natural conclusion to 3D printing capability, which can produce… Continue reading Gift Giving? How About Gift Making!
Aluminum Bronze Casting Succeeds
Open3DP’s experimentation with metalcasting molds has paid off: one of their experimental hydroperm molds was used in traditional metalcasting (in this case poured aluminum bronze) at the Port Townsend Foundry and the successful results are apparent in the image above. According to Laura West and Dave Feathers: The mold was placed in a greensand… Continue reading Aluminum Bronze Casting Succeeds
Printing Rockets
You may be under the impression that 3D printers produce flimsy models, suitable for show – but not for action. This is generally true, but it’s changing as 3D printing ventures into metal or concrete printing. One project we’re watching is taking place at ZCorp, manufacturers of high-end commercial 3D printers. Mark Cook, ZCorp’s VP… Continue reading Printing Rockets
Human Organ Printing
We ran across a fascinating video showing a bio-printing concept being researched at the Biophysics Lab of the University of Missouri-Columbia. According to Dr. Gabor Forgacs, they will be able to replicate human parts by creating new organs cell by cell in a manner similar to everyday 3D printing. Here’s how it works: “Spheroidal… Continue reading Human Organ Printing
Metalcasting Breakthrough
Those inventive folks at the University of Washington are at it again. This time they’ve been working on a simple formula for cementenous metalcasting. In other words, material with which you can make an effective mold for molten metal casts. At one point, they were using this recipe: 1000 parts VersaBond 250 parts Maltodextrin 250… Continue reading Metalcasting Breakthrough
Stratasys Prints A Car!
Well, not exactly an *entire car* – but just its body. The Urbee was an entrant to Progressive Insurance’s Automotive X-Prize. The competition has now closed and Urbee ended up ranked “in the top 30 in the world” according to a recent press release. What’s so interesting about this to us? The car’s body, including… Continue reading Stratasys Prints A Car!
Students Race 3D Printed Cars
The Utah Valley University recently held a competition in which students designed “pinewood derby” style race cars – and then printed them out for actual racing. This derby began in 2008, when Professor David Manning of their Engineering Graphics & Design Technology department managed to convince the budgeteers to acquire a Dimension 3D printer. … Continue reading Students Race 3D Printed Cars
3D Printing Saves NYC Jeweler
Crain’s New York Business reports on the fate of a New York City jewelery prototyping company, Tech-Designs, who produce one-of-a-kind jewelery models for designers far and wide. Amazingly, Tech-Designs, who have a staff of only three people, also have a fleet of seven 3D printers, which are kept busy printing six days a week.… Continue reading 3D Printing Saves NYC Jeweler
Objet is Certified
Objet Geometries, makers of the powerful Alaris, Eden and Connex lines of commercial 3D printers just announced they’ve managed to receive ISO 13485:2003 certification. This certification means Objet is now able to deliver various types of 3D printing equipment into a wide variety of medical roles. We’ve seen Objet dabble in dental before but this… Continue reading Objet is Certified
Amazingly Detailed 3D Prints
David Munson is a professional 3D technologist who provides a wide variety of 3D-based rendering services, such as studies of solar illumination on proposed buildings, 3D diagrams, etc. But we noticed some incredibly cool 3D prints he’s prepared, including the one above. Notice the staggering detail in the support structure of the radar dish –… Continue reading Amazingly Detailed 3D Prints
A Non-Obvious 3D Print: Sound
Andy Berlin, Z Corp engineer extraordinary decided to push the limits of 3D printing by printing something unusual, in an attempt to inspire others to bend their imagination. He managed to convert a sound wave into a spiral ridge, with the sound wave corresponding to peaks and valleys in the shape. That’s right – he… Continue reading A Non-Obvious 3D Print: Sound
Materialise Rescues Itself
Interesting story from i.Materialise, where Joris explains that some two years ago, a tripod lever was catastrophically damaged. Rather than buying a new tripod and unable to acquire a replacement lever, they decided to “eat their own dog food” by designing and printing a replacement part. A suitable design was prepared and the lever… Continue reading Materialise Rescues Itself
Managing Strokes with 3D Printing
Leslie Langau tells an amazing story of how a 3D printer was used to treat stroke patients. Professor Robert Rennaker II at the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences at the University of Texas in Dallas has been doing experiments simulating the various disabilities of stroke victims. … Continue reading Managing Strokes with 3D Printing
Bespoke Makes Legs – Beautiful Legs
We’ve been waiting for something just like this: a startup company that takes full advantage of 3D printing technology to mass personalize an item for everyone. In the case of Bespoke Innovations, they supply one-of-a-kind prosthetics for individuals by leveraging 3D print technology from 3D Systems with an artistic flair: The Bespoke process is… Continue reading Bespoke Makes Legs – Beautiful Legs
V-Flash Scores The Details
We received some fascinating images of sample objects printed on a 3D Systems’ V-Flash Personal Printer. This printer is perhaps priced higher than one may consider owning personally (USD$9900), but it is sufficiently small and inexpensive to be operated “personally” within an engineering or design firm. These images show incredible fine detail on these… Continue reading V-Flash Scores The Details
Design-Worthy Cement Printing
Two years ago we wrote on Contour Crafting’s experiments with building-sized 3D printing, in which they were designing a house-sized 3D printer assembly to extrude concrete into shapes suspiciously resembling buildings. The concept is almost unbelievable, where you could erect most of a house at the push of a button (and a few deliveries of… Continue reading Design-Worthy Cement Printing
Printed Meats!
Following up on last week’s post regarding the amazing feats of the Cornell Computational Synthesis Lab’s work on Food Printing, this week they have more spectacular announcements. They’ve been working with the French Culinary Institute to produce what is perhaps the most advanced forms of printed food yet. In this example they’ve managed to… Continue reading Printed Meats!
3D Gem Holders
Scott Elliot of the SD300 blog came up with a great idea: print Gem holders for homemade gemstones. Well, not exactly homemade, but home-etched. You see, he happens to have a C02 laser with which he’s able to engrave tiny patterns onto the gemstones. He’s discovered the best results are obtained from engraving “lab grown… Continue reading 3D Gem Holders
Fabricating UAVs
UAVs, or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, seem to be slowly taking over air forces around the world. It turns out that a key contributor to some of these vehicles is Laser Sintered parts. Many parts can be fabricated using this technology, and they are “stable in hot environments and are tough, pliable, and robust in harsh… Continue reading Fabricating UAVs
A Trophy for Materialise
Materialise was selected to produce trophies for the Moto GP in Sachsenring and Formula 1 race in Budapest. The design was made by Antonio Pio Saracino at the request of Eni, who needed a new interpretation of their traditional six-legged dog logo. Saracino’s ethereal design is quite amazing, and of course, impossible to build using… Continue reading A Trophy for Materialise
3D Printed Chairs
Freedom of Creation has produced another set of amazing furniture, this time by Dutch designer Bram Geenen. The design of the Gaudi stool (pictured) and a matching chair was done mathematically, where the curves and internal structure were determined by the distribution of various forces. From design, the furniture was produced by laser sintering. These… Continue reading 3D Printed Chairs
Wearable 3D Fashion
Iris van Herpen’s startling clothing designs are worn even by Lady Gaga – but now Ms. van Herpen has used 3D print technology to produce some totally awesome items exhibited at the Amsterdam International Fashion Week in July. The “Crystallization” collection included the amazing top seen above. We especially like the back view (click for… Continue reading Wearable 3D Fashion
Hydrocolloid Printed Food
Researchers from Cornell University have been exploring a new angle on food printing: the use of hydrocolloids. What the heck is that? From their paper: Using a novel combination of hydrocolloids (xanthium gum and gelatin) and flavor agents, texture and flavor can be independently tuned to produce printing materials that simulate a broad range… Continue reading Hydrocolloid Printed Food
Print a Viewfinder for your Canon DSLR
That’s just what Marc Schreibman did after taking a course in fabrication. After a “5-6 hour print”, he had a new LCD viewfinder in his hands. It wasn’t easy, however: I took many measurements of the camera body and LCD screen, designed it in Rhino 3D, and printed it out on a 3D printer.… Continue reading Print a Viewfinder for your Canon DSLR
World’s Fastest Motorcycle: Scanned
John Morewood managed to get his NextEngine 3D Scanner HD near the world’s fastest motorcycle (360.913 mph / 580.83 kph, holy cow!), the ACK Attack Streamliner, and grab a scan. Hopefully, the beast was not at speed during the scan. This was not just a routine scan, as John says: The size of the… Continue reading World’s Fastest Motorcycle: Scanned
Objet Organizes a Dental System
3D printer manufacturer Objet has joined dental scanning provider 3Shape to create an integrated workflow solution specifically for dental restorations. The solution links 3D models produced by 3Shape’s dentist-focused scanning equipment and software directly into Objet’s Eden 3D printers. According to Avi Cohen, Head of Medical Solutions at Objet Geometries, the solution: includes special… Continue reading Objet Organizes a Dental System
Erik’s Wedding Topper
Netherlands-based personal fabrication researcher Erik de Bruijn recently got a chance to link his research area with personal life by creating a wedding cake ornament on his 3D printer for his own wedding! The project involved searching Google 3D Warehouse (unsuccessfully), preparing a 3D model (available on Thingiverse) and printing both pieces (bride and groom… Continue reading Erik’s Wedding Topper
Sintering the Moon
We just finished reading a paper describing the viability of using microwaves to fuse lunar soil (regoilith) into solid shapes, in the hopes of creating an effective way of building lunar structures for future astronauts and their bases. The chemistry and process are fascinating. It seems that most of the lunar regolith was formed… Continue reading Sintering the Moon
Print Some Legs and Make Them Whole Again
One of the most interesting applications of 3D printing is medical uses. We’ve written about many different medical applications, ranging from printed tissue, to replacement bones. Today we ran across Alison Lewis’s wonderful post describing her experience encountering custom printed prosthetics for amputees. The procedure was to scan the patient’s surviving leg and through… Continue reading Print Some Legs and Make Them Whole Again
Breeding RepRaps
The premise behind the RepRap project is to build a machine that can reproduce itself. While it’s not quite able to accomplish that task entirely, it can produce a great many of its own parts. That’s exactly what’s going on at the University of Washington, where they seem to have set up a “RepRap… Continue reading Breeding RepRaps
Materialise Replicates King Tut!
The Discovery Times Square Exposition in New York City has a unique addition to its display of Tutankhamen artifacts: King Tutankhamen himself! Or at least a very precise replica of his mummy. Artist Gary Staab was commissioned to prepare the replica, and he turned to 3D service Materialise for assistance. Using their sophisticated Mimics… Continue reading Materialise Replicates King Tut!
Do You Need an Atomic Force Microscope?
Sure, everyone needs an AFM! But what is it? From Wikipedia: Atomic force microscopy (AFM) or scanning force microscopy (SFM) is a very high-resolution type of scanning probe microscopy, with demonstrated resolution on the order of fractions of a nanometer, more than 1000 times better than the optical diffraction limit. The precursor to the… Continue reading Do You Need an Atomic Force Microscope?
EOS Focuses on Medical Applications
Commercial Laser Sintering giant EOS has been focusing on the medical market recently, using their SLS expertise to produce a variety of solutions. EOS uses several plastic approaches, including laser-sintered nylon for “disposable, customized operating devices such as drill guides for knee and hip replacements”. They’re also developing “PEEK HP3”, which is a “a… Continue reading EOS Focuses on Medical Applications
Solido – Up Close
Fabbaloo has obtained 3D print samples from printer vendor Solido, including the dramatic skeleton hand above. Solido uses a unique plastic sheet printing technique in which successive sheets are glued and cut, eventually building up to an object. This process certainly produces a lot of waste plastic – but don’t fear! You can send the… Continue reading Solido – Up Close
3D Bone Puzzle: Solved
There’s some interesting work taking place at the British Royal Infirmary, where 3D technology is being used to improve the process of rebuilding highly complex joint fractures. These complex fractures are very difficult to repair due to the myriad of tiny pieces that must be precisely placed back in their original locations in order… Continue reading 3D Bone Puzzle: Solved
Specialized 3D Bikes
Those ultra-cool bikes from manufacturer Specialized made from carbon fibre just don’t appear. They’re designed very carefully – using 3D printing technology. The process begins when Specialized engineers design a bike using a 3D modelling tool. Their objective is to produce something that not only is technically brilliant, but also looks good. The entire… Continue reading Specialized 3D Bikes
3D Printed Gloves
Fabbing superstar Janne Kyttanen of Freedom of Creation has been commissioned to produce unique white 3D printed gloves, as shown here. The gloves were commissioned by the Design Hub Barcelona, are will be on display from 15 June 2010 to 28 February 2011 in at the Fabrication Laboratory exhibition. According to DHUB: The objects… Continue reading 3D Printed Gloves
Printing the Moon
We saw a few posts recently proposing to use the D-Shape outdoor printer to be modified for printing a lunar base. That’s an enticing and challenging possibility, but why not print the Moon on Earth while we await real lunar exploration? That’s exactly what space enthusiast Howard Fink did, as you can see in the… Continue reading Printing the Moon
Hexapod Emerges from 3D Printer
Matt Bunting is a student who’s been interested in building robots for many years. Finally at the University of Arizona he was able to do so, partly by using the University’s Dimension 3D printer. The very complex leg assemblies were printed in eleven hours, using a great deal of support material. The design was such… Continue reading Hexapod Emerges from 3D Printer
uPrinting Arms
Tiberius Arms is a small company specializing in the design and manufacturing of advanced pneumatic weapons. You may have used similar weapons on the paintball grounds, but they’re also used by the military for training and police forces as a “less than lethal” weapon. Tiberius has been producing weapons since their first product, a sniper… Continue reading uPrinting Arms
Changing Prosthetics Forever
Daniel Terdiman of CNET news writes a long article describing how 3D printing is “changing prosthetics forever”. We’ve written several articles in this area over the past two years, and now it’s become visible in CNET. Terdiman explains how the combination of amputee soldiers’ needs, 3D scanning, 3D printing and individual manufacturing have opened… Continue reading Changing Prosthetics Forever
Converting the Camaro
What do you do if you live in Australia and want an American muscle car? It’s difficult if they’re not sold locally, so you’d have to purchase them in the US and ship them over the Pacific. But then you run into the problem of orientation: the US cars are designed to drive on the… Continue reading Converting the Camaro
MCOR Prints A Car
MCOR’s Matrix 300, the 3D printer that prints in plain paper, was recently used by design students from London’s Royal College of Art to produce a vehicle design, shown above. The MCOR Matrix is unique among 3D printers due to its use of paper as a print material, resulting in extremely inexpensive (and recyclable) media.… Continue reading MCOR Prints A Car
Wallpaper’s 30 Concept Houses
Wallpaper commissioned 30 concept houses for the 4th International Architecture Biennale in Rotterdam. They felt their exhibit would best show the concepts by having actual 3D models on display. The DMC (Digital Manufacturing Centre) London produced these models for 30 different architectural clients for the exhibition. 3D design files were obtained from the architects and… Continue reading Wallpaper’s 30 Concept Houses
3D Collaboration Puts 700 Year Old Monolith In Your Hands
We’ve all seen the enigmatic Easter Island monoliths called Moai, erected for mysterious purposes by long departed pacific islanders some 700ish years ago, and we find them quite intriguing. They were also very interesting to Mark Ganter of Open3DP, who wanted to 3D print one. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a readily available dataset containing a 3D… Continue reading 3D Collaboration Puts 700 Year Old Monolith In Your Hands
Animation with 3D Printing
It has been done before, with Coraline, but now a post from Creative Review walks us through how the title sequence for Dutch TV programme “Het Klokhuis” (“The Apple Core”) was created. The process involved printing numerous objects corresponding to frames of the sequence, which were then placed on a mini-stage and recorded. Animation… Continue reading Animation with 3D Printing