The creation of objects is often the biggest challenge to those using 3D printers, and thus we’re always interested in new ways to obtain or generate them. A new method of generation appeared that uses a Genetic Approach. Endless Forms provides an online dashboard in which you evolve objects into desired or at… Continue reading Evolve Your Objects with Endless Forms
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The Personal Factory 5: Apps!
Ponoko has taken a step to solving one of the biggest problems in the 3D printing/making industry today: How do you make custom items? The problem is straightforward: 3D printers and other making devices can produce pretty much anything, once provided with a design. However, the goods produced are typically more expensive than those… Continue reading The Personal Factory 5: Apps!
3D Printed Food Futures
We’ve been thinking some more about 3D printed food after yesterday’s post, and wondered what the future might look like if reasonably capable food printers really existed. Here’s some thoughts: If they were low cost, we’d find them in most kitchens and restaurants. Why not? People pay huge sums for fancy ovens and other… Continue reading 3D Printed Food Futures
One Really Big Replicator
Thingiverse member KurtCircuit has designed a rather enormous device: a 3D printer that is theoretically capable of printing 1m cube-sized objects. Even more astonishing is the fact that he’s actually building this device! The massive device, known as the “Scalable Largescale Cartesian Bot”, apparently uses RepRap-derived principles, and is likely the biggest 3D printer… Continue reading One Really Big Replicator
Bre’s Pumped!
We’re still excited by 3D System’s acquisition of BfB, and we’re not the only ones excited. We wondered how this move would affect BfB’s biggest competitor, MakerBot. Would 3D System’s massive resources put such a push into BfB that MakerBot would be sidelined? We contacted MakerBot mandarin Bre Prettis for his thoughts: I wish… Continue reading Bre’s Pumped!
Blockbuster Announcement: 3D Systems Acquires Bits From Bytes!
In a totally stunning announcement today 3D Systems has acquired the Bits From Bytes operation based in Bristol, UK. This is perhaps the biggest corporate manoeuvre we’ve yet seen in the 3D printer space, and heralds a bold move by 3D Systems into the ultra low-end 3D printer market, now competing directly against such… Continue reading Blockbuster Announcement: 3D Systems Acquires Bits From Bytes!
Which Desktop 3D Printer Do I Buy? Part One
Editor: We are totally tickled to present our very first guest post – and we’re greatly honoured to have it written by well-known 3D Printing blogger Joris Peels. Most recently Joris was the Shapeways Community Manager, and now he’s blogging at Voxelfab. Over the past few years Joris has written extensively on 3D printing helping… Continue reading Which Desktop 3D Printer Do I Buy? Part One
Hive45 On 3D Printing
Beer drinking Australian futurists Tristan Grace and Nathan Waters speculate about the future of 3D printing on their podcast, episode 24. They feel that the ultimate goal of 3D printing is in fact very small: nanotechnology. In other words, that’s printing individual atoms and molecules in the right arrangements to achieve virtually any conceivable object. … Continue reading Hive45 On 3D Printing
3D Printer Benchmark Results
As reported yesterday, T. A. Grimm & Associates has published a very extensive benchmarking report on a selection of common commercial 3D printers. We’ve been looking forward to something like this because we all too often hear statements from vendors such as: “lowest cost of materials” and “five times better resolution” or “suitable for office… Continue reading 3D Printer Benchmark Results
Blender 2.5 Alpha 1 Released
Many 3D modellers use the free Blender package if they can’t afford the sometimes expensive commercial 3D modelling software options. While Blender is rather complete functionally, it has long had a reputation of being difficult to learn. This could be about to change with the introduction of their new version, 2.5. A new alpha release… Continue reading Blender 2.5 Alpha 1 Released
Matthew du Plessis on 3D Printing
Matthew du Plessis, columnist at the Times Live, provided his thoughts on the world of 3D printing. While he begins with the obligatory comparison to Star Trek replicators (“Tea, Earl Grey, Hot!“), he then recognizes the potential of the future: … I think it’s fair to say, without any hyperbole or undue exaggeration, that… Continue reading Matthew du Plessis on 3D Printing
MakerBot Hall of Fame
The MakerBot guys are not just hardware and software geniuses. They are marketing genuises, too. They’ve set up a “Hall of Fame” for MakerBot users, in the best use of Game Theory we’ve yet seen in the 3D printing space. This is a terrific approach that we think will definitely make more things happen in… Continue reading MakerBot Hall of Fame
40,000 Lights are Better Than One
That’s the claim made by Huntsman Advanced Materials, who recently announced the availability of their new Araldite Digitalis. It’s a stereolithography machine that produces 3D objects by selectively hardening pixel-sized areas of a resin. Most stereolithography machines utilize a laser to gradually “draw” each layer of pixels into the media resin. Huntsman Advanced Materials has… Continue reading 40,000 Lights are Better Than One
A Distributed Manufacturing Timeline
We encountered an interesting discussion about the future of 3D printing as it applies to manufacturing. Currently items are generally mass produced in distant factories, and then shipped to your local big-box store where you can pick them up at low prices. The theory is that this model will only persist for items that truly… Continue reading A Distributed Manufacturing Timeline
My Model is Shrinking!
We bumped into Lattice Technology, a company that produces 3D modeling software. What’s the big deal? Actually, it’s a small deal: Lattice uses a unique storage format, XVL, that offers tremendous space savings over conventional 3D storage formats. According to Bill Barnes, GM of Lattice: “Our converters use the industry’s best translation technologies and allow… Continue reading My Model is Shrinking!
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
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!
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