Kodak Gets Stickier

Kodak 3D Printing has announced a partnership agreement that should make their equipment a bit more sticky with users. 

MakerBot’s Market Strategy Now Seems Much More Certain

With yesterday’s announcement of new MakerBot tools for educators, it is now very clear what the original desktop 3D printer company is pursuing.  Being in existence since 2009 means the company has seen literally the entire scope and evolution of desktop 3D printing, from its wild and promising beginnings, to the absurd heights of media… Continue reading MakerBot’s Market Strategy Now Seems Much More Certain

iMakr’s Incredible 3D Printing Training Program

We visited iMakr’s New York City retail store and were surprised to find a number of people training to become 3D print experts.  iMakr has two retail locations, London and NYC, where they provide a number of services related to 3D printing, including sales of multiple brands of 3D printers, supplies, 3D printing services, repairs… Continue reading iMakr’s Incredible 3D Printing Training Program

The Fabmaker 3D Printer

We checked out the Fabmaker 3D printer, which originates in Germany. It’s a plastic filament-based device that is targeted for educators. We asked about the features that make the Fabmaker so appropriate for the education market and were told:    Fabmaker provides specific consulting services to educators  The Fabmaker’s exterior case is made from safety… Continue reading The Fabmaker 3D Printer

The Budget That Was Saved By 3D Printing

South east of Huntsville, Alabama is the small city of Boaz, where something very interesting happened. The Boaz City School System discovered they had to replace all the switch mounts for their network upgrade.    The 364 switches were to cost USD$2000, but Wayne Caudle, Director of Technologies for the School System had a better… Continue reading The Budget That Was Saved By 3D Printing

Manufacturing in 3D Printing’s Future?

We’re reading a post by Joel Hans, managing editor of Manufacturing.net where he postulates the future of 3D printing in manufacturing plants. This got us thinking about manufacturing versus personal 3D printing.    Fabbaloo readers are quite familiar with personal 3D printing and sometimes wonder why this amazing technology isn’t used more by manufacturing plants.… Continue reading Manufacturing in 3D Printing’s Future?

Open3DP is Now Open3DP

The busy folks at the University of Washington’s Solheim Additive Manufacturing  Laboratory in the Mechanical Engineering Department have opened up again.    Opened up? That’s right, they were “intellectual property” closed for several weeks as their legal department imposed a rather crushing IP regime upon them. However, they’ve managed to overcome this by convincing their… Continue reading Open3DP is Now Open3DP

SparkLab: BuildMobile

Of all the Kickstarter-style 3DP projects we’ve seen lately, the SparkLab concept may be the most valuable to society. No, you won’t get a fancy sculpture but you will get the satisfaction of supporting the spread of 3D printing and DIY making knowledge.    What is the SparkLab concept? It’s quite simple. They proponents realized… Continue reading SparkLab: BuildMobile

RMIT’s AMP Needs a TC

So many acronyms! Let’s translate the headline for you: the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology’s RMIT University’s Advanced Manufacturing Precinct (AMP) is looking to hire a new Technical Coordinator.    Why do we find this posting of interest? Because:    RMIT University’s Advanced Manufacturing Precinct (AMP) facility brings together research, design and advanced manufacturing in… Continue reading RMIT’s AMP Needs a TC

3D Printing Stack Exchange?

You may have heard of StackOverflow? It’s a very popular question and answer website for computer programming topics. The makers of StackOverflow now permit the same software to be used for question-answer sites on other topics. But which topics get a site? At Area51.StackExhchange.com discussions are held to determine whether a topic warrants a Q/A… Continue reading 3D Printing Stack Exchange?

Open3DP Goes Closed3DP?

The folks at the University of Washington who’ve been doing stellar work researching 3D printing in concrete, ceramics, glass and other unusual materials have gone dark, so to speak.    It appears that the suits at their university have issued new rules regarding participation with outside groups. Specifically, they say:   it has become increasingly… Continue reading Open3DP Goes Closed3DP?

The Customised Design Event

We’ve learned of an upcoming event for those in the UK interested in 3D printing: The University of Hertfordshire and the British Library are putting on a seminar on 7 December entitled, “Customised Design”. In the three hour event, course leader Mark Bloomfield (founder of Electrobloom) will:    … talk about how customised goods and… Continue reading The Customised Design Event

Origo, The 3D Printer for Kids

You might think 3D printing is hard. Well, it certainly can be. But now Artur Tchoukanov and Fabbaloo friend Joris Peels’ new venture Origo attempts to change all that. They’re making Origo – a 3D printer specifically designed for children. Imagine what ten-year olds could do with a 3D printer!    The question we’d immediately… Continue reading Origo, The 3D Printer for Kids

Get a Free 3D Sample Print

3D printing is a new thing; so new that many people simply don’t believe you if you describe it to them. Blank looks, disbelief and heavy skepticism are typical reactions to “3D printing”. How then can one explain this very different concept to someone? You have to show them something – or even better, have… Continue reading Get a Free 3D Sample Print

Enter The Shapeways Student Contest

Shapeways 3D print service announced a brand new contest, this one for students only. Named the “2010 Shapeways Full Color 3D Print Student Contest”, it would appear this is an annual affair. It’s called a “Color” contest because the idea is to print your model with Shapeways new color material, “Full Color Sandstone”. One major… Continue reading Enter The Shapeways Student Contest

The Tyee on 3D Printing

There’s a long article introducing 3D printing concepts appearing at The Tyee, a British Columbia-based electronic newsmagazine: “The Replicator, No Longer a Star Trek Dream”. The article contains interviews with Neil Gershenfeld, Director of MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms, Adrian Bowyer, inventor of the RepRap, Fab Lab users, a RepRap owner, University of Missouri… Continue reading The Tyee on 3D Printing