If you’re looking for fashion accessories produced on your own 3D printer you may have difficulty finding 3D models in public repositories. Instead you might consider designing 3D fashion accessories yourself – and there’s an Instructables guide to show you how. Instructables user kaadee404 produced a lengthy set of instructions for producing a Lip… Continue reading Fashion Design For 3D Printers
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Using SketchUp for 3D Printing
SketchUp is a free 3D modeling tool that is quite often the very first exposure to 3D modeling for many people. But is it appropriate for producing 3D models for printing? First off, we must say that SketchUp was not designed with 3D printing in mind; instead it was, like many 3D modeling tools,… Continue reading Using SketchUp for 3D Printing
3D Systems Gets Raided!
No, it’s not what you’re thinking; this raid was a “Bear Raid”. A “Bear Raid” is a stock trading scenario in which pundits attempt to artificially lower the price of a stock for their own profit. It started last week when a couple of provocative articles appeared on Seeking Alpha, suggesting that 3D Systems’… Continue reading 3D Systems Gets Raided!
Formlabs Vs. 3D Systems
Even more 3D Systems news today! Perhaps this was inevitable, but 3D printing giant 3D Systems has filed lawsuits against Kickstarter-fueled Formlabs, who recently closed a USD$3M campaign to raise funds to produce their new resin-based personal 3D printer. Resin-based 3D printing, also known as Stereolithography, was invented by 3D Systems’ founder, Chuck Hull… Continue reading Formlabs Vs. 3D Systems
Objet’s Flexy Materials
An interesting video from Objet shows off many of their latest materials. While many Fabbaloo readers have 3D printers capable of printing in hard plastic, the items in this video demonstrate what can be achieved when you are able to print in flexible material. Oh, did we say that Objet has an almost perfectly… Continue reading Objet’s Flexy Materials
007’s 3D Printed Cars
Not one, but three 3D printed cars were created for secret agent 007 James Bond for his recent film, Skyfall. No, they weren’t full size, but instead were one third of original size. The three Aston Martin DB5’s were used for used rather destructively in the film to avoid the expense (and tragedy) of… Continue reading 007’s 3D Printed Cars
Mixee Me Launches
There’s always room for another design-it-yourself service and today is the launch of Mixee Me, a service specializing in personal design of figurines. The concept is straightforward: you aren’t able to design in 3D yourself, so you’d go to Mixee Me and use their incredibly easy web interface to design a personalized figurine. Your… Continue reading Mixee Me Launches
Design of the Week: Anatomica di Revolutis
This week’s design is Anatomica di Revolutis by Chicago’s Joshua Harker. You may recall Harker as the artist who showed the world how to get it done on Kickstarter: his work, Crania Anatomica Filigre, scored a very healthy USD$77,271 when it closed over a year ago. That 3D print was one of the most popular… Continue reading Design of the Week: Anatomica di Revolutis
Digital Reality Announces Pro-Quote
Digital Factory announced a new plug-in service, Pro-Quote that can handle the preparation of cost estimates for 3D printing. Who can use this service? If you have a commercial 3D printer available and a website you can place Pro-Quote on your site and immediately accept 3D print requests. The Pro-Quote software presents a web… Continue reading Digital Reality Announces Pro-Quote
Cubify Now Macify’d
3D Systems has abruptly introduced a new version of their Cube 3D printer management software (Cubify) specifically for OSX. This is a major step by 3D Systems, who up to now have not offered OS/X-based software for, um, well, anything as far as we can tell. The software performs well, offering an extremely simple… Continue reading Cubify Now Macify’d
The 2BEIGH3 3D Printer Prints Nylon
The 2BEIGH3 is a 3D printer – but it’s also a CNC machine. This unique (and experimental) design permits both functions within the same device by undergoing a 1 hour conversion process. For those wanting both kinds of machine, this could be your answer. Normally we’d provide the specs for a 3D printer, but… Continue reading The 2BEIGH3 3D Printer Prints Nylon
Furniture That Can Carry Its Own Weight
Multithread, a furniture collection that is currently on display at the 2012 Istanbul Design Biennial, has an interesting story behind its creation. Designed by Clemens Weisshaar and Reed Kram, the Multithread collection was built using custom-created CAD software that can analyze the support forces acting on a piece of furniture’s joints and modify the… Continue reading Furniture That Can Carry Its Own Weight
Mixing Digital Sculpture With Real Objects
We’re fascinated with this beautiful mashup of reality and fantasy using 3D printing by artist Greg Petchkovsky, who created it as his entry to the Instructables “Make It Real” contest. Petchkovsky first scans a broken brick corner and then using a combination of Agisoft Photoscan and 3DS Max he designed and 3D printed a… Continue reading Mixing Digital Sculpture With Real Objects
AutoDesk Releases 123D Design
Software giant AutoDesk took a big plunge into the 3D consumer space by releasing 123D Design, a very user-friendly 3D modeling tool. The software is available for iPad, Mac or PC and also directly on the web if you don’t have any of those platforms. We took 123D Design for a spin and found… Continue reading AutoDesk Releases 123D Design
Softkill’s Protohouse
We’ve previously written about experiments in 3D printing for building construction and while these experiments have experienced varying degrees of success, there remains the question of “what do you print” if you can build house-sized objects. That was the question answered by design firm Softkill, whose exhibit at the recent 3D Printshow displayed a… Continue reading Softkill’s Protohouse
HP To Produce 3D Printers?
Seeking Alpha presents a cogent argument for HP producing 3D printers in the near future, even though no such announcements or signals have been emitted from that company, recently or in the past. HP has had some involvement with 3D printers, in that it had an arrangement with Stratasys to resell HP-labelled Stratasys uPrint… Continue reading HP To Produce 3D Printers?
NASA’s Space Launch System is 3D Printed
Yes, the venerable Space Shuttle is now retired and host to gawking tourists across the United States, but that doesn’t mean NASA is sitting idle. In fact they’ve embarked on the development of a massive new rocket to take on the task of heavy lifting to outer space: The Space Launch System or “SLS”. … Continue reading NASA’s Space Launch System is 3D Printed
Two 3D Printing Downers
We’ve just read not one, but two articles from reputable publications that appear to dismiss the notion of personal 3D printing. TechCrunch’s Jon Evans wrote “3D Printers Are Not Like 2D Printers: A Rant”, while Scientific American’s Gary Stix wrote “3-D Printing: The Great American Tchotchke Machine”. Stix’s premise is that personal 3D printers… Continue reading Two 3D Printing Downers
CubeHero Manages Your 3D Models
If you’ve made many 3D models you’ll soon encounter the problem of managing them. Which one is the correct one? Which copies are old and which are new? What changed between this version and that one? The software world has long solved these issues through the use of “change management software”, such as the… Continue reading CubeHero Manages Your 3D Models
Design of the Week: Holy (USB) Hand
Occasionally great designs can happen accidentally. This week’s selection is the “Holy (USB) Hand” by Newcastle University’s Dr. Javier Munguia’s team of three mechanical engineering students. The origins of the hand were practical: the team required a “hand” to test an experimental wrist splint concept and prepared a “hand” model to print on their… Continue reading Design of the Week: Holy (USB) Hand
Stratasys Reports 3Q12 Results
As one of the two publicly-traded major 3D printing companies, Stratasys’ financial results are always interesting to examine. They’ve been on a tear in recent years, consistently setting new records for various financial statistics. This quarter seems no different: their revenue increased a massive 40% in 3Q12 from 3Q11, while units increased 52% to… Continue reading Stratasys Reports 3Q12 Results
i.Materialise Reduces Ceramics Price
If you’ve got a model requiring a cubic centimeter of ceramic to print, i.Materialise can print it for you at a lowered price of USD$0.18. Their ceramic material is particularly useful due to its smooth appearance, wide variety of kitchy colors, heat resistance and the fact that it’s food safe. You can produce functional… Continue reading i.Materialise Reduces Ceramics Price
Makers By Chris Anderson
There’s a new book from former WIRED editor Chris Anderson specifically on the topic of entrepreneurship in the 21st century. Makers: The New Industrial Revolution investigates the development of entrepreneurship in the software industry, where vast business empires have been built that run much of the world today. Then he asks a truly profound… Continue reading Makers By Chris Anderson
3D Systems’ VisiJet Jewel Automates Jewelry Manufacturing
3D Systems announced the immediate availability of VisiJet Jewel, a new specialized material formulated for high volume jewelry production. Developed expressly for use with the ProJet 6000 and 7000 professional 3D printers, VisiJet Jewel allows manufacturers to produce master models for direct casting of cost effective jewelry with unparalleled detail, accuracy and quality, in hours… Continue reading 3D Systems’ VisiJet Jewel Automates Jewelry Manufacturing
3D Print Design Contest
Engineering.com has launched a four week 3D print design contest. Readers may consider entering this contest as it has few rules and a grand prize of USD$2,000. Engineering.com will print nine winning entries on their Stratasys MOJO 3D printer and ship them directly to you. Three winners will be announced each week, beginning… Continue reading 3D Print Design Contest
New Calibration Software For Your Up!
The accursed leveling problem is present in many personal 3D printers. Before you can use your printer, you must ensure that the print head is synchronized with the print bed so that the plastic extrusion lands correctly. Since the print head usually cannot be adjusted, the synchronization is done by “leveling the bed”. The… Continue reading New Calibration Software For Your Up!
Weta’s 3D Printed Hobbit Stuff
We’ve just reviewed a report on film studio Weta’s use of 3D printing technology. Weta is the studio responsible for the upcoming movie, “The Hobbit”, as well as the massively successful Lord of the Rings series. What are they printing? According to the report, they’re making various custom props for The Hobbit, including “helmets,… Continue reading Weta’s 3D Printed Hobbit Stuff
3D Printed Eyeglass Frames
Sandra Battistel of Eyespectacle (the “Story behind the frame”) has done a bit of investigation on how eyeglass maker Mykita recently produced the “Mylon”, a unique frame design made through 3D printing. Battistel takes us through the process used by Mykita, including images of the equipment and frames through the production process. It appears… Continue reading 3D Printed Eyeglass Frames
3D Printing with Dilbert
This week Dilbert got into the 3D printing space by publishing a cartoon of the character making very effective use of his 3D printer. Hit the link below for the full strip. Amusing, but not yet possible. Printing a body-sized item would take days on any of today’s machines and the results would be… Continue reading 3D Printing with Dilbert
Printing Bricks
Fabbaloo readers are most familiar with the idea of 3D printing plastic, metal or sometimes food, but how about bricks? The method of making common ceramic brick for centuries is giving way for an experiment in 3D printing building bricks. The experiment is being conducted by Building Bytes, who have already designed three styles… Continue reading Printing Bricks
3D Systems Donates to Singularity U
Singularity University is a specialized institution dedicated to leveraging “the power of exponential technologies to solve humanity’s grand challenges”, and created by forward-looking entrepreneurs Peter Diamandis and Ray Kurzweil. The grand challenges include research in very diverse areas, including energy, security, poverty and space exploration. The institution attracts top level students to work on these… Continue reading 3D Systems Donates to Singularity U
Design of the Week: Flux
This week’s selection is Flux by artist Daniel Hilldrup. This fascinating piece is obviously quite simple in its exterior structure, but it’s interior is far more complex. Functionally, it’s a simple capacity-three candelabra formed from a square box. However, the interior structure is almost in motion as it seems to exude from the inserted… Continue reading Design of the Week: Flux
3D Systems Announces Quarterly Results
As one of the two mega-3D publicly-held printing companies in existence today, 3D Systems is obligated to formally report on their finances periodically. We like view them as a kind of bellwether on the state of the 3D printing industry. So how did they do this quarter? Apparently very well. Their revenue increased a… Continue reading 3D Systems Announces Quarterly Results
TeamPlatform’s API Released
You might recall TeamPlatform, the new service that enables secure sharing of 3D models? They’ve released a software API that enables much wider use of their service. But first let’s back up a bit: TeamPlatform is a web service specifically designed around handling 3D model development. You can create a secure, private “workspace” in… Continue reading TeamPlatform’s API Released
Another Extreme Personalization Experiment
We’ve just been pointed at the JB Figurines Kickstarter project. This is an artistic experiment involving 3D printing and extreme personalization. The project intends to create a totally unique 3D “superhero” printed figurine for each backer. Each figurine customer will have a designer create a 3D model that will be printed only once on… Continue reading Another Extreme Personalization Experiment
3D Systems Receives U.S. Air Force Rapid Innovation Fund Award
3D Systems Corporation announced that its Paramount advanced manufacturing team has received a $2.95M award to transition specially engineered materials and the company’s Selective Laser Sintering technology to the production of various components in the F-35 and other weapons systems to improve affordability and sustainability. The two-year project will reduce cost within the manufacturing process… Continue reading 3D Systems Receives U.S. Air Force Rapid Innovation Fund Award
Found in the 3D Printing Mailbox
As a popular and rapidly growing 3D printing blog, Fabbaloo receives a lot of email. We receive a great many tips, suggestions, questions, press releases and offers for guest posts. We also receive the usual gamut of “SEO expert advice”, “mutual links” and similarly suspicious business offers. Lately we’re seeing a new class of… Continue reading Found in the 3D Printing Mailbox
3D Printing Makes a Soldier Walk Again
One of the several tragedies of global conflict is those permanently maimed by explosions and weapons fire. One UK soldier, shot “above and through the knee”, has been unable to recover despite several reconstructive surgeries. But now there’s new hope through the use of advanced 3D scanning, 3D printing and new surgical techniques. … Continue reading 3D Printing Makes a Soldier Walk Again
Sandy Impacts 3D Printing
Massive hurricane Sandy slammed into the east coast of the USA this week and caused a tremendous amount of damage, but how did 3D printing fare during the event? Aside from the numerous individual “we can’t make it to work” scenarios, there has been only limited affects. We’ve seen no announcements from 3D Systems, whose… Continue reading Sandy Impacts 3D Printing
3D Print Your Own iPhone Stand (Instructions Included!)
A great many of us own iPhones and some might want a stand for it. But being 3D print people, we’d obviously want to print our own. But how, exactly, does one go about designing an iPhone stand? The answer can be found in a new Instructables by Damon Ahola, an MFA student at… Continue reading 3D Print Your Own iPhone Stand (Instructions Included!)
Shapeways to Open NY Factory
Popular consumer-focused 3D print service is expanding! In New York, specifically Long Island, they’re spending USD$28M to set up a 25,000sf, 50-person facility that Shapeways calls, “The Factory of The Future”. The facility is expected to hold some 30-50 advanced 3D printers as well as providing a physical space for maker community innovation. The… Continue reading Shapeways to Open NY Factory
Form 1 Spotted!
The folks at Engadget spotted the elusive Form 1 resin-based personal 3D printer in the wild at London’s 3D Printshow and managed to capture a short video of it in action. In the video you can see the machine’s laser fusing each layer of an exquisite 3D print, slowly emerging from the photo-curable resin.… Continue reading Form 1 Spotted!
There’s Only One One Just One
Some say that 3D printing is not useful for manufacturing due to the per unit cost of printing versus traditional mass manufacturing. That’s true, and so 3D printing is often used for prototypes and low-quantity production. Or even one-off personalized items. But now a venture attempts to push that concept to the limit. One… Continue reading There’s Only One One Just One
Design of the Week: Würfel in Würfel 2
This week’s selection is Thingiverse user Achim Esslinger’s beautiful “Würfel in Würfel 2”. The title in English means “Cube in Cubes”, which it clearly is. It’s a two-part item that you could easily print on most personal 3D printers. When assembled it should clearly demonstrate your ability to produce amazing objects right in your… Continue reading Design of the Week: Würfel in Würfel 2
PandaBot Succeeds – and Fails
We wondered what might happen to the Toronto-based project attempting to produce a user-friendly personal 3D printer. Their Kickstarter campaign languished and didn’t seem to have the momentum to make to their target, and it seems they didn’t. Their campaign was abruptly closed with a total slightly south of USD$40K. That’s the bad news.… Continue reading PandaBot Succeeds – and Fails
Microscopic Metal 3D Printing
Scientists have invented a way to form 3D metallic objects at nanoscale. While it’s not 3D printing, per se, it is quite interesting. The approach was to mimic traditional methods of forming metal: bending, shearing, etc. They’ve found a way to deform portions of a microscopic metal object in a controlled manner. Using… Continue reading Microscopic Metal 3D Printing
3D4D Challenge Claimed By WOOF
The 3D4D challenge winner was announced and it’s the University of Washington Open Object Fabricators, a.k.a. “WOOF”. They received the prize of USD$100,000 during the recent 3D Printshow in London. Their winning entry was a method to “enable waste plastic to be used as filament for 3D printing machines, to create new products”, and… Continue reading 3D4D Challenge Claimed By WOOF
Millions To Form 1
We’ve all heard about the success of Formlab’s incredible fundraising success on the launch of their new Form 1 resin-based 3D printer, but how well did they do? Their Kickstarter campaign has officially closed today and the results are beyond startling: They’ve raised exactly USD$2,945,885 They’ve received orders for 1,028 Form 1 machines by… Continue reading Millions To Form 1
UK to Invest an Additional £7 million in A.M.
On the heels of a story we reported last week, the Technology Strategy Board, an advisory group to the UK’s Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, has announced it will invest £7 million to help spur innovation in additive manufacturing. MP David Willet’s had this to say about the program, “3D printing technologies offer… Continue reading UK to Invest an Additional £7 million in A.M.
Preventing 3D Printed Piracy… Or What?
A patent has been awarded to The Invention Science Fund, an organization holding patents for former Microsoft CTO Nathan Myhrvold’s Intellectual Ventures company. What does this patent do? It’s a method to implement copy-protection on your 3D printer! Wait a moment – Does this mean we will be unable to print some of… Continue reading Preventing 3D Printed Piracy… Or What?
MediaGoblin Shares 3D Models
MediaGoblin, the open source project that enables easy sharing of media, has added the ability to share 3D models. Not familiar with MediaGoblin? Here’s their own explanation: MediaGoblin is a free software media publishing platform that anyone can run. You can think of it as a decentralized alternative to Flickr, YouTube, SoundCloud,… Continue reading MediaGoblin Shares 3D Models
One Way to Reduce 3D Print Warping
One of the persistent issues with many personal 3D printers has been the tendency of ABS plastic to warp. ABS shrinks as it cools, and this all too often means your ABS prints (and sometimes even your allegedly warp-resistant PLA prints) start curling up at the bottom corners while printing, resulting in a distorted model.… Continue reading One Way to Reduce 3D Print Warping
BFB’s AXON 3’s Colorful Speed
Bits From Bytes has suddenly released AXON 3, a new version of the software they use to slice models for their line of personal 3D printers, including the RapMan, BFB 3000 and 3D Touch. The new version has two incredible new features: multi-material capability and one more we’ll save for a moment. The… Continue reading BFB’s AXON 3’s Colorful Speed
It’s Magnificently Big!
California artist Cosmo Wenman has created something pretty amazing with his MakerBot Replicator: a replica of a horse head sculpture from the Parthenon in Athens. The first very noticeable aspect of this work is the startlingly realistic bronze patina applied after printing. The second is the size of the work, as you can see… Continue reading It’s Magnificently Big!
MakerBot Expands Retail Presence in Europe
Shortly after opening its own dedicated retail shop in New York, MakerBot announced it’s pursuing retail arrangements in France. They’ve partnered with le FabShop to resell all current MakerBot products, including their most recent device, the Replicator 2. Le FabShop, a French makerspace based in Brittany, does not have a physical retail store, but… Continue reading MakerBot Expands Retail Presence in Europe
Will PandaBot Make It?
We’re watching the PandaBot 3D printer fundraising campaign closely and we’re wondering if the project will reach its goal of USD$50,000. Currently they’re running over USD$10,000 short with over a week to go. If you read through the comments on their Kickstarter page, you’ll encounter some controversy surrounding the print quality and ability of… Continue reading Will PandaBot Make It?
Design of the Week: Rollercoaster
This week’s selection is famed 3D print designer Janne Kyttänen’s 2006 piece, “Rollercoaster”. It’s a stunningly beautiful fruit tray – which evidently holds up to nine oranges. We like not only its visual attractiveness, but its simplicity and utility. You can indeed store oranges or perhaps other lesser fruit on said tray. However,… Continue reading Design of the Week: Rollercoaster
A Swiss 3D Printer Seller
We just noticed a business selling 3D printers in Switzerland. Zurich-based 3D-Model (German: 3D Drucker kaufen) appears to resell a variety of 3D Systems gear, including not only the large commercial units such as the Projet, but also 3D Systems’ personal 3D printer line, Bits From Bytes. The company also offers 3D print services,… Continue reading A Swiss 3D Printer Seller
MCOR Rolls Out the Matrix 300+
MCOR announced their new Matrix 300+ paper-based 3D printer. This device is similar to the 300, but offers improved performance in how the models are constructed. They’ve included a new feature called “Selectable Layer Thickness”, in which you could print in either “Draft” or “Presentation”. We suspect what might be happening here is that… Continue reading MCOR Rolls Out the Matrix 300+
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
TCT Live – What You Missed and Why You Need to Attend
If you are looking for big ballrooms filled with paid conference attendees or a boondoggle to a resort destination, TCT Live (Birmingham, England) is not for you. This event is for both novice and experienced users that are in search of answers to the questions of what is available and what is possible. It is… Continue reading TCT Live – What You Missed and Why You Need to Attend
Rapidform Joins 3D Systems
In yet another acquisition, 3D Systems has acquired 3D software maker Rapidform. Rapidform is well known in the 3D industry and provides reverse-engineering software. That means their software accepts a 3D scan and then transforms it into a usable, parametric CAD model. In practice it isn’t totally magic and produce the CAD model at… Continue reading Rapidform Joins 3D Systems
Free For You: A 3D Photo Booth
Computer engineer Jeremy Herrman has developed an amazing software configuration that dramatically simplifies the process of scanning humans. Or anything, really. It’s the software you need to set up a kind of 3D Photo Booth, called ScanBooth. Readers who have attempted scans of people with open source gear will know very well the issues… Continue reading Free For You: A 3D Photo Booth
There is a Reason For Individuals To Have A 3D Printer In Their Home
Jon Evans’ piece on TechCrunch entitled, “There Is No Reason For Any Individual To Have A 3D Printer In Their Home” explains just that. He believes the future of 3D printing (at least in the short term) lies in centralized services rather than personal devices. Other than “passionate artists/hobbyists and home manufacturing businesses” you… Continue reading There is a Reason For Individuals To Have A 3D Printer In Their Home
3D Printing Event Next Week
Don’t forget to attend the 3D Printing Event in Eindhoven, Netherlands next week if you happen to be nearby. The event now includes over 30 speakers, including representatives from a wide variety of 3D print-related companies, including: Ultimaker, GrabCAD, Shapeways, Makielab, Protospace, DUS Architects, University Medical Center Utrecht, Loughborough Design School, Stone Spray, Faberdashery and… Continue reading 3D Printing Event Next Week
Oh, The Hype, The Hype!
It’s beginning to hurt. We’re seeing a minor explosion of wildly excited posts about 3D printing on a wide variety of blogs that attempt to shock and amaze. But they’re mostly just hype. Consider these recent headlines: This Incredible 3D Printer Can Produce Entire Rooms Automation poses dilemma in labour market 3D… Continue reading Oh, The Hype, The Hype!
EuroMold Set For November
The definitive conference for 3D printing seems to be Euromold, a large manufacturing conference held in Frankfurt, Germany each November. It’s called the “World Fair for Moldmaking and Tooling, Design and Application Development”. Yes, it’s the big one. Euromold has existed for years providing information on manufacturing, but within the over 1000 exhibitors are… Continue reading EuroMold Set For November
PandaBot is on Kickstarter
Toronto-based Panda Robotics has finally launched their first personal 3D printer, the PandaBot, on Kickstarter. They’re raising funds for their first big production run, a modest USD$50,000. In their video, Panda Robotics’ Design Engineer Liav Koren explains their goal is to produce a unit suitable for anyone to have on their desk. This means… Continue reading PandaBot is on Kickstarter
Design of the Week: Humming
This week’s selection is Eric van Straaten’s “Humming” Statuette. With the simple description, “Girl holding a hummingbird”, van Straaten’s statuette clearly demonstrates the power of color 3D printing. Polychemy says: Eric van Straaten is a Hyper Surreal artist and a noteable 3D Print artist and sculptor. His work has been featured in… Continue reading Design of the Week: Humming
Popular Mechanics Likes The Cube
3D Systems’ new personal 3D printer, The Cube, has been awarded the 2012 Breakthrough Award by Popular Mechanics magazine. This annual award is presented to a selection of innovators and inventions that the magazine believes have advanced society in some important way. The Cube was not the only winner; other awardees included: SpaceX’s… Continue reading Popular Mechanics Likes The Cube
Gigantic Titanium Printing: Aeroswift
A brief press release from CSIR, South Africa’s Council for Scientific and Industrial Research announced a three-way partnership to develop “titanium powder-based additive layer manufacturing for fabrication of large and complex aerospace components.” The other partners in this venture are Aerosud, a South African-based aerospace manufacturer and the more well-known Airbus. CSIR provides… Continue reading Gigantic Titanium Printing: Aeroswift
The Craziness of 3D Printing Stocks
As we’re now in the “Peak of Inflated Expectations” of 3D printing, according to Gartner, the stock market is taking a very close look at publicly available stocks for 3D printing companies. Needless to say, the prices of the two publicly traded 3D printing companies, 3D Systems and Stratasys, have been exhibiting some unusual… Continue reading The Craziness of 3D Printing Stocks
Rocket Moonlighting Used DMLS to Build Homemade Rockets
Anyone even a little bit interested in rocketry, space travel or just cool engineering should head over to Rocket Moonlighting for a peek into one of the most interesting DIY projects I’ve seen in a while… building homemade rockets! Read More at Engineering.com
3D Printed Optics
We were contacted by Karl D. D. WIllis of the Disney Research Institute, who wished to show us the work they’ve been doing on 3D printing optical mechanisms. This past June we speculated on the importance of clear materials, but we had no idea how far along researchers have taken the concept. The… Continue reading 3D Printed Optics
The B9Creator Creator Speaks
Core77 published a detailed interview with Michael Joyce (of Deadwood, South Dakota), the creator of the B9Creator. The B9Creator was a hugely successful Kickstarter project to fund the development of a resin-based personal 3D printer. How successful? Over USD$500,000 was raised, enabling Joyce to get production going. We encourage you to read the… Continue reading The B9Creator Creator Speaks
Fabbster’s Flexy Experiment
We’ve just viewed an interesting video of what appears to be a 3D print of a very flexible material, evidently performed on a Fabbster. You’ll recall Fabbster; the personal 3D printer that accepts pre-made plastic “sticks” of different materials and colors. Apparently they’ve somehow made sticks out of a flexible plastic material and printed out… Continue reading Fabbster’s Flexy Experiment
Now Real: Printing Your Own Replacement Parts
Eventually it had to come to this: a company providing 3D models of their spare parts so that you could print your own copies. Traditionally one would have mail-ordered for the spare parts or had to find a local reseller that carried the inevitably over-priced replacement knob. But now that’s changing due to 3D… Continue reading Now Real: Printing Your Own Replacement Parts
Bre’s Not A Bad Guy
One has to sympathize with Bre Pettis, CEO of MakerBot. While he’s had huge successes in the past few years, most recently by announcing the professional-targeted Replicator 2, he’s also caught some flack from the open source community. As we explained the other week, some members of the open source community are upset because… Continue reading Bre’s Not A Bad Guy
MOST Needs Your Help
The Michigan Tech Open Sustainability Technology Research Group is investigating the mechanical properties of parts produced with RepRap-style 3D printers and they need samples to put through extensive testing. They require a very large number of samples of “tensile bars” to undergo testing. They say: We are currently asking for companies/individuals with 3D… Continue reading MOST Needs Your Help
More 3D Gun Printing Controversy
This topic just won’t go away. Last week 3D printer manufacturer Stratasys revoked the 3D printer lease of Defense Distributed, a team intent on producing an open source, 3D-printable gun design – using a Stratasys 3D printer. No doubt Stratasys was concerned they might be sued by someone in the future or the subject… Continue reading More 3D Gun Printing Controversy
The Ultra-Bot 3D Printer
The Ultra-Bot is yet another Kickstarter project producing a unique 3D printer. This one is already successful, raising over 5x its goal of USD$7,500. Project creator William Steele of Indiana did indeed do something very unique on this project. No, he didn’t invent or incorporate a new technology. No, he didn’t make something incredibly… Continue reading The Ultra-Bot 3D Printer
Design Of The Week: Sunken Coffee Mug
This delightful and shocking design by German Thingiverse user FMMT666 has been selected as this week’s Design of the Week. What is it? Simply a coffee mug, but with a surprising difference: the lower portion is sliced off, making it appear to be embedded in the table. You’d visually expect it to either be… Continue reading Design Of The Week: Sunken Coffee Mug
3D Systems Gets A TIM
3D Systems has acquired another regional 3D print service bureau: The Innovative Modelmakers BV, a Dutch company. According to 3D System’s press release, TIM is a “leading full service provider of on-demand custom parts services”. They plan on integrating TIM’s business into the 3D Systems’ already operating On Demand parts service, specifically 3D Systems… Continue reading 3D Systems Gets A TIM
The 2013 Extreme Redesign 3D Printing Challenge
Each year Stratasys sponsors an excellent competition between students to determine the most interesting and useful 3D printable designs. This year they’re launching the 2013 edition of the Extreme Redesign Challenge. The rules are very similar to previous years: submitted designs compete for scholarships and an opportunity to print out their design. Nine winners… Continue reading The 2013 Extreme Redesign 3D Printing Challenge
3D Print Your Dream House?
The folks at RepRapCentral have produced a short video demonstrating what could become an interesting application of 3D printing tech: producing tactile 3D models of your dream house. While the video appears to be a concept print, the idea is to address the uncertainty home buyers face when evaluating possible home designs. At the… Continue reading 3D Print Your Dream House?
A New Program Creates Stronger Prototypes
Most of us have come across this problem before: We create a model and send it out for a print, and when it returns it isn’t as structurally sound as it should be. Over at Laboratory Equipment there is a great article about a new program that can detect a model’s deficiencies and create structural… Continue reading A New Program Creates Stronger Prototypes
Smithsonian Partners with 3D Systems
In an interesting move the venerable Smithsonian Institution has partnered with 3D Systems to provide “3D printing services and technology”. 3D Systems President and CEO Abe Reichental said: The Smithsonian has shown both foresight and technological leadership in embracing the potential of 3D printing to preserve and showcase today’s and tomorrow’s collections, making them readily… Continue reading Smithsonian Partners with 3D Systems
Cubify’s Bugdroids
3D Systems’ Cubify service announced yet another 3D model creation service: Bugdroids! The new service joins several existing services that enable anyone to create fun 3D models directly from your browser. Like their previously released Robot Nation app, Bugdroids permits tons of droid customization, including various structural adornments as well as colored stamps. … Continue reading Cubify’s Bugdroids
Up! Sharpens Its Output
3D printer manufacturer PP3DP improved the resolution on both its Up! Plus and Up! Mini personal 3D printers. The Up! Plus previously was capable of printing as fine as 200 microns (0.20mm), but with this upgrade it will be improved to 150 microns (0.15mm). Similarly, the Up! Mini 3D printer will be improved from… Continue reading Up! Sharpens Its Output
The Trouble With 3D Printers
You’re so intensely interested in 3D printing that you bought yourself a 3D printer. Great! You can design and print objects right in your own home. But then what? The problem then starts. The problem of renewal. Yes, your 3D printer still produces objects for you on demand, but you’re now suddenly aware… Continue reading The Trouble With 3D Printers
Transmuting PLA Into Metal
You can’t transmute lead into gold, but these days it is apparently possible to change a part, 3D printed in PLA plastic, into a metal part. The method used by maker Jeshua Lacock of 3DTOPO, emulated the eternal lost-wax casting method. He printed parts in PLA on his Ultimaker 3D printer and then surrounded… Continue reading Transmuting PLA Into Metal
De-Extincting a Mollusk
3D printing is an amazing process, not only to simply watch a print appear from thin air, but also for the things it makes possible. We’re reading how a species of mollusk, the multiplacophoran Protobalanus spinicoronatus, extinct for 390 million years has been re-created using 3D printing. Researchers at the Jackson School of Geosciences… Continue reading De-Extincting a Mollusk
Nick Ervnick’s Sculptures
Belgian sculptor Nick Ervnick has been working with Materialise to print several of his works for exhibition. One of his sculptures is featured in Tongeren, Belgium’s town centre, right in front of the Gallo-Romeins Museum, “one of the most important archaeological museums in Europe”. That’s not all. Ervnick’s works are being shown in… Continue reading Nick Ervnick’s Sculptures
Design of the Week: Antique Scandinavian Stoves
This week’s selection is a set of Antique Scandinavian Stoves by New York-based Thingiverse user PrettySmallThings, also known as Kacie Hultgren. Hultgren’s design represents a class of 3D print we’ve been seeing more frequently lately: miniature furniture. She says: I’m a scenic designer in the theatre industry, using my makerbot to make amazing… Continue reading Design of the Week: Antique Scandinavian Stoves
BFB’s AXON Updated
For readers using BitsFromBytes personal 3D printing equipment (that means a RapMan, BFB 3000 or 3D Touch), there’s a present for you to download: a new version of AXON. AXON is the software used by BFB devices to prep the files for printing on BFB’s line of 3D printers. It accepts STL and converts… Continue reading BFB’s AXON Updated