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?
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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
The Tiny Table Experiment
When shopping for a 3D printer, one of the primary considerations is the size of the build chamber. Generally, we prefer as large as possible to enable the biggest objects to be printed. Printers with smaller build chambers sometimes use specialized software that automatically decomposes the 3D object into snap-together parts that are printed separately,… Continue reading The Tiny Table Experiment
Instant Quotes… and A Lot More
Stratasys continues reaching into the market with innovative moves. Today we learned of another rather interesting angle: Instant Quotes. As readers may recall, Stratasys is the company behind the renowned Dimension series of 3D printers. Their service unit, Redeye RPM is now partnering with Alibre (makers of the Alibre Design 3D CAD software) to offer… Continue reading Instant Quotes… and A Lot More
Mass Media Alert: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
3D Printing has now been discovered in Pittsburgh! Or at least by Pittsburgh’s media outlets, as the Post-Gazette’s Techman recently published a story introducing the concept of 3D fabbing to their readers. They contrast the difference between subtractive and additive technologies, and forecast a day in the future when people will be printing objects at… Continue reading Mass Media Alert: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
3D Printing… on PAPER… This Summer?
Six months ago we reported on an amazing development from Mcor Technologies in Ireland. They were creating a revolutionary 3D printer that uses plain old paper as the print media instead of using complex chemical stews or common table sugar as most other 3D printers do. That post was one of the most popular in… Continue reading 3D Printing… on PAPER… This Summer?
Discounts From Dimension
Stratasys’s Dimension Printing Group is offering a USD$10,000 credit for commercial customers for purchases of their 1200ES 3D Printer. The catch? You must trade in an existing 3D printer. And do it by the end of summer, 2008. This is a bold move by Stratasys, since 3D printing is still a relatively new activity. We… Continue reading Discounts From Dimension
Car Artists Meet 3D Artists
The guys at Local Motors are definitely not the same as those you’d find at your neighborhood garage. They are a full on “vehicle design studio”, and as you might imagine, they make use of 3D printing tech. This time they’ve taken a road trip to visit the wildly artistic “Design and the Elastic Mind”… Continue reading Car Artists Meet 3D Artists
“Without the Pine”
Jeff Gomez reports on how Utah students are making use of a 3D printer to compete in the Utah Valley University’s 3D car racing derby. They’re using a “$40,000 machine” (probably a ZCorp or Dimension) to quickly transform the student’s envisioned vehicles into reality. Well, at least the 10+ hours required for 3D printing. The… Continue reading “Without the Pine”
STL Barrier Broken!
One of the ongoing bugaboos of 3D printing is that most 3D printers accept a limited number of 3D input files. Most typically, STL is expected. If you don’t match the protocol of your printer, you can’t print. One of the biggest hurdles has been making it possible for existing 3D models to be printed,… Continue reading STL Barrier Broken!
Breakthrough Interest?
We’re seeing something happen with increasing frequency: mention of low-cost 3D printing in places where you would not expect it. For example, a recent post on Vdo Tutorials explains all about the basics of 3D printing, fabrication and personal manufacturing potential. But who are Vdo Tutorials? They appear to us to be a Photoshop tutorial… Continue reading Breakthrough Interest?
LandPrint Review
A while ago we introduced Landprint, a very interesting service that permits anyone to print a 3D model of a selected landscape.Using the service, you can print out a 3D map of your favorite vacation spot or neighborhood. Now we find the service discovered by the Geo-community in the form of EarthIsSquare, a site dedicated… Continue reading LandPrint Review
Stratasys Leading
A press release from Stratasys, makers of the popular Dimension series of 3D Printers, seems to indicate they lead the pack of manufacturers. The release. Evidently the Minnesota-based company is now producing more than half of the 3D printers being made today (53 percent, according to a report from Wohler’s, available here.) Other highlights: … Continue reading Stratasys Leading
Companion Cube Sequence
Zorink’s Flickr page displays a sequence of images of his “companion cube” creation, apparently designed in SolidWorks and printed out on what appears to be a ZCorp 3D printer. The images show not only the design, but also the printing process and the resulting cool object. Via Flickr
More 3D Printing in Education
Sherwood High School in Oregon has taken a step up by targeting to acquire a Dimension 3D printer for their advanced shop class. We’ve seen other schools use 3D printing technology to help teach engineering and manufacturing concepts to students, and usage like this is a growing trend. In an effort to catch up with… Continue reading More 3D Printing in Education
Timberland is 3D
Timberland, the makers of fine footwear had a problem. Their traditional product development process involved using 2D designs for 3D objects. That may sound crazy, but this is the way manufacturing has been done for a very long time. It’s only recently that 3D technology has begun displacing 2D techniques. At Timberland the 2D-to-physical-model process… Continue reading Timberland is 3D
Who Determines the Future of 3D Printing?
DesignNews discusses the recent “Design and The Elastic Mind” exhibit at MOMA in New York City, with an emphasis on the radical. They indicate that while “engineers who control the practical aspects of design and manufacturing”, “artists and industrial designers can provide some insight into additive fabrication too”. The article goes on to list specific… Continue reading Who Determines the Future of 3D Printing?
The Guy Behind The Company Behind DesktopFactory
There’s a great article interviewing Bill Gross, founder of IdeaLab. That’s the venture capital incubator company that hatched DesktopFactory, the makers of the first sub USD$5,000 3D printer. The highlights: IdeaLab is old! They’ve been around since BEFORE the dot.bomb bust! Evidently they must know how to incubate, having survived for so long The… Continue reading The Guy Behind The Company Behind DesktopFactory
Motley Fool Features 3D Vendor
Our favorite online financial information service, The Motley Fool, posted an analysis of Stratasys’s recent results. And the results were quite good indeed. We wrote our opinion of this as well, but The Fool says that “the idea seems to be catching on.” They rave of how the big guys use Stratasys, and how their… Continue reading Motley Fool Features 3D Vendor
Finalists in the Ultimate 3D Printing Challenge
Dimension is a well-known name in the 3D industry, and one reason why this might be is that they hold an annual 3D Printing Challenge. This year’s Challenge involves three categories: a high school level engineering challenge a college-level engineering challenge an art & architectural challenge open to students of all grade levels Dimension… Continue reading Finalists in the Ultimate 3D Printing Challenge
Stratasys Reports Record Results!
In spite of the lousy economic situation, Stratasys has managed to pull off very good results for the first quarter of the year. Manufacturers of the Dimension line of 3D printers, Dimension set records for revenue and unit sales. According to their press release, some 577 units were shipped in 1Q08, and revenue rose to… Continue reading Stratasys Reports Record Results!
An Ideal Service?
Perhaps, but that’s what they are really called: Ideal. Actually Ideal is first and foremost a reseller of a very wide array of 2D scanners, but it appears they’re branching into the 3D printing as a service offering. We believe they are addressing peripheral needs of their existing industrial client base, as they do not… Continue reading An Ideal Service?
Xeni Jardin Tours TechShop
BoingBoingTV’s incomparable Xeni Jardin took an extensive tour of TechShop, interviewing founder Jim Newton and several on site users of TechShop. TechShop is a chain of open access workshops containing various high-tech (read: expensive) manufacturing equipment that anyone can use. Hobbyists and small businesses bring ideas to TechShop and bring them to life. The concept… Continue reading Xeni Jardin Tours TechShop
Maker Faire 2008
Every year makers of wonderful things congregate at the Maker Faire. This year it was held on May 3 and 4 in San Mateo, California, and as expected, many interesting items were exhibited. Wired has the best coverage of the event, and includes stories on such items as: A hand-built steam-powered time machine A… Continue reading Maker Faire 2008
3D Printing to the Rescue!
Our vision of the future includes a 3D printer in every home, where people may print out objects as required. Even for real-time repairs. This vision is beginning to come true, as Brenda attests in the post below. A broken part was repaired simply by printing a new one. We’ll see a lot more… Continue reading 3D Printing to the Rescue!
Alternative to TechShop?
TechShop is a very popular service for skilled manufacturing hobbyists who just don’t have the space or funds to own their own 21st century fabbing equipment. TechShop addresses their needs by planting multiple well-equipped shops in various cities. But are they the only option? Fabbaloo has identified a potential competitor: eMachineShop. Well, not exactly.… Continue reading Alternative to TechShop?
Shapeways Taking Shape
We caught a brief mention of a new 3D service start-up company: Shapeways. While they are not yet open to the public, they are soliciting for beta signups. (Yes, we’ve applied!) We can’t yet see how their system works yet, but indications show a fairly straightforward process: make your own model; export; upload to Shapeways;… Continue reading Shapeways Taking Shape
Fabidoo Heads West
The German-based Fabidoo consumer oriented manufacturing service is now available worldwide! Previously focused on the German market, the service now provides English web pages suitable for use in USA, Canada, UK and other major markets. We’ve written about Fabidoo before: they provide a very easy to use service for custom made figurines. For those with no 3D… Continue reading Fabidoo Heads West
Ponoko Exclusive
One of the most interesting companies in today’s fabrication space is Ponoko, a New Zealand based start-up that seems to be a mashup of a 3D print service, eBay and design library. We thought we’d better take a deeper look at them, and we interviewed Steven Kempton, Ponoko’s Blog Editor. Fabbaloo: Tell us the story… Continue reading Ponoko Exclusive
3D Yoyo
“Have you ever made a Yoyo with a 3D printer”, asks bollweevil in this Yoyonation forum discussion. Yoyo enthusiasts know their yoyos, and many custom build them. Now, they consider using a 3D printer to do so. The result is interesting, as YoMattSta replies: “Yes, I have. I made 2 yoyos on a 3d… Continue reading 3D Yoyo
Parametric House!
Dorota Kabala and Verena Vogler of the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia have designed an amazing and stunningly beautiful system for an adaptable house. It can: “adapt to its environment, to its users or to any other parameter” The idea is to produce a modular system based on a 3D matrix of spaces… Continue reading Parametric House!
Cutting Modeling Costs
Sweet Onion Creations (whom we’ve covered before) has posted several very useful tips for reducing the costs of printing 3D models. The article focuses on the Architectural crowd, but the tips are useful for anyone printing 3D objects. Some tips we noticed: “… think about doing a hybrid model – This entails a complete… Continue reading Cutting Modeling Costs
3D Printing from Google Sketchup
QuickArc has just announced that their 3D model viewer, QuickArc 3D, now can read and convert Google Sketchup 3D files into printable 3D format without any fuss. This development enables the release and potential printing of tens of thousands of 3D models previously in 3D jail within Google’s vast library. Free download (registration required)… Continue reading 3D Printing from Google Sketchup
Evil 3D Printing
Like Atomic Power, any technology can be used for Good or Evil. Now it’s 3D Printing’s turn for negative press. Computerworld New Zealand posts what I believe to be the first negative quote on 3D Print technology. Speaking on the use of the Open Source Rep-Rap 3D printer, Vik Olliver says: “We know that… Continue reading Evil 3D Printing
Dining Room Table Printed
It’s really just a model, but the concept was developed by Swiss Designer Phillippe Cramer. Interestingly, Philippe’s model is entitled, “Stalactite Table”, which mirrors the 3D printing process that produced it: layer by layer. Maybe when the build chambers of commonly available 3D printers are a bit bigger than they are now (12 inches… Continue reading Dining Room Table Printed
Tactile Images
Valerie Belmonte, a photographer, bumped into a book containing tactile images – that is to say, images with raised relief. Tactile images can be used by visually impaired folks to gain an understanding of visual material that would otherwise be difficult to do. Valerie posts a list of links to research on tactile images and… Continue reading Tactile Images
Proto Technologies Service
Today’s 3D print service is Proto Technologies, Inc., of Washington State. Their claim to fame is that customers can access a multi-material capable Object Connex 500 3D printer. Readers may recall this amazing device has two media hoppers that can hold completely different build materials, enabling one-step printing of objects having hard and soft… Continue reading Proto Technologies Service
Actual Town 3D Printed
Well, not the town itself, but a complete 3D model of a new town was created for a new market town outside of Plymouth, UK. Sherford used a variety of photographic, topographical and other techniques to build a highly accurate model of the townsite, which is comprised of some 5,500 homes. The work was done… Continue reading Actual Town 3D Printed
Land Printing
Yet another niche 3D printing service: LandPrint.com, who can “create a 3D model of Any Place on Earth!” To use the system, you must download a special software program (LandPrint Designer) that looks a heck of a lot like Google Earth (but isn’t). Then you browse “the Earth” to identify the location you want… Continue reading Land Printing
3D Printing As Replicator
Steve Puma posts his thoughts on the future of 3D Printing, and envisions a Star Trek-ish direction. We agree, since the predicted widespread personal manufacturing technology of five years from now will become a fertile field for entrepreneurs to develop all manner of solutions and services. As Steve points out there are energy implications… Continue reading 3D Printing As Replicator
Wax Milling
We’ve seen some strange materials being used in fabrication before, including Paper, Metal, Sugar, Iron , Live Tissue, and even Pasta! Now we see another media: Wax! Dutch company Delft Spline Systems makes the DeskProto software that can be used with inexpensive desktop milling machines, like the Roland JWX-10. Aimed at the Jewelry Maker’s market, the 123WaxRing… Continue reading Wax Milling
Prism Engineering Training & Support
You just can’t pick up an advanced 3D Modeling tool like SolidWorks or others and expect to be productive immediately. However, you can get training. One company offering training on a variety of CAD/CAM products is Prism Engineering of Pennsylvania. Their team of engineers, techs and trainers provide support and training on not only… Continue reading Prism Engineering Training & Support
Blind Man Sees!
An incredible story comes from 3D Systems, a 3D service bureau that we’ll have to review very soon. The University of Louisville’s Rapid Prototyping Center and Harvest Technologies (a 3D Systems provider) together helped produce an amazing result for the popular TV show “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”. The show’s premise is to rapidly rebuild or… Continue reading Blind Man Sees!
Second Level Servicing
“Second Level Servicing”? What’s that all about? Well, it goes like this: services like TechShop provide access to high-power fabrication equipment that anyone can use simply by dropping by a TechShop. However, Breakpoint offers another possibility: He’ll drop by TechShop and build your project for you, thus creating a service on top of a… Continue reading Second Level Servicing
Z Corp and DeskArtes
Recently we were totally impressed with the amazing new ZEdit Pro software from Z Corp, which provides a variety of 3D printing optimizations in addition to standard 3D modeling capabilities. Turns out that ZEdit Pro wasn’t entirely from Z Corp. According to a press release from DeskArtes OY, a Finnish software house, the ZEdit Pro… Continue reading Z Corp and DeskArtes
DesktopFactory Reveals Future Pricing?
Some time ago Fabbaloo pointed out an interview with Ed Fries, CEO of FigurePrints (a new 3D service that can print out your World of Warcraft character in glorious 3D). Now ComputerWorld takes up the topic, and publishes yet another interview with Ed. But that’s not the interesting part. Buried within the story is a… Continue reading DesktopFactory Reveals Future Pricing?