Shapeways, the popular 3D print service constantly experiments with new materials and perhaps they have the widest variety of materials one can select from. We’ve noticed they’re now offering a material with a unique property: it’s flexible! The new material, appropriately named “Elasto Plastic” will be tested by Shapeways users until July 20th. Shapeways… Continue reading Shapeways Gets Bendy
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Finally: 3D Printer Recycling
We missed this one earlier this year, but it’s still a terrific idea: The Filabot is a “plastic filament maker”. The idea is straightforward, obvious when you think about it – and necessary. Any home 3D printer will tell you they end up with many unusable prints, perhaps due to printer failure of some… Continue reading Finally: 3D Printer Recycling
Sugru Available At MakerBot
You may not have heard of Sugru, but it’s an amazingly useful material now for sale at the MakerBot online store. It’s not something you use in your 3D printer, but it definitely adds a lot to 3D printing. But first, what exactly is it? It’s a secretly formulated air-curing rubber compound sold in… Continue reading Sugru Available At MakerBot
Objet’s Clear Bio-Material
Commercial 3D printer manufacturer Objet has released a new very interesting print material: MED610, which is a transparent bio-compatible substance. You might think that making a clear, safe substance would be easy, but it’s not. In order to qualify for such a designation numerous tests and certifications are required, and that’s the tough work that… Continue reading Objet’s Clear Bio-Material
Ponoko’s New Gelatin!
Distributed manufacturing service Ponoko has released a new material available for their 3D printers, with the self-describing name of “Durable Fine Plastic”. We think this is a pretty cool material, because it’s actually TWO materials in one! The objects themselves are printed in a rather nice ABS-like plastic that has both “durable” (strong like… Continue reading Ponoko’s New Gelatin!
Ceramic 3D Printing At Ponoko
Distributed manufacturing giant Ponoko now offers a “glazed ceramic” material option for their 3D printers. This is a big development because it permits the creation of “food safe” objects. Typical extrusion-based 3D printed objects have tiny grooves corresponding to the extrusion layers that can obviously become fouled with foodstuff and be unsafe. Not so with… Continue reading Ceramic 3D Printing At Ponoko
Sit On Objet’s 3D Printed Chair
It’s always totally amazing to pull a new item out of a 3D printer, but it’s even more amazing when it has moving parts and startling when it’s a complete item that’s ready for immediate use. 3D Printer manufacturer Objet has just produced such an item using a new material on a new printer. The… Continue reading Sit On Objet’s 3D Printed Chair
Human Tissue Material?
Nano-engineers at the University of California in San Diego have developed a new biomaterial that evidently is a very close match for human tissue. This material is not a uniform substance, but is rather a particular geometry that exhibits stretching properties useful for bio-engineering. The material is produced from a liquid polymer resin using… Continue reading Human Tissue Material?
BfB Prints Clay!
Following up on last week’s amazing feat of printing mashed potatoes, the scientists at Bits From Bytes in Bristol have modified a RapMan 3D printer to use porcelain clay. In the brief experiment, they successfully printed a model head. While clay seems like an obvious choice for an unusual 3D printing material, we’re wondering… Continue reading BfB Prints Clay!
Flexible PLA is Available!
Following up on our earlier post, we’ve located a supply shop that can provide actual flexible PLA. This is not the same material that Vik Olliver is developing; he’s working on a formula to make PLA slightly “bendy”, able to take at least some level of shock, or perhaps a bullet or two. The material… Continue reading Flexible PLA is Available!
Flexible PLA?
There’s a lot to like about 3D Printing in PLA plastic: it’s recyclable, made from totally organic material, prints with a very elegant sheen, it doesn’t warp when printing, sticks well to properly prepared print beds and even has a fantastic sweet aroma too. And did we mention it doesn’t warp? It doesn’t warp!! … Continue reading Flexible PLA?
Inventables – Materials for Inventors
We’re taking another look at maker material store Inventables, which we wrote about a year ago. At the Inventables hardware store, you won’t find very much that you could put through your 3D printer. Plastic filament is best purchased elsewhere. However, sheer amount of truly amazing materials available at Inventables is staggering. While we… Continue reading Inventables – Materials for Inventors
3D Printing Standards and Jailbroken Materials
A couple of interesting articles provoked some thinking about 3D printing standards. First, we have a post by the Open3DP folks, who complain that they’d like to use different types of print material in their 3D printers. They are, of course, known for experimenting with all kinds of unusual print materials. They suggest standards for… Continue reading 3D Printing Standards and Jailbroken Materials
Controversy Over Shapeways Gold Plating Formula?
A while back the Shapeways 3D Print service toyed with Gold Plating on stainless steel printed models. Evidently this trial was successful, as they have now announced a new, permanently available material: Gold Plated Stainless Steel. This sounds great, as we previously postulated that a ton (well, maybe not an *actual* ton, but lots… Continue reading Controversy Over Shapeways Gold Plating Formula?