material

China Filament for your 3D Printer: Yes or No?

Owners of personal 3D printers require a supply of plastic filament to fuel their favorite device, but where should they purchase it from?    The obvious and first answer is to simply buy it from the manufacturer of your printer. Most manufacturers, especially the larger manufacturers, often have a division that will sell you a… Continue reading China Filament for your 3D Printer: Yes or No?

Stratasys’ Nylon Material

A few weeks ago we speculated that Stratasys might begin focusing on new materials to exploit their huge base of installed 3D printers as their FDM patents expire, and it appears they’ve done so with the announcement of their new Nylon-12 material.    Fred Fisher, Director of Materials at the company explained to Fabbaloo that… Continue reading Stratasys’ Nylon Material

Formlabs Releases a New Resin

Formlabs, makers of the popular Form 1 personal 3D printer have released a new resin. Previously, the company offered only two resins: Grey and Clear. The new material is “White”.    For a rapid startup company such as Formlabs, it’s totally understandable they may take some time before introducing new materials, but now they’ve done… Continue reading Formlabs Releases a New Resin

Development is Underway for a Graphene 3D Printing Material

In a recent press release, Lomiko Metal, a Vancouver based firm, announced its intention to create a laboratory dedicated to the development of “graphene-enhanced” 3D printing materials.   Graphene, which recently proved to be the world’s strongest material, has been of keen interest to a wide range of industries since its first isolation in 2004.… Continue reading Development is Underway for a Graphene 3D Printing Material

The FilaFab Filament Maker

We had a close look at the FilaFab, a “Desktop Filament Fabricator”. It’s pretty simple in concept: put in some plastic bits and usable 3D printer filament comes out the nozzle.    But there’s a lot more to it than that. The device has been carefully designed to ensure consistent melting temperature and flow rate… Continue reading The FilaFab Filament Maker

The War on 3D Printed ABS

It was the first plastic used in personal 3D printers, but are ABS’s days coming to an end?    The once popular plastic seems to be supplanted by PLA. In fact during the recent 3D Printshow in London we encountered many 3D printer manufacturers who simply dismissed ABS as something they didn’t want to support… Continue reading The War on 3D Printed ABS

Published
Categorized as Ideas Tagged

Move over Michelangelo – 3D Printing with Marble

For millennia marble has been one of the most impressive materials for building and sculpture. However, marble quarrying wastes material and creates plumes of calcium carbonate dust.  Unfortunately, this dust represents a major environmental and public health risk.   In an effort to eliminate the negative effects of marble dust, engineers created MarbleEcoDesign.  This company… Continue reading Move over Michelangelo – 3D Printing with Marble

MadeSolid’s Colored 3D Printer Resins

If you happen to have a Form 1 resin-based 3D printer, you’ll likely to have purchased resin from Formlabs, its manufacturer. Formlabs provides resin tuned specifically for their machine, but as of now it comes in only two colors: grey and clear.    That’s changing because MadeSolid has launched a new series of resins that… Continue reading MadeSolid’s Colored 3D Printer Resins

“Green” 3D Printer Filament

No, no, we don’t mean “Green”. We mean “Green” as in environmentally responsible. We’ve been looking at filament supplier GP3D, who sell a decent selection of ABS and PLA plastic filament in 1kg spools.    Their pricing is decent (USD$32-44 per kg depending on the color and choice of material) and their color selection is… Continue reading “Green” 3D Printer Filament

3D Printer Filament Available at Monoprice

We hadn’t noticed it before, but evidently Monoprice has been selling plastic filament suitable for 3D printers for months now.    If you’re not familiar with Monoprice, they are a large online retailer of electronic goods, specializing in ultra-inexpensive cables. For example, you can get yourself an HDMI cable as little as USD$4, while you’d… Continue reading 3D Printer Filament Available at Monoprice

i.Materialise Keeps Their Rubber

Earlier this year 3D print service i.Materialise announced the temporary availability of an experimental flexible 3D print material. Now they say this material will be available permanently.    The material is indeed flexible and permits 3D printing of a new class of objects leveraging the legendary rubber-like property.   But there’s one fascinating catch. According… Continue reading i.Materialise Keeps Their Rubber

TTP’s Multimaterial 3D Print Head

  Perhaps the most significant technology barrier in 3D printing today is the limitation of materials. Most 3D printers can produce only a single material at a time. Some manufacturers have short-circuited this problem slightly by adding additional print heads to enable more than one material, and only one (Stratasys) has the technology to mix… Continue reading TTP’s Multimaterial 3D Print Head

Sculpteo’s New Materials

Last week Sculpteo announced the availability of two new materials for their 3D print service: Sterling Silver and Wax.   It’s an arms race between 3D print services; each adds new materials and features to keep up with or gain a lead on the others. The most frequent battlefield is materials. This announcement is just… Continue reading Sculpteo’s New Materials

BendLay Filament Bends!

The same folks who brought you the hard-to-believe-but-actually-real Wood filament now market a new bendable filament: BendLay, produced by Orbi-Tech and developed by Kai Parthy.    BendLay filament, available in spools of either 3mm or 1.75mm, has the unique property of being able to bend without creating stress marks that you’d quickly see if you… Continue reading BendLay Filament Bends!

3D Printing Sugru!

You don’t know what Sugru is? It’s a peculiar substance that is malleable when first exposed to air, but then solidifies into a rubber-like material that can be bent but snaps back to its original shape.    Too bad you can’t 3D print it.    But now you can! HYREL has performed an experiments with… Continue reading 3D Printing Sugru!

A Resin for 3D Printed Microelectronics

Researchers at the Tokyo Institute of Technology and C-MET have developed a specialized resin that is suitable for 3D printing electronics at a microscopic scale.    The goal was to develop a material usable to create micro-sized electrodes. Apparently a “carbonization” stage is required to create electrical conductivity, but current materials could not withstand that… Continue reading A Resin for 3D Printed Microelectronics

Emerging Objects 3D Prints Architectural Materials

Oakland-based Emerging Objects isn’t your normal design firm. Rather than designing homes, interiors, furniture or products from common materials, the four-person group is trying to create materials for tomorrow’s 3D printed objects.   Self-described as a “a pioneering design and research company that specializes in designing and 3D printing objects for the built environment using… Continue reading Emerging Objects 3D Prints Architectural Materials

Get Your 3D Printer Filament at Makerstash Soon

We had the opportunity to meet with James Coleman, gentleman and founder of Makerstash, which will provide a wide selection of 3D printer filament for your MakerBot, RepRap or many other 3D printers.    The filament business is straightforward, and success occurs simply by executing the business plan perfectly. MakerStash’s Mission describes theirs:    At… Continue reading Get Your 3D Printer Filament at Makerstash Soon

The Filastruder

The cost of a 3D printer is not only the printer itself, but also the print material. In most cases, personal 3D printers use plastic filament, either ABS or PLA plastic. If you’re a prolific 3D print maker, you might actually spend more on plastic than you did on the 3D printer.    How can… Continue reading The Filastruder

Materialise Announces Flexible Material

Materialise, the industrial 3D print service, has announced a rather interesting material: TPU 92A-1. Despite the awkward and mysterious nomenclature, TPU 92A-1 offers a legendary feature: flexibility.    The video above shows the amazing flex provided by TPU 92A-1. Not only is this material flexible, but it also is resistant to tearing, temperature and abrasion,… Continue reading Materialise Announces Flexible Material

FormFutura Sells Wood Filament

Most personal 3D printers require plastic filament of some kind or another. Recently some manufacturers have moved to use factory-certified cartridges, but many devices still can use “any filament” that meets the necessary dimensions.    There are several online stores ready to sell you such filament, some trying to distinguish themselves by offering wider varieties… Continue reading FormFutura Sells Wood Filament

MakerBot’s Plastic Farm

If you can’t get what you want, just do it yourself. That’s the approach MakerBot has taken on plastic. Previously they’d have to do extensive searching for vendors able to provide appropriate plastic for their line of 3D printers. They’d have to ensure quality of color, sizing consistency and deliver availability. Lots of work!    … Continue reading MakerBot’s Plastic Farm

Rapid Ceramic Engineering

Ben Becker of HotEnd Works described to us the process his company uses to produce industrial-grade ceramic prototypes. Ceramic prototypes have been around for a very long time, but there’s only so much you can do using conventional prototyping tools. Some geometries simply cannot be produced.    However, 3D printed ceramics can replicate any geometry.… Continue reading Rapid Ceramic Engineering

Do You Carbomorph?

Carbomorph is a new, experimental material for 3D printing that promises to add a whole new range of capabilities with its ability to embed sensors within 3D printed items.    Carbomorph was invented by researchers at the University of Warwick in the UK in their quest to develop a method of 3D printing electronic circuits.… Continue reading Do You Carbomorph?

Objet Adds to its List of Materials

3D Printer maker Objet Geometries announced new additions to its now massive selection of materials available to its 3D printers. The new additions include a “rigid black” material and no less than sixteen different “rubber-like” materials that offer varying degrees of hardness (or flexibility, if you prefer).    This brings their current complement of materials… Continue reading Objet Adds to its List of Materials

High Detailed Stainless Steel Prints at i.Materialise

3D print service i.Materialise now offers “high detailed stainless steel” materials for prints. As you can see in the sample print above, there is indeed a lot of detail visible.   i.Materialise says that the new material is “between silver and titanium”. In other words, it’s shiny but still strong.    The detail is such… Continue reading High Detailed Stainless Steel Prints at i.Materialise

Canadian Plastic

The pattern seems to be regionalization. Plastic filament supply shops specifically focused on 3D printing are emerging in many countries supplying primarily their local markets. We’ve seen shops open up in the US, UK, Switzerland, Netherlands and other places.    Now there’s one in Canada, based in Montreal: Voxel Factory offers an extensive list of… Continue reading Canadian Plastic

Wooden Filament? Yes!

We’re not kidding. It really is filament made of wood – and you can print actual wooden objects with it.    Developed by Thingiverse user Kaipa, the “LAYWOO-D” filament is a hybrid mix of recycled wood particles and secret binders. You may use this material in RepRap-style 3D printers at a temperature of between 185-200C,… Continue reading Wooden Filament? Yes!

Is ABS Killing You?

There are two plastics most commonly used in home 3D plastic extrusion printers: ABS and PLA. When you’re printing, you definitely notice them – or, your nose does.    PLA, also known as Polylactic acid or polylactide, has a rather pleasant aroma when heated, sometimes described as “waffles” or “honey”. Along with its lack of… Continue reading Is ABS Killing You?

Published
Categorized as Ideas Tagged

Save Some Cash With ISQUARED Consumables

It was only a matter of time before someone began producing “clone” plastic materials for high-end 3D printers. That’s the business of Swiss-based ISQUARED, who produce “high quality FDM filament at fair prices”. They say: “Our products are 100% compatible with OEM parts.”   Currently, ISQUARED offers material evidently compatible with the following devices:   … Continue reading Save Some Cash With ISQUARED Consumables

i.Materialise Introduces Ceramics

  3D print service i.Materialise has announced the availability of ceramics as a print material. They aren’t the first to introduce commercial ceramics print capability, but it’s an excellent capability improvement for them.    Ceramics offers a few key advantages over other materials:    Heat resistant up to 600C (1112F) Ultra-smooth finish with no visible… Continue reading i.Materialise Introduces Ceramics

WOOF’s 3D Printed Boat

The University of Washington’s WOOF group (Washington Open Object Fabricators) did something we haven’t seen yet: they produced a 3D printed boat that didn’t sink. In fact, it worked well enough to be entered into “Denny’s Seafair Milk Carton Derby”, a boat race.    Hold on, how do milk cartons fit into this scenario? It… Continue reading WOOF’s 3D Printed Boat

Are 3D Printing Materials a Weakness?

For as long as I can remember, users, and potential users, have been clamoring for more and better materials for their 3D printers. It is reasonable to state the to do more with 3D printing, industry wants more in terms of material properties. Read More at Engineering.com

3D Printing Electrical Circuit Discovery?

We’re reading about a group of researchers at Stanford who have concocted new gel-like substance that has some very interesting properties. We think the electrically conductive hydrogel created by Stanford Associate Professors Zhenan Bao and Yi Cui could potentially be used in 3D printers, or perhaps a modification of it. At least it’s worth an… Continue reading 3D Printing Electrical Circuit Discovery?

Bronzed by i.Materialise

i.Materialise, one of the popular online 3D print services, now offers an experimental Bronze 3D printing capability.    This isn’t bronze plating – it seems to be solid bronze. However, during this experimental phase they limit the size of your bronze prints to 5 x 5 x 5 cm. We think that’s quite appropriate as… Continue reading Bronzed by i.Materialise

Objet Hits 107!

3D printer manufacturer Objet is well known for their extensive list of different materials that you can use in their line of 3D printers. But this week they announced something perhaps significant: they now offer over 100 different materials (107 to be precise). With their recent announcement of a set of 39 new materials, they’ve… Continue reading Objet Hits 107!

Fabberworld

Are you in need of supplies for your 3D printer? Do you live in Switzerland? If you answered yes to both questions, you’ll be pleased to learn that there is now a 3D printing supplies operation located in Switzerland: Fabberworld.   Fabberworld sells a selection of 3mm plastic filament, bearings, motors and even kapton tape.… Continue reading Fabberworld

The Importance of Clear

We’ve been fortunate to be able to examine some 3D printed objects from Objet in their Vero Clear material first hand. While we’ve seen clear (and clear-ish) items printed before, there seems to be advantages when used in a multi-material 3D printer.    A multi-material 3D printer can build objects in more than one material… Continue reading The Importance of Clear

Shapeways Gets Bendy

Shapeways, the popular 3D print service constantly experiments with new materials and perhaps they have the widest variety of materials one can select from. We’ve noticed they’re now offering a material with a unique property: it’s flexible!    The new material, appropriately named “Elasto Plastic” will be tested by Shapeways users until July 20th. Shapeways… Continue reading Shapeways Gets Bendy

Objet’s Clear Bio-Material

Commercial 3D printer manufacturer Objet has released a new very interesting print material: MED610, which is a transparent bio-compatible substance. You might think that making a clear, safe substance would be easy, but it’s not. In order to qualify for such a designation numerous tests and certifications are required, and that’s the tough work that… Continue reading Objet’s Clear Bio-Material

Ponoko’s New Gelatin!

Distributed manufacturing service Ponoko has released a new material available for their 3D printers, with the self-describing name of “Durable Fine Plastic”. We think this is a pretty cool material, because it’s actually TWO materials in one!    The objects themselves are printed in a rather nice ABS-like plastic that has both “durable” (strong like… Continue reading Ponoko’s New Gelatin!

Ceramic 3D Printing At Ponoko

Distributed manufacturing giant Ponoko now offers a “glazed ceramic” material option for their 3D printers. This is a big development because it permits the creation of “food safe” objects. Typical extrusion-based 3D printed objects have tiny grooves corresponding to the extrusion layers that can obviously become fouled with foodstuff and be unsafe. Not so with… Continue reading Ceramic 3D Printing At Ponoko