Recently we’ve been babbling about the idea of making 3D Busts of yourself or your friends, and it turns out there is a service that does just that: EGO3D, which launched on 2 July of this year. This amazing service uses only three photographs (inevitably, police style: front, left and right profiles) to generate… Continue reading EGO3D Busts!
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SOLIDO Video
We bumped into a great video detailing the operation of the new SOLIDO SD300 Desktop 3D Printer. The video shows all steps from design through our favorite moment (striking the “Build” button) through to pulling the completed printed object out of the device. Via YouTube
Puzzling BitTorrent and 3D Printing
There’s a fascinating interview of Bram Cohen on the Shapeways Blog. That name sounds familiar? It should, because he’s the inventor of BitTorrent, that famous or infamous highly efficient network transfer protocol that swept the world and changed how big media companies operator forever. But what’s this got to do with 3D printing? Turns… Continue reading Puzzling BitTorrent and 3D Printing
Is It What I Want?
Mateusz Pozar of Monocultured poses an interesting question: what happens when 3D printing technology advances sufficiently such that the printed objects are just as good as the original? His answer: If the remix and DIY approach will hold true for personal fabrication (fabbing) then you’ll be forced to shift gears from “is it what it… Continue reading Is It What I Want?
2.1D Printing with Roland’s VersaUV
It’s not exactly a 3D printer, but we’d call it a “2.1D” printer. Basically it’s an inkjet printer equipped with UV-hardened “ink” that can produce a raised effect on the 2D printouts. Another way to look at it is that the VersaUV LEC-300 is a 3D printer with a Z-axis of only 0.04mm. The… Continue reading 2.1D Printing with Roland’s VersaUV
MakerBot Peeks into Mainstream
Crain’s New York Business.com has published a mainstream article on MakerBot, makers of the first affordable and easy-to-use 3D printer kit. We’re very pleased to see articles like this, which bring 3D printing tech to those who’ve never had exposure. Fabbaloo readers have likely had the experience of explaining current 3D technology capabilities to… Continue reading MakerBot Peeks into Mainstream
Desktop Factory Ends. Or Begins?
We’ve written much about Desktop Factory over the past year and a half. They’ve attempted to build the first commercial 3D printer priced at less than USD$5,000. And they almost made it happen. Recently they’ve undergone severe financial issues that brought the company near to collapse. In fact, according to their most recent news… Continue reading Desktop Factory Ends. Or Begins?
Stratasys Results
As is customary (and required), Stratasys announced their latest quarterly results. We like to examine them because we suspect they may shed light on the state of the 3D printing industry. And it turns out that their revenue was still down as compared to the same quarter last year, USD$24.6 vs. USD$31.3 in 2008. Unit… Continue reading Stratasys Results
Anticipating 3D
Interesting post on JIN SAOTOME’S DANGEROUS BLOG! where John Mallamas describes his state of anticipation of the arrival of practical 3D printers. He’s a “self taught action figure/toy customizer” who saw a sample printed object and realized the potential for his efforts. Interestingly, he predicts a scenario similar to one we’ve espoused: What does this… Continue reading Anticipating 3D
MathMorph
This intricate model was designed by Jonathon Anderson by adapting the MathMorph techniques. MathMorph? It’s described this way: First, a series of computer models were generated by computer algorithms, cellular automation, and mathematic equations using Maya and Houdini programs. These computer models were fabricated as physical prototypes by the Stratasys FDMTM (Fused Deposition Modeling)… Continue reading MathMorph
Build Your Own 3D Scanner?
You know you want to. Now you can! There’s a relatively straightforward approach for making an inexpensive 3D scanner using stuff you probably are sitting beside right now, and several websites detail methods of doing so, some even including software you can use yourself. The approach is described by Jean-Yves Bouguet and Pietro Perona… Continue reading Build Your Own 3D Scanner?
From 3D, Comes Infinium!
The University of Michigan has spent more than USD$1M to produce the above pictured Infinium solar car, which is to take part in the World Solar Challenge race across Australia. Yes, “solar” means the sun will be the only fuel for this bad boy during the 1,800 mile six day race. Why are we… Continue reading From 3D, Comes Infinium!
From Hands to Model
ZCorp, one of the leading 3D Printer manufacturers, also makes and markets 3D Scanners, such as the ZScanner 800 shown above. In a recent article posted by The Engineer Online and republished by ZCorp, they describe the case of Portuguese product development firm Protosys. Protosys recently assisted a boat manufacturer who had difficulties with hull… Continue reading From Hands to Model
Yet Another Kind of Repository?
With all the chatter about 3D model repositories lately, we thought we’d add another twist to the puzzle. Could a virtual world act as a 3D model repository? There are many virtual worlds available today, including Second Life and grids built on its open source cousin OpenSim, the upcoming BlueMars, There and others. Each of… Continue reading Yet Another Kind of Repository?
Simple Wins. Every Time
A brief post on the Daily PLM Think Tank Blog resonated with us. The topic was the complexity of interfaces to PLM/PDM systems (Product Lifecycle Management and Product Data Management). The same problem infects many of the 3D design tools used by those who 3D print. The interfaces are often overwhelming. We’ve seen many times… Continue reading Simple Wins. Every Time
New MCOR Video
The mysterious paper-fed MCOR Matrix 3D printer has made its TV debut on the Irish Late Late Show in this 5 minute interview. The founders of MCOR, Conor and Fintan MacCormack, explain the basics of 3D printing to the presenter, but along the way there were a few tidbits of interest: MCOR claims to… Continue reading New MCOR Video
3DFilter: Just a Small Box
Many years ago you might recall the early days of web search, where there were several services competing to be the best search engine. At the time, the leaders might have been yahoo, altavista and others. But they were bested by upstart Google. Not only did Google provide excellent results, but they tried a… Continue reading 3DFilter: Just a Small Box
MakerBot Distributes Itself!
The buzz over MakerBot, the budget 3D Printer is clearly intense. Sufficiently intense that demand for their amazing device has almost outstripped their manufacturing capacity. However, being an inventive crew, they’ve come up with a pioneering solution that we don’t think has been attempted before. They are crowdsourcing a portion of their manufacturing. Even… Continue reading MakerBot Distributes Itself!
netfabb Studio 4.2
Yes, it’s just been updated and available for download. netfabb is a lightweight Windows software tool specifically engineered for additive design. netfabb offers a “basic” version completely free of charge, which includes these features, among others: Advanced model browsing and STL management Automatic part fixing, mesh editing and analysis Measurements and quality assurance Packing… Continue reading netfabb Studio 4.2
Shapeways Bends Metal… and Thinking
Shapeways offers metal prints with their new stylus generator, and we think they are quite amazing. The level of detail present in the image above, combined with the metallic material evokes a feeling we don’t get too often when examining 3D printed objects: it’s not plastic! It’s metal, obviously, but it just *looks* so… Continue reading Shapeways Bends Metal… and Thinking
Resistor Video
A short video highlights the methods of NYC Resistor, a hacker group who’s goal, according to founder Bre Prettis is to: Figure stuff out Break things to understand how they work Share whatever we learn Make stuff with whatever we can find In the video, Bre shows off the groundbreaking MakerBot 3D printer kit.… Continue reading Resistor Video
New 3D Economy?
Futurist James Cascio recently examined the effects of “Desktop Manufacturing” in Fast Company, and we tend to agree with all of his key points: Manufacturing is likely to undergo the same kind of “creative destruction” that the printing and media industries have gone through Desktop manufacturing will spur more local production, especially for esoteric objects… Continue reading New 3D Economy?
Designer Power
An interesting concept got stuck in our heads, as you can see above. It’s from the Power Of 8 project in London, UK. What is it? According to their site: In this collaborative project, 8 people from different walks of life work together to build a public conversation about their individual aspirations for a… Continue reading Designer Power
Human Brain!
Admit it: you did something wrong sometime in your life and someone told you: “Get a brain!” Well, now you can! A recent .STL upload to the Thingiverse model repository does just that. It’s a 3D model of an actual human brain! Now before you speculate on exactly *how* Jordan Miller obtained this anatomical… Continue reading Human Brain!
Busted!
In amongst last week’s torrent of posts from Shapeways, there was one describing a cool HP Lovecraft bust printed on their 3D print service. You can buy one yourself for USD$17 or USD$33 for the 12 or 15cm versions, respectively. However, this got us thinking again. Shapeways (and other 3D print services) often try… Continue reading Busted!
CATIA Design Visualization Contest
A post at 3D Perspectives shows some of the great entries into their recent Design Visualization Contest. While some of the visualizations were well beyond the capability of 3D printers alone today, others might well be attempted on current technology, such as Dominik Wolm’s second place winning entry above. Via 3D Perspectives and YouTube
Hands-On Design. For Real!
Josh at SolidSmack posts on a just-discovered video of a truly amazing development: using touch-screen multi-touch gestures to design a 3D model! The software is from SpaceClaim Corp, makers of SpaceClaim Style, Engineer and Viewer. If you look closely in the HD version of the YouTube video, you’ll see they are demonstrating with SpaceClaim… Continue reading Hands-On Design. For Real!
The Ultimate 3D Printer?
Week after week, our research reveals new features available from 3D printer manufacturers. Printers may be faster, higher quality or have other terrific enhancements. But we realized that sometimes a great feature is available only on from one manufacturer, and we’d like to see it combined with a feature from another manufacturer. That got us… Continue reading The Ultimate 3D Printer?
Designers: Needed or Not?
We’re written on this topic before, where the proposition goes something like this: 3D printing devices and technology become widespread; either they’re installed in homes or are in easily usable nearby service centers Consumers use the devices and begin designing their own models. But, they’re 3D laymen The need for designers begins to dry up.… Continue reading Designers: Needed or Not?
OBJET’s PolyJet Technology
We’re written about OBJET’s amazing PolyJet technology before, but recently we ran across a great video that shows several truly interesting applications of this feature. For those who haven’t heard of it, PolyJet enables the printer to use more than one kind of material during a single print run. In other words, you might have… Continue reading OBJET’s PolyJet Technology
Cisco 3D’s 10 Times Weekly
We all know that designers are more frequently found using 3D printers today, but there’s a wonderful article in TCT Magazine describing Cisco’s experience. Cisco, of course, is the mega-congolomerate that makes networking equipment among other ventures. Much of their product line involves physical objects that are installed in data centers or homes. Those objects… Continue reading Cisco 3D’s 10 Times Weekly
See It Now – 3D Printing on Paper!
The unusual MCOR Matrix 3D Printer is now revealed in a video taken at a public exhibition in Dublin. MCOR informs us that this is in fact the “first and only” official video of their product, a 3D printer that uses plain old paper as its media. Yes, that’s right – paper is used… Continue reading See It Now – 3D Printing on Paper!
Light Fixture Design
What do you get when you combine barnacles, a ZCorp 450 3D printer and garlic? A really cool light fixture, of course! Designer Zach Kron created this curtain panel after extracting the fundamental design elements from the biological items and aggregating them into the above light fixture. Zach’s experimentation leads him to this tip:… Continue reading Light Fixture Design
Battery Printing
Leslie Gordon of Machine Design.com writes on the possibilities of printing electronics, and specifically batteries. We all know that 3D printers can easily create cases for electronics, but what about the electronics themselves? This is difficult to achieve on traditional one-material-at-a-time 3D commercial printers, but experiments being undertaken by the fab kit makers is… Continue reading Battery Printing
3D Printing Really Is Less Expensive
ZCorp issued a press release describing the experience of Converse, the footwear manufacturer using ZCorp technology in their design process. The interesting bit is that they’ve stated the savings they’ve found in actual dollars. Here’s the results from the press release: They “can produce a shoe model in two hours, or nearly 30 times… Continue reading 3D Printing Really Is Less Expensive
3D Parts On Demand
Shapeways has announced a great new feature for their 3D printing service that should benefit designers. It’s a 3D parts model database. The database currently has approximately thirty items in it, including a variety of nuts, sprockets, gears, bearings, coils and other fundamental parts. We suspect these components would be useful in many designs.… Continue reading 3D Parts On Demand
Big Things Brewing at Ponoko
Ponoko slipped out a very interesting admission last week regarding a new capability they’ve been working on for two years. It’s the ability to plug your own fabrication device into their network! Apparently in Q4 of 2009, they’ll release the new function, while they are searching for beta testers today. According to their blog… Continue reading Big Things Brewing at Ponoko
Following Fabbaloo
Our blog began in November 2007, and now has many readers, yourself included. But we’d like to point out there are several ways to read us: From the website via your favorite browser By feed subscription. Add this link to your favorite reader (ours happens to be Netvibes, after a slight diversion to Streamy –… Continue reading Following Fabbaloo
A Different Input
The process seems straightforward: Design a model with 3D Modeling software Tweak the 3D model for printing suitability Send the 3D model to a 3D printer Play cards while the printer buzzes Enjoy your printed model The fundamental element of this sequence is the 3D model itself, that digital artifact that represents the desired… Continue reading A Different Input
Fab@Home Video
With all the buzz lately around MakerBot, RepRap and other kits, don’t forget about Fab@Home, one of the senior kit initiatives. We’ve found a video that shows the entire Fab@Home sequence, from assembly of the printer itself to printing operations. Printed: Cup, Watchband, Chocolate! Via YouTube
Chicago: A Modeled City
The Chicago Architecture Foundation is presenting “Chicago Model City” from now until November of this year. It’s a gigantic and highly detailed three-dimensional model of the windy city’s downtown towers. Note the relative size of the individuals in the image above. City models are not a new phenomenon – but in the past their… Continue reading Chicago: A Modeled City
3D Printing Up For Award
Could a 3D Printing company win the prestigious World Technology Award? MCOR technologies, whom we’ve written on several times in past months, is nominated in the IT Hardware (Corporate) category for their amazing plain paper-based 3D printer. The World Technology Awards are an annual event featuring numerous awards in many categories: … nominees are… Continue reading 3D Printing Up For Award
MakerBot to CES?
MakerBot, the spirited startup who’ve begun selling a USD$750 3D Printer kit, stated something ominous on their blog: “CES 2010 Here We Come!” CES is, of course, the famous annual Consumer Electronics Show, typically attracting well over 100,000 attendees to their Las Vegas exhibition. We’ve experienced the intimate pleasure of squeezing into McCarran Airport… Continue reading MakerBot to CES?
Ponoko Overwhelmed
Ponoko, the innovative self-manufacturing service recently opened a new hub in San Francisco to more rapidly serve their North American clients. Previously, Ponoko had only one manufacturing hub at their secret New Zealand base. Now we find that demand for service at the USA hub has apparently outstripped Ponoko’s capacity: With our new USA… Continue reading Ponoko Overwhelmed
Stamp Your Website!
Recently we described Shapeways’ new rubber stamp service, where images are transformed by software and 3D printing into a custom rubber stamp. But now we find a truly innovative use of rubber stamps that brings that pre-20th century technology into the 21st. It all has to do with something called “QR Codes”. They are… Continue reading Stamp Your Website!
Kali Bites
Those guys at MakerBot weren’t kidding when they said the MakerBot was hackable. We thought they meant tweaking the build sequence or experimenting with unusual print media. No, they meant teeth. And lots of them. Via Flickr
A 3D Collision
There’s a sweet spot somewhere in the middle of the 3D printer market being pursued from two directions. That sweet spot could be described as the place where inexpensive 3D printers could be obtained by any small business or any interested consumer, where supplies and designs are easily found and used. The 2D printing… Continue reading A 3D Collision
3D-Bioplotter
envisionTEC produces a rather unique device called the “3D-Bioplotter”. No, it does not print small mammals. Instead, it produces scaffolds. What are scaffolds? Tissue engineering often requires a “scaffold” on which to grow living tissue, otherwise, we assume, you’d end up with misshapen blobs of living goo. The scaffolds represent the desired final shape… Continue reading 3D-Bioplotter
Nanofactories
Those of us who follow the 3D printing space can envision the likely near future: Bigger build chambers Different, more functional materials (did we say Metal?) Faster printing operations Better resolution Lower costs Greater public awareness More 3D print service bureaus Vast libraries of 3D models But what happens after that? In an provocative post,… Continue reading Nanofactories
MakerBot at Google TechTalk
Enjoy a great 35 minute video of Adam Meyer, one of the three founders of MakerBot, speaking at TechTalk. Adam provides a good overview of the “juggernaut of 3D industry”, Makerbot Industries. He speaks of the inspiration for MakerBot, beginning with the RepRap project and eventually leading to MakerBot’s first product, the Cupcake printer.… Continue reading MakerBot at Google TechTalk
Aureus!
envisiontec’s latest 3D printer is the Aureus, announced in March of this year. The desktop 3D printer (although we’re never certain whether “desktop 3d printers” could actually sit on a desk, this one included since we don’t know the device’s weight) offers some interesting features: A built-in PC permits offloading some processing to the… Continue reading Aureus!
Kraftmark’s FabEpoxy
If you were to purchase a big-time commercial 3D printer from one of the industry leaders (Dimension, Objet, ZCorp, etc.) you get more than just the printer. You also get the right (or obligation) to purchase specialized print media from the manufacturer, sometimes at high prices. The quality is good, as the media is… Continue reading Kraftmark’s FabEpoxy
ZCorp Gets Harder
New material is now available from one of the most popular 3D printer manufacturers: ZCorp. They recently released zp150, a “premium composite build material” that can be used in their 450 and 650 3D printers. What is so interesting about this material? 40 percent increase in “green” strength for improved ease of use 40 percent… Continue reading ZCorp Gets Harder
ZBrush 3DPrintExporter
Another really useful plugin has emerged for the popular and powerful ZBrush digital sculpting program. The new 3DPrintExporter does exactly that: it prepares a properly formatted .STL file quite suitable for transfer to any 3D printer or 3D print service that accepts .STL (which is pretty much all of them.) The proper preparation of… Continue reading ZBrush 3DPrintExporter
XVL Studio Version 8.1 Released
Lattice Technology has just released a new version of their 3D modeling suite, XVL. It’s being distributed to customers with maintenance contracts this week. There are some pretty amazing features in this release: Geometry Difference Detection – detection of geometry differences so that changes in models are easily tracked Export of Assembly Animations to AVI… Continue reading XVL Studio Version 8.1 Released
The Objet Connex350
Today Objet announces their newest printer, the Connex350, joining the Connex500 in Objet’s flagship product line. Like the earlier Connex500, the new Connex350 has the unique ability to print with multiple materials, and we don’t mean that you stop the print, change the cartridges and resume printing with that other squishy material. No, these… Continue reading The Objet Connex350
Chair Made of Itself
Designer/Artist Eric Ku has several very interesting projects on his website, but this one caught our eye: An inspiration from the American contemporary artist Joseph Kosuth, One and Three Chair. Instead of giving new definition, I redefined the concept of a chair by using alphabet. One is able to construct a chair by assembling… Continue reading Chair Made of Itself
Offload Studios
There are many 3D print services open today, and most now focus on particular niches. Today’s service bureau profile is Offload Studios, who specialize in producing game models from digital models. According to their overview: … specializes in creating custom 3D output from digital models supplied by our clients. These models range from game… Continue reading Offload Studios
DIY Car Manufacturing?
Bob McCarty predicts that: within the next 10 years, begin designing and manufacturing their very own vehicles using in-home three-dimensional printing systems, services and consumables. That’s a tall order, given that a 3D printing is still a toddler among technologies. We suspect it may eventually come to the point he describes, but it might… Continue reading DIY Car Manufacturing?
3D Rubber Stamps
In retrospect, this is totally obvious, but Shapeways now provides a way to produce your own rubber stamp from uploaded images. Here’s how it works, as shown above: Start with a desirable image Convert it to black and white Reduce the image’s colors to black or white – with as little gray as possible… Continue reading 3D Rubber Stamps
Desktop Factory Crunched!
You might not have heard much from Desktop Factory lately, as they’ve been a bit preoccupied with a rather difficult problem. They’re a startup company intending on creating the world’s first quality desktop commercially available 3D printer for less than USD$5,000. They’re very close to completing their first model, but have run out of… Continue reading Desktop Factory Crunched!
Ponoko Invades North America!
That inventive New Zealand personal manufacturing company sent landing craft across the pacific and has established a beachhead in San Francisco. Their next objective: we’re not sure, but North Americans should get used to Ponoko being close by, as you can now get your manufactured goods much more quickly and less expensive. Just make… Continue reading Ponoko Invades North America!
MakerBot in the Wild
MakerBot made a big splash recently when they announced their new fabulously inexpensive hobbyist 3D printer kit. As expected, people are now buying the kit and now we see a report from a typical buyer. In the RepRap Builders blog, user Tigger posts his experience, complete with photos of the assembly and output. He… Continue reading MakerBot in the Wild
Get Your Own Evil CandyFab?
Quite a while ago Fabbaloo reported on the CandyFab 4000, an ingenious prototype 3D printer that used common sugar as the build media. The device uses the familiar X-Y-Z inkjet-style motion, but instead of depositing the media it simply heats a successive layers of powdered sugar to its melting point and fuses it into… Continue reading Get Your Own Evil CandyFab?
Another Sub-$10K 3D Printer
This one is from Solido, whose new entry into the market is the SD300 Pro 3D Printer, and it looks very attractive. Highlights: Includes SD View, a 3D modeling system and controller that directly integrates with the printer and can even monitor consumables status during prints SD View can import .STL files from any… Continue reading Another Sub-$10K 3D Printer
V-Flashed
Quite a while ago we wrote on 3D Systems’s upcoming V-Flash Desktop 3D printer. At the time it was only in Beta, but now it’s available for purchase by anyone. According to 3D Systems’s press release: It’s the very first commercial 3D Printer priced at less than USD$10,000 (actually it’s USD$9,900, we’re told) Produces… Continue reading V-Flashed
Extreme Redesign Winners Announced!
Dimension Printing’s annual contest for imaginative designers has concluded for 2008-9 with the winners being announced. They are: University category: Chris Triska & Alexander Soloviev of Toronto for their imaginative light switch cover High School: Jordan Berger of New York for her fun Alphabet Blocks (we liked that one a lot) Art and Architecture:… Continue reading Extreme Redesign Winners Announced!
The DIY Wave?
The Financial Times posts their observation of the recent increase of Do-It-Yourself projects and services. This should be no surprise to Fabbaloo readers, but it’s definitely true. More and more people are taking on DIY projects for a variety of purposes. Why is this so? We believe the convergence of several factors has led to… Continue reading The DIY Wave?
How Small Are Your Fingers?
Ours are not exactly small, and therefore we’ll probably not be able to handle what’s being called “the world’s smallest cube puzzle”. It’s available at ShapeWays right now. It’s a classic 3D puzzle with tetris-like 3D shapes. The only catch is that they are really tiny, with the maximum dimension being only 7.5mm! Fortunately,… Continue reading How Small Are Your Fingers?
Ponoko in the News
We always get a little excited when fabbing hits mainstream news because it means we’re getting a teensy bit closer to a world of digital fabrication. One example of this comes from 3News New Zealand, who’ve recently done a short piece on Ponoko, their local (and global to the rest of the world) 21st century… Continue reading Ponoko in the News
Students Sketchup a New School
A great post on the Google Sketchup Blog tells the story of educator Michele Macloud of Louisiana who introduced Sketchup to her 8th grade students as part of their Mathematics curriculum. As you might imagine, the 8th graders were not terribly interested in traditional math material. But when shown Sketchup, they immediately took to it… Continue reading Students Sketchup a New School
The Force is Strong…
Those guys at MakerBot (including Bre Prettis pictured above) certainly know how to have fun. In this amusing short video, they not only persuade their amazing and inexpensive Makerbot 3D printer to punch out a Darth Vader head (to illustrate their newly available Black ABS plastic material), but they also push their printer to… Continue reading The Force is Strong…
Can 3D Printing Help the Next Boom?
In a provocative article from Cleveland.com, Frank Bentayou proposes that “Smart manufacturers are gearing up for a turnaround in the economy”, and this got us thinking. There are signs that the economic collapse of last fall has or is about to bottom out, and indeed a few signs that economic activity may be beginning to… Continue reading Can 3D Printing Help the Next Boom?
Swiss 3D Video
This video is from a rather interesting Swiss video program showing archeologists making good use of 3D print tech. They’re excavating an ancient Roman amphitheater and surrounding structures, carefully recording locations and dimensions of the buried buildings. Back at the lab, they transform the field survey results into 3D models, which are then printed and… Continue reading Swiss 3D Video
The Early Angle on Growth
Martin Stevens, CEO of A1 Technologies (makers of the Rap-Man we covered recently) dropped us a line to follow up on our post regarding the growth of the 3D printing market. Stevens says: … we have been amazed on the response from industrial organisations. We have taken orders from large corporations, which are interested in… Continue reading The Early Angle on Growth
Electroplating
Most 3D printers produce objects that are only a single color, and usually it’s awful. A few higher-end 3D printers can produce color objects (ZCorp), but most model makers end up painting their objects by hand after they come out of the build chamber. We ran across an interesting alternative to painting: Electroplating. RapidToday posted… Continue reading Electroplating
RC Racing with RP Parts
RP = Rapid Prototyping. We all know that – RP technologies are traditionally used to create rough “test” objects, suitable only for eyeball inspection. This is due to current limitations in materials that result in solid, but not so robust printed objects. Don’t sit on that model! “Yes, it looks good, now send it… Continue reading RC Racing with RP Parts
Meshlab
Just so you know, Meshlab has released version 1.2.0 of their software recently. What is Meshlab, you ask? From their project site: MeshLab is an open source, portable, and extensible system for the processing and editing of unstructured 3D triangular meshes. The system is aimed to help the processing of the typical not-so-small unstructured… Continue reading Meshlab
T-Splines 2.0 Nearly Available
T-Splines 2.0 for the Rhino 3D modeling package is apparently going to ship in the next few weeks, and we noted some very useful features: Maintains a continously editable smooth and watertight model – watertightness is not lost during editing Organic shapes are easily and quickly created Ability to define high or low detail… Continue reading T-Splines 2.0 Nearly Available
3D Printing Market Still Growing
You might have noticed a slight financial crisis around you in recent months, but in spite of that, the 3D printing universe is still expanding, at least according to research done by nextgen. In their recent report, “3D Printing” on “Rapid Prototyping/Additive Fabrication/Solid Imaging via Stereolithography, Fused Deposition Modeling, Selective Laser Sintering and Inkjet Technologies”… Continue reading 3D Printing Market Still Growing
Extreme Redesign Finalists Announced
Dimension Printing holds an annual contest to find amazing 3D designs by students. Winners receive scholarships in various amounts. Entrants were in three categories, as usual: High School, University and Art & Architecture. We’ve taken a quick look at the finalists, and all projects are quite interesting. However, those that caught our eye included:… Continue reading Extreme Redesign Finalists Announced
New ULTRA 3D Printer
EnvisionTEC has announced their new ULTRA 3D printer, to be shown publicly today at the RAPID conference. According to the press release, the key features are: X & Y resolution 80 microns with ERM module(0.0032 in) Z-resolution adjustable from to 20 to 100 microns (0.0007 to 0.004 in) Build speed 0.5 in/hr (12.7 mm)… Continue reading New ULTRA 3D Printer
Breed!
We came across an interesting design that leverages 3D printing tech in a unique way. Erwin Driessens and Maria Verstappen are Netherlands-based artists who’ve developed many amazing pieces; their portfolio includes a wide variety of approaches. One of their works, “Breed” involves 3D printing. According to their website: Breed is a computer program that… Continue reading Breed!
Purple Crayon
Today’s discovery is Purple Crayon, a startup company intending on producing an inexpensive consumer-oriented 3D printer. And that’s not all: An old school garage style startup, Purple Crayon is a new company dedicated to developing and selling consumer personal fabrication technologies. At its core the idea of personal fabrication is to provide anyone the… Continue reading Purple Crayon
D_Shape Tech Prints Buildings
Joris Peels at the Shapeways Blog posts a rather interesting interview with Enrico Dini, who intends on constructing building-sized objects with 3D printing technology. We’ve seen building printers before, but this approach could be more interesting – because it’s actually happening! The image above shows an alien egg-shaped sculpture within a roundabout. Yes, those… Continue reading D_Shape Tech Prints Buildings
Geological 3D Printing
It’s not only geological, it’s also transcontinental! What are we speaking of? It’s an incredible proposal from architectural student Magnus Larsson, whose idea is almost beyond conception. He proposes to use a form of biological 3D printing to create a habitable “green wall” across the entire width of the Sahara desert in order to… Continue reading Geological 3D Printing
The RapMan
We’ve seen several RepRap kits before, and here’s another low priced option. This one is specifically designed for educators. This fills a need for educators unable to afford the still-quite-expensive commercial 3D printers – because The RepMan is priced at only GB£750! The price breakthrough will permit a great many more schools to consider… Continue reading The RapMan
“Fully Functional Biorobots”
Do you know about the new Biorobotics and Biometrics lab in Israel? Founded in 2006 byDr. Alon Wolf, BRML, is a new lab in the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology. The scope of work done in the BRML provides the framework for fundamental theories in kinematics and mechanism… Continue reading “Fully Functional Biorobots”
ProTocuBe
We received a note of introduction from ProTocuBe, a Turin-based 3D solutions firm. Like many small 3D firms recently, they are addressing the conceptual barriers of 3D technology on behalf of their clients. Some service bureaus merely accept .STL files and print them for you. Others will offer tuning capability to ensure they successfully… Continue reading ProTocuBe
Is Mass Customization for Everyone?
MIT’s been doing some deep thinking about Mass Customization recently. For those of you who are not aware of mass customization, it’s the concept where customers are able to a very great degree determine the form of the product they receive. In other words, the customer knows more about what they want than a central… Continue reading Is Mass Customization for Everyone?
Manufacturing vs. Design
Mark Tomlinson, Exec Director & GM of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers proposes that economic recovery should really be about supporting the making things instead of supporting unproductive financial services. We tend to agree, with a few caveats. Certainly there always must be manufacturing (or physical services) present at the base of the economy,… Continue reading Manufacturing vs. Design
Ive vs. Rapid Prototyping
designWeek reports on comments from famed Apple designer Jonathan Ive, who feels that rapid prototyping tech is not necessarily the best approach. He apparently said: When we started out we made all our own models. Just pressing “print” is an obstacle to designers being close to the materials and the object. There is a… Continue reading Ive vs. Rapid Prototyping
Shapeways in COLOR
Shapeways takes another step forward in capability. Their most popular material, the eponymously-named “White, Strong and Flexible” is now available in colors! Three, actually: Limestone, Blue Jeans and Terracotta, or as we might say: grey, blue and orange. But they are a really good grey, blue and orange! The selected color is dyed into the… Continue reading Shapeways in COLOR
Reformat Your Shopping
Portfolio.com speculates about the future of mass customization in a recent post examining the footwear industry. The idea is that although people may like a product’s function, they may desire certain superficial changes, such as color or texture. Traditionally we’ve unconsciously accepted the lack of choice when we’re staring at the display case in Wal-Mart… Continue reading Reformat Your Shopping
Fix That Rhinoceros!
The University of Minnesota’s course “ARCH 4150” provides an introduction to Rhino, but we noticed they’ve posted a detailed workbook on how to prepare your Rhino files for 3D printing. The book covers aspects such as naked edges, mesh conversion and accuracy. Enjoy! [UPDATE] Fixed the link below. Via uofmdigifab09 (PDF)