Associate Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering Yong Chen of the University of Southern California has been experimenting with different mechanical arrangements for 3D extrusion printing. Readers are likely familiar with the standard cartesian XYZ 3 axis configuration typically found in inexpensive personal 3D printers. You may also be familiar with the “delta” concept,… Continue reading Amazing Six-Axis 3D Printer Shown
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Would You Share a 3D Printer?
One secret known by 3D printer owners is that they can be a lot of work and expense. They are more expensive than consumer-grade paper printers and require much more care and feeding to get good results. These may discourage some from buying their own 3D printer. But now there could be another option:… Continue reading Would You Share a 3D Printer?
Find The Best 3D Printer?
We’ve learned of a new source for comparisons of 3D printers: FindTheBest.com, which is a comparison and review site for products and services of all types. Now they seem to have added a section for 3D printers, at least the less expensive ones. Their 3D printer section lists over 30 different devices as of… Continue reading Find The Best 3D Printer?
Polychemy Offers More 3D Prints
As interest in 3D printing grows, so does the requirement for amazing 3D prints. One interesting source is Polychemy, who market a collection of eclectic 3D prints by notable 3D artists. Their catalog is not particularly large, but there are some terrific models stored within, some of which we’ve actually covered earlier. Artists include… Continue reading Polychemy Offers More 3D Prints
makexyz Makes Your Stuff
You’re interested in 3D printing, but don’t have a 3D printer. You also don’t want to pay a high price to a 3D print service to obtain a print of your own 3D design. What do you do? One option, aside from finding a buddy with a 3D printer, is to use the makexyz… Continue reading makexyz Makes Your Stuff
LeapFrog Sells 1000 – But How Many More 3D Printers Exist?
We received a note from Netherlands-based Leapfrog 3D Printers who, among other notable achievements, said they’ve sold their 1,000th 3D printer. It was a LeapFrog Creatr, evidently sold to someone also in the Netherlands. This is quite an accomplishment for the small manufacturer, but it leads us to ponder: exactly how many personal 3D… Continue reading LeapFrog Sells 1000 – But How Many More 3D Printers Exist?
3D Printing Outside The Box
Joris Peels proposes a radical idea for 3D printing: mobility. Longtime Fabbaloo readers will be familiar with the concept of a “build chamber”, in which extruders or other printing mechanisms move about to create an object. The build chamber is based on the mechanical concept of three axes of movement, but it has a major… Continue reading 3D Printing Outside The Box
Looking for a Used 3D Printer?
The press typically covers announcements of new printers, but did you know you can find used 3D printers for sale at prices that are sometimes quite a bit lower than retail? We cruised through Ebay today to see what we could find: ZCorp Spectrum 510 for USD$20,000 3D Systems Actua 2100 Rapid Plastic Prototype… Continue reading Looking for a Used 3D Printer?
Eleven Year Old Boy Builds 3D Printer
Some may say 3D printing is a niche topic understandable only by ultrageeks, but we’re reading about Justin Urke, an eleven year old from Auburn, California who not only can use a 3D printer, but apparently has constructed his own! Even though he modified the design to increase the size of the build chamber from… Continue reading Eleven Year Old Boy Builds 3D Printer
CubeSpawn
Another very cool KickStarter project has appeared: CubeSpawn, by James Jones. The project’s concept is to establish a standard approach to linking personal manufacturing machines together based on the common cube shape. In this vision, 30cm square cubes are placed adjacent to one another, and each contains some type of manufacturing machine. Results from one… Continue reading CubeSpawn
3D Systems Unveils The Biggest!
3D Printer manufacturer 3D Systems demonstrated their new Projet 5000 Large Format 3D printer at the EuroMold conference. Is this just another 3D printer? No – there’s something unique about this one. It possibly has the largest build chamber available in a 3D printer today: a staggering 55 x 39 x 30 cm. To accompany… Continue reading 3D Systems Unveils The Biggest!
SOLIDO SD300 Pro
Israeli-based SOLIDO announced a new 3D printer: the SOLIDO SD300 Pro, which succeeds the previous SD300. The SD300 uses Plastic Sheet Lamination technology to produce 3D objects: The materials used in the SD300 Pro are a combination of PVC (PolyVinyl Chloride) and our own adhesive which results in rugged yet inexpensive models. These models can… Continue reading SOLIDO SD300 Pro
Sciaky’s EBF3
Following on from our previous posts on the promising EBF3 technique (Electron Beam FreeForm Fabrication), we bumped into a video showing a commercial implementation from Sciaky. The video shows the build process as well as highlighting the key benefits: Drastically reduce material costs Dramatically shorten lead times Slash machining time Save over costly forgings or… Continue reading Sciaky’s EBF3
The MIT Food Printer
MIT’s Fluid Interfaces Group is working on the design of a concept device that if made popular, would revolutionize how we cook, eat and even socialize. The device shown above (and don’t get your hopes up, that’s merely a conceptual image) would store a variety of raw food elements in cartridges. The cartridges would be… Continue reading The MIT Food Printer
MCOR Matrix 300
The Irish MCOR scientists still believe they can print 3D objects on paper – and they are correct! This past week they announced their latest 3D paper printer, the MCOR Matrix 300, pictured above. The new model apparently provides some interesting advantages over previous models: Faster turnaround (however, we saw no statistics on this) at… Continue reading MCOR Matrix 300
ZCorp Goes Monochrome!
If the motion picture industry changed from color to black and white, we’d be concerned. The same would be true for ZCorp if they dropped their color technology and retreated to “monochrome” mode for their line of 3D printers. That’s not exactly what’s going on here: they’ve announced a new Monochrome 3D printer. Sounds strange,… Continue reading ZCorp Goes Monochrome!
RapMan Goes Pro
While everyone slept, the guys at RapMan managed to squeeze in yet another new product: the RapMan Pro, pictured above. What’s different from their original non-Pro Rapman, other than a price of “just under Ā£2,000” up from the original Ā£750 kit price? From their press release we can see the following: Pre-built only; not a… Continue reading RapMan Goes Pro
RapMan Goes to School
We’ve written about the inexpensive RapMan 3D Printer kit before, and at that time it was focused on the UK market, priced at GBĀ£750. Now we’ve learned that it’s now being marketed to educational institutions by Technology Education Concepts (TEC): The company provides 3D software and hardware solutions needed to teach todayās young people about… Continue reading RapMan Goes to School
EBF3: Electron Beam Freeform Fabrication
Electron Beam Freeform Fabrication is yet another approach for 3D printing, this time developed by the rocket scientists at NASA. They have good reasons for developing EBF3: to save weight on cargo flights to the International Space Station. You can imagine the hefty pile of spare parts that must be carried up yonder and stored… Continue reading EBF3: Electron Beam Freeform Fabrication
MolƩculaire: The 3D Molecular Food Printer
Electrolux Design Lab is an annual competition where some truly amazing designs emerge. This year a 3D printer showed up among the various science fiction appliances. The idea is to pop open the top and insert a cartridge containing the print material, erm, the “food”. At the lower end a print head moves about the… Continue reading MolĆ©culaire: The 3D Molecular Food Printer
3D Printer Choices
We bumped into a comprehensive list of 3D printers, and a detailed chart comparing all currently available 3D printing options costing less than USD$20,000. The chart is prepared by Castle Island, who offer a paid newsletter, “The Additive Fabrication Spy” (USD$199/yr) covering in detail the 3D print industry. The printers covered include the Do-It-Yourself variety… Continue reading 3D Printer Choices
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
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
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?
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
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!
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
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
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
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
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
Dimension Prices Decreasing
If you happen to be shopping for a serious 3D printer, you might want to take another look at Dimension’s line of printers. Why? Because they’ve recently dropped pricing on their 1200es line. From their press release: The Dimension brand of 3D printers by Stratasys, Inc. (Nasdaq: SSYS), today announced that it has reduced… Continue reading Dimension Prices Decreasing
MakerBot
There’s a new option for aspiring 3D print operators: MakerBot. It’s not a service – but is in fact a new printer product emerging from the community. MakerBot leverages current knowledge, experiences, software and hardware to produce a truly inexpensive 3D printer: it’s priced at only USD$750! Their first product is the Cupcake CNC printer… Continue reading MakerBot
Homemade 3D Printer: The Details
Alvaro Fogassa of Homemade 3D Printer has posted some details about his inexpensive design. We’ve written on Alvaro’s expedition before, and now he tells us how it works, and points us to the software he used. The Lexmark Z12 inkjet-printer based design involves using common dental plaster as it’s material, mixed with a water-based glue… Continue reading Homemade 3D Printer: The Details
Coffee Printer!
Once again another print media has emerged: Coffee Grinds! Yes, this one-of-a-kind specialized printer actually uses coffee grinds as its print media. It can also use tea dregs, according to the documentation. It was an entry into Core77’s Greener Gadgets Design Competition by Jeon Hwan Ju of Korea: RITI Printer is a eco-friendly printer… Continue reading Coffee Printer!
The Homemade 3D Printer
Yes, there’s RepRap and Fab@Home, but it’s also possible to just get down and do the whole thing yourself too. Not everyone would be able or interested to do such a thing, but certainly everyone enjoys a good story. Alvaro Fogassa is publishing an episodic story of how he’s trying to build a 3D… Continue reading The Homemade 3D Printer
Personal 3D Printer Released!
Yes, you can now have one of your own! Imagine it sitting at the end of your desk, spitting out any objects you desire, or at least models you can manage to develop. Two things are interesting about the announcement of uPrint from Dimension Printing: It’s NOT from Desktop Factory It’s NOT under USD$5,000. In… Continue reading Personal 3D Printer Released!
3D Printer Reviews for 2008
Our friends at RapidToday files hardware reports direct from users of several new (and some beta) 3D printers. Included in their report are: iPro 9000 – Is said to be much more reliable than the previous Viper Pro systems, but still has issues in the control interface. ZPrinter 650 – Has new features, but is… Continue reading 3D Printer Reviews for 2008
There’s Another Stereolithography Vat In Town
While we’re on the topic of giant stereolithography printers, we’ve just been tipped onto a video of another. This one is the iPro 9000 XL, evidently the largest commmercially available SL system. Amazingly, the build chamber is a 59 inch long vat full of liquid manufacturing media. Somehow we just don’t find SL videos as… Continue reading There’s Another Stereolithography Vat In Town
The Objet Eden260V
Objet, a manufacturer of 3D printers renowned for their ability to print objects using more than one type of print media, have announced a new device that goes well beyond their previous devices. The Eden260V is a small-footprint 3D printer suitable for office location. Larger-scale Objet devices used their unique “Polyjet Matrix Technology” to print… Continue reading The Objet Eden260V
Paper Launched!
Remember mcor technologies? They are the folks building a 3D printer that uses plain old ordinary paper as its media. In fact, the printer is beyond development – they launched it two weeks ago at the TCT Exhibition in Coventry, UK. According to their press release: The Mcor Matrix is the only 3D printer in… Continue reading Paper Launched!
Z Corp 650 Announced!
Z Corp has reacted to the Objet Alaris 30 announcement with one of their own: the shiny, new ZPrinter 650! Here are the highlights we found interesting: Color! ZPrinters have done color before, but the 650 adds a separate black print head, which means the 650 will punch out truly black stuff. This is so… Continue reading Z Corp 650 Announced!
Objet’s Alaris 30
Objet has announced a rather interesting new 3D printer, the Alaris 30 Desktop 3D Printer. The key features are: 30x20x15cm (11.81 x 7.87 x 5.9in) build chamber 600x600x900 dpi resolution, typically 0.1-0.2mm accuracy normal office or home power desktop format 36 hours of continuous unattending printing UV light curing during printing for immediate results Gel… Continue reading Objet’s Alaris 30
It’s All Wax
3D Systems has announced the ProJet CPX 3000 3D printer, and it’s claim to fame is that it can produce objects of fine detail using wax as the medium. This is a pretty specialized device, as you can’t just print a wrench or part requiring stability and strength using wax. And yes, it won’t sit… Continue reading It’s All Wax
The ProJetā¢ SD 3000 Printer
3D Systems has announced the availability of their new ProJet™ SD 3000 Printer, which is said to be directed to “professional in-office model-making by design and manufacturing businesses of all sizes”. The 254Kg (560 Lb) office-friendly unit comes in three models: HD – Capable of “UHD” resolution of 656x656x800 DPI (xyz) SD… Continue reading The ProJetā¢ SD 3000 Printer
Competition for Desktop Factory?
Desktop Factory, the designers of an upcoming desktop 3D printer that intends on breaking the USD$5,000 barrier, may have competition. It’s the black box on the desk pictured above. What we find interesting is 3D Systems’ new V-Flash “desktop” model, apparently priced at USD$9,900. Twice as much as Desktop Factory’s target price. It’s… Continue reading Competition for Desktop Factory?
A Special 3D Printer?
Open Source projects are terrific because they often “fork” spin-offs that develop ideas further and in different directions. We’ve just learned of one based on the famous Fab@Home 3D printer design. This printer is being built by fabCom and control software is being created by EU Edge, from whom we learned about the project.… Continue reading A Special 3D Printer?
3D Printers Reviewed
Tim Pickup reviews several 3D printers in a recent post. Included: Prodigy Plus ZCorp 310 Plus ZCorp 450 ZCorp Z510 RepRap Fab@Home Desktop Factory V-Flash Tim’s conclusion: ZCorp Z510, based on object quality, speed and media cost. Evidently many 3D print service operations have come to the same conclusion, as we seem to bump into… Continue reading 3D Printers Reviewed
Dimension Releases the 1200es Series
Dimension 3D Printing Group (a unit of Stratasys) has made available two new 3D Printers: 1200es BST ($26,000) 1200es SST ($34,900) The two key highlights of the 1200es series: A relatively large 10x10x12 inch build chamber (254 x 254 x 305 mm). (For comparison, the DesktopFactory 125ci has a 5x5x5 build chamber)… Continue reading Dimension Releases the 1200es Series
Craftsman CompuCarve in Your Garage!
Head down to your local Sears store Right Now and pick up a new Craftsman CompuCarve Computer-Controlled Compact Woodworking Machine for only US$1799! This device uses specialized MAC or PC software that loads models onto a special memory card. The card is then inserted into the CompuCarve so that your PC doesn’t have to get… Continue reading Craftsman CompuCarve in Your Garage!
The Fabaroni
Ok, we’ve heard of expensive media for 3D printers, paper, sugar and other wacky stuff going in “raw” and coming out as usable 3D objects. Today it’s pasta dough! The Fabaroni home-made 3D printer is capable of printing 3D objects with a moving head, much like other inexpensive 3D printers. In fact, it “loosely follows… Continue reading The Fabaroni
3D Systems Announces Printer
3D Systems has announced they will be producing the ProJet HD3000 3-D Production System. This item is a “high-end professional” system that is capable of “fine feature detail” and “superior surface quality”. The device also includes factory-like features such as a very large build chamber, parts stacking and automated operation. Evidently this machine is very… Continue reading 3D Systems Announces Printer
ZCorp ZPrinter 450 Named Revolutionary
Entrepreneur.com has named ZCorp‘s ZPrinter 450 as one of their 15 “revolutionary inventions of 2007”. Alongside the 450 were such notables as the iPhone, Amazon’s Kindle, the XO Laptop and iRobot’s Looj. We’ve covered the Zprinter 450 before, and agree – it is an amazing device. Now, if only it were a little less expensive…… Continue reading ZCorp ZPrinter 450 Named Revolutionary
Buy Your Own Fab – Today!
It’s getting dangerously close to that holiday season, and what better gift than your own fab? What, you don’t have $40,000 for a Z-Corp? Neither do we. Sure, we’ve heard about the DesktopFactory $5000 3D printer, but who’s seen them in the stores? Meanwhile, you could always build your own Fab@Home or RepRap 3D printer… Continue reading Buy Your Own Fab – Today!
3D Printing… on PAPER!
This one is a total surprise to me. I thought I had heard of all techniques for 3D printing – until today, when I read Deelip Menezes’ blog, where he pointed out Ireland-based Mcor Technologies. They make a 3D printer that uses paper as media: The Mcor Matrix desk top modeler can produce ready… Continue reading 3D Printing… on PAPER!
Another Building-Sized Fab
Two posts on gigantor-sized fabs this week! The Information Sciences Institute’s Dr. Behrokh Khoshnevis’s Contour Crafting Technology enables fabbing on a building-sized scale. Apparently the Doctor plans on releasing the USD$1.5M machine very soon, and we will soon see if this type of “personal” manufacturing will work. Be sure to check out the videos, especially… Continue reading Another Building-Sized Fab
Stratasys FDM 900mc
Stratasys is showing off their new FDM 900mc Additive Fabrication System at the Frankfurt EuroMold trade show. While WAY out of the financial range of hobbyists, this device uses different movement technology to ensure finer control over additive mechanisms, resulting in greater printed resolution. The big feature is a truly massive 3x2x3 foot build chamber,… Continue reading Stratasys FDM 900mc
PolyJet Video
Further to this post, Objet has posted a video of their new composite-media technology, using the Connex 500 3D printer. The video shows how two reservoirs of different media can be used to produce objects not previously printable in a single pass. Watch the production of cellphone covers with differently colored keypads, a hairbrush and… Continue reading PolyJet Video
DesktopFactory Wins Award
They won the award even before the product is released! Yes, DesktopFactory’s famous-but-not-yet seen inexpensive 3D printer has won Popular Science’s Best of What’s New Award for 2007 in the “Home Tech” category. Fabbaloo has covered the Desktop Factory 125ci 3D printer before, again, and will no doubt again when it finally hits the store… Continue reading DesktopFactory Wins Award
Secrets of Desktop Factory
socalTech interviews Cathy Lewis, CEO of Desktop Factory. DesktopFactory is building a sub-$5000 3D printer suitable for many businesses and even home use. Their first printer is set to be released later this year. In the article Ms. Lewis sets Desktop Factory’s milestone: Our goal is to bring this down market, to where it’s… Continue reading Secrets of Desktop Factory
Evil CandyFab 4000
The CandyFab 4000 is definitely not a commercial product and is most appropriate for those of you already handy with tools. The CandyFab can be constructed for around $500 in readily available parts, and can use output from common 3D modeling software. The device is designed primarily for fun – it doesn’t have a very… Continue reading Evil CandyFab 4000
Fabbing Videos
Here is a great collection of fabbing videos from Objet featuring several of their 3D printers. If you’ve never seen fabbing, this is a good place to begin. Note that these particular models are suitable for industrial prototyping, and not consumer-level desktop units. Many of the videos demonstrate not only the actual object deposition, but… Continue reading Fabbing Videos
$4995 For a Desktop Fab?
DesktopFactory is now taking reservations for its new 125ci 3D Printer. That’s right – it’s not actually available now, but you can reserve one of the first 1000 devices for only USD$495. This device could be the first real desktop consumer-oriented fab. The highlights include: Inexpensive. Well, as compared to other fabs. We don’t… Continue reading $4995 For a Desktop Fab?
ThingLab Video Demonstration
This ThingLab video demonstrates Z Corporation’s Zprinter 450. While this particular device is probably more than the average consumer can deal with (especially cost-wise, do you have $25,000 to spare?), the video does provide a good visual overview of the fabbing process. As you can clearly see, there are a few messy steps that the… Continue reading ThingLab Video Demonstration