stratasys

Stratasys’ New Strategy

We listened to CEO David Reis at Stratasys’ press conference this week as he outlined a new corporate strategy. One that’s quite different from their previous approaches. 

The 2014 Extreme Redesign Contest

Each year Stratasys sponsors a terrific contest for students, designers and young entrepreneurs: the Extreme Redesign Contest. We’re awaiting the announcement of the winners. 

Stratasys to be Acquired?

Bloomberg speculates on the future of 3D printing giant Stratasys. They believe the company could be acquired by one of two existing 2D printing companies. 

How Clear are “Transparent” 3D Prints, Anyway?

With the release of Connex3 color 3D printing technology this week, we started thinking more about “transparent” 3D printing. Stratasys provides a transparent material for their Connex series of printers and it’s often mixed with other colors to produce hybrid objects.    But exactly how “transparent” is Transparent? We did an experiment.    Stratasys often… Continue reading How Clear are “Transparent” 3D Prints, Anyway?

Color Mixing on the Connex3

Stratasys’ latest 3D printer series, the Connex3, is able to produce a wide variety of 3D objects with multiple properties. As we posted earlier, the technology permits rigid, color, transparent and flexible materials to be produced within a single 3D print operation.    The Connex3’s can hold and print three unique materials simultaneously, with some… Continue reading Color Mixing on the Connex3

The Connex3 Materials Cabinet

The Connex3 also comes with a powerful materials cabinet. It’s a separate unit typically installed beside the main Connex3 and is intended to house cartridges containing color resins. The resins are pumped into the printer during active printing.    Now you’d think there would need to be extra space for cartridges servicing the new third… Continue reading The Connex3 Materials Cabinet

Stratasys Announces The Objet 500 Connex3 Advanced Color 3D Printer

During yesterday’s press conference at the San Diego Convention Center Stratasys publicly revealed what many had speculated about for months: a vastly improved color 3D printer. It’s called the Objet 500 Connex3. The name follows the pattern of the previous “Connex”, which referred to the technology of dynamically mixing two different types of materials in… Continue reading Stratasys Announces The Objet 500 Connex3 Advanced Color 3D Printer

Thoughts on MakerBot’s Curious Replicator Z18

Of all the 3D printers marketed by MakerBot since its founding, we find the Replicator Z18 to be the most curious. While previous models (and even the new Mini and Replicator) seemed to be logical extensions and modifications of prior units, the Z18 is quite different:   It’s in a completely different price range: whereas… Continue reading Thoughts on MakerBot’s Curious Replicator Z18

How’s Afinia Doing After that Stratasys Patent Claim?

3D printing giant Stratasys made a claim against Afinia, saying the latter has violated not one, but four of their patents related to plastic extrusion-based 3D printing. Now, you’d think having the weight of a major patent suit against you would have an effect on sales. Would prospective customer be scared off by the legal… Continue reading How’s Afinia Doing After that Stratasys Patent Claim?

One of These 3D Metal Printers Will Be Acquired?

We speculated the other day regarding Stratasys’ lack of metal 3D printing capability and suggested that they have been raising money to execute a major corporate acquisition to put that missing tech in their portfolio. Several spy reports seem to confirm this type of acquisition is in the works.    But who will they acquire? … Continue reading One of These 3D Metal Printers Will Be Acquired?

The Staggering Implications of Afinia’s Countersuit

After last week’s blockbuster announcement of Afinia’s response to Stratasys’ allegations of patent infringement, we got thinking about what this might mean.    We’re anxiously awaiting further developments, that likely being a full-on court case where a judge and jury hear detailed technical arguments from both sides. That hasn’t even begun yet and we suspect… Continue reading The Staggering Implications of Afinia’s Countersuit

Breaking: Afinia’s Startling Response to Stratasys’ Patent Claims

After appropriate time for attorneys to do their work, Afinia has formally responded in court documents to Stratasys’ claim of patent infringement. Readers may recall that Afinia is the target of a patent claim by Stratasys. The larger company claims Afinia has violated four of their numerous 3D printing-related patents.    In the response, Afinia… Continue reading Breaking: Afinia’s Startling Response to Stratasys’ Patent Claims

Stratasys’ Nylon Material

A few weeks ago we speculated that Stratasys might begin focusing on new materials to exploit their huge base of installed 3D printers as their FDM patents expire, and it appears they’ve done so with the announcement of their new Nylon-12 material.    Fred Fisher, Director of Materials at the company explained to Fabbaloo that… Continue reading Stratasys’ Nylon Material

The 3D Printing Patent Backlash Begins

It was inevitable, but the personal 3D printing community is not reacting well to the announcement by Stratasys that it was suing Afinia for patent infringement. It seems that the feeling is that other new 3D printer manufacturers might also become legal targets as patented technology could be found in their equipment.    The image… Continue reading The 3D Printing Patent Backlash Begins

A 3D Printed Movie Character Collection

At this year’s 3D Printshow we were excited to visit the large display of 3D prints by Legacy Effects. If you don’t know about Legacy Effects, they are one of the premier special effects shops in Hollywood, and have produced numerous famous characters for motion pictures you’ve no doubt seen.    While much of Legacy… Continue reading A 3D Printed Movie Character Collection

Implications of the Stratasys – Afinia Lawsuit

By now you’ve no doubt heard that Stratasys has launched a major lawsuit against Afinia for alleged violations of several Stratasys patents. We examined these patents previously, but we believe there are implications that travel far beyond simply Afinia, as the patents describe methods commonly used in many personal 3D printers.    The concept of… Continue reading Implications of the Stratasys – Afinia Lawsuit

Details of the Stratasys – Afinia Lawsuit

We’ve been reading more about this week’s legal action by Stratasys against personal 3D printer marketer Afinia, who are alleged to have violated several of Stratasys’ patents.    We’ve obtained a copy of the “Complaint for Patent Infringement”  filed in the United States District Court, District of Minnesota (where Stratasys’ HQ is located, and, totally… Continue reading Details of the Stratasys – Afinia Lawsuit

Stratasys Sues Afinia

3D printing giant Stratasys launched legal action against Afinia, a marketer of personal 3D printers. The statement from Stratasys says:    Afinia’s sale, promotion and use of its Series H printer infringes patents directed to part porosity, liquefier structure, temperature control, and tool paths for constructing part perimeters. The most recent Stratasys patent that Afinia… Continue reading Stratasys Sues Afinia

Stratasys Strategy in a Post-Patent World

Stratasys, one of the largest 3D printing companies in the world today, faces transition. While the company built itself upon the FDM (fused deposition modeling) process it invented years ago, the patent for that process has expired.    With the expiration of the key patents, other organizations have  replicated (no pun intended) the process and… Continue reading Stratasys Strategy in a Post-Patent World

MakerBot’s Retail Expansion

MakerBot opened the first dedicated retail 3D printer store on New York City’s Mulberry street some years ago. While MakerBot continued retail operations by partnering with others, the lone MakerBot store stood alone at the tip of Manhattan Island.    Until now.    MakerBot has announced they will open not one, but two additional MakerBot… Continue reading MakerBot’s Retail Expansion

Thoughts on Stratasys Growth

We’re reading an interesting article on Investors.com that talks about the investment potential of 3D printing industry giant Stratasys.    The author, Marie Beerens, seems keen on Stratasys because she sees their recent additions of Objet and MakerBot as “adding complementary systems to its portfolio” and “give Stratasys an even stronger foothold in the 3D… Continue reading Thoughts on Stratasys Growth

Stratasys Tech Flys UAVs

One of Stratasys’ clients is UAV Solutions of Maryland, who, obviously, manufacture UAVs. But they now do this with 3D printing.    Their journey is similar to many manufacturers who encounter 3D printing: at first it’s a novelty, then it becomes something used for unusual situations and finally:    3D printing has now “crept” into… Continue reading Stratasys Tech Flys UAVs

The Extreme Redesign Contest Returns

Each year Stratasys sponsors a 3D print design contest for students at various levels of academia. Often the contest produces amazing innovations and we expect no less this year.    They’re expecting STL files to be submitted that exhibit “creativity, practicality and mechanical function”.    As in previous years’ contests, three categories of entry exist:… Continue reading The Extreme Redesign Contest Returns

Stratasys Expects More Revenue

This is interesting: 3D printing giant Stratasys raised their revenue expectations for the year 2013 following the merger with MakerBot. The change moved expected full-year revenue from “only” USD$430-455M to a larger USD$445-480M, a rise of USD$15-25M.    We suspect a chunk of this new revenue is from MakerBot’s sales of personal 3D printers, as… Continue reading Stratasys Expects More Revenue

Stratasys Wins Gold Medal

Stratasys was awarded a Gold Medal at the 2013 Concours Lépine International Inventions Exhibition. The Concours Lépine is an annual competition for French inventions that has been taking place since 1901. This year’s event included some 600 inventors from France and beyond.    Stratasys’ winning entry related to a new “pseudo-composite” material for use in… Continue reading Stratasys Wins Gold Medal

How Will Stratasys and MakerBot Change?

After their acquisition of MakerBot, we’re expecting changes in StrataBot, or is it MakerSys? We’re just kidding; neither Stratasys nor MakerBot will change their name as a result of this week’s acquisition; there’s too much value associated with each brand. But what else will change?    The two companies have some similarities in technology –… Continue reading How Will Stratasys and MakerBot Change?

MakerBot’s First Post-Stratasys 3D Printer?

What will be the next personal 3D printer from MakerBot, post acquisition by Stratasys?    We believe MakerBot’s next 3D printer could be significantly different from previous Replicators. Why? Because there will be huge synergies between the two companies technologies, as both use plastic extrusion processes.    Extruded plastic 3D printing was invented by Stratasys… Continue reading MakerBot’s First Post-Stratasys 3D Printer?

Stratasys To Acquire MakerBot?

A report on TechCrunch proposes that MakerBot is in talks with Stratasys “regarding a possible acquisition”. The report says “persistent rumors of a sale or new funding have followed the company this year”.    The report also says MakerBot has been seeking investors with a goal to raise USD$25M by valuing the company at USD$300M. … Continue reading Stratasys To Acquire MakerBot?

Orange County Choppers 3D Prints A Dragoncycle

The gentlemen at Orange County Choppers (yes, those guys) happen to own a Stratasys Fortus 400mc large commercial 3D printer and they’ve been using it to create some very unique motorcycles. A Chinese client requested a dragon-themed bike from OCC team, who designed and built the magnificent vehicle you see above.    The 3D printed… Continue reading Orange County Choppers 3D Prints A Dragoncycle

Hands On With The FinishingTouch Smoothing Station

If you’re 3D printing with plastic filament, you’ll be familiar with the layered effect, where progressive extrusions accumulate into an object. The object has the correct shape, but has unsightly ridges. What to do?    You can eliminate ridges with the Acetone technique, but it’s relatively dangerous, as acetone is flammable and generally not very… Continue reading Hands On With The FinishingTouch Smoothing Station

Stratasys Solves Those Troublesome 3D Print Seams

If you’re using an extrusion-based 3D printer, you’re likely familiar with the problem of seams. It’s an annoying strip right up the side of your object that disrupts the otherwise smooth surface of your 3D print.    The seam is actually composed of the vertical accumulation of start / end points from each layer’s perimeter.… Continue reading Stratasys Solves Those Troublesome 3D Print Seams

Get Ready For Real Chocolate 3D Printing

At a recent conference 3D Systems President and CEO Avi Reichental spoke of his company’s efforts to produce a true chocolate 3D printer. While the project was classed as “Not Soon”, it does indicate significant interest in 3D food printing.  We also understand that 3D Systems’ main competitor, Stratasys, has applied for a couple of… Continue reading Get Ready For Real Chocolate 3D Printing

Stratasys’s Finishing Secrets

Stratasys has released a video detailing some of their secret (well, maybe not so secret) finishing processes. The video shows various tumbling media machines that operate similar to rock polishing tumblers – an object is tossed around within a bath of rough media. Gradually the objects become smooth after a relatively short period in the… Continue reading Stratasys’s Finishing Secrets

New Stratasys Video

The new Stratasys, formed by the merging of the original Stratasys and Objet continues to blend their brands into a cohesive slate of products. They’ve released a video illustrating their several product lines complete with startling examples of the possibilities, like the 3D printed car and others.    This is a very slick presentation, which… Continue reading New Stratasys Video

The Winner of the 2013 Extreme Redesign Contest Is… What?

Each year Stratasys sponsors a contest among students to find the most fascinating and useful 3D designs. Winners of the Extreme Redesign Contest receive prints of their designs as well as scholarships – and fame, too. We always take a close look at the winners as they typically exhibit ingenious creativity.    But this year… Continue reading The Winner of the 2013 Extreme Redesign Contest Is… What?

Stratasys Reorganizes Its 3D Printer Lines

We’ve been patiently waiting for changes in Stratasys’ product lineup since they officially merged with Objet and now we’ve found out what they’re doing.    Stratasys arrived into the merger with two product lines: Dimension, which included smaller FDM machines such as the 1200es, uPrint and Mojo, and Fortus, which included large full-on production 3D… Continue reading Stratasys Reorganizes Its 3D Printer Lines

3D Printed Fashion In Paris Show

\As part of Paris Fashion Week, 3D printing giants Stratasys and Materialise collaborated with noted 3D fashion artist Iris van Herpen on her “VOLTAGE” haute couture show. van Herpen has previously produced fascinating 3D printed fashions and this show continued with some startling and revealing designs.    Two of the eleven pieces made by van… Continue reading 3D Printed Fashion In Paris Show

Stratasys Completes Merger with Objet

After an overly long journey through regulations and legalities, two 3D printing industry giants Objet and Stratasys have completed their merger.    The new company, which will be among the largest in the industry, will be known as Stratasys, with dual headquarters in both Minnesota (former Stratasys HQ) and Israel (former Objet HQ).    The… Continue reading Stratasys Completes Merger with Objet

Start-Up Offers Blueprints For 3D Printed Parts

Stratasys founder Scott Crump offered the following commentary on Swedish company Teenage Engineering, which has started offering its customers 3D CAD files as blueprints for replacement parts so they can produce their own parts:   It’s the first company I’m aware of that has taken this step, so I see it as a significant milestone… Continue reading Start-Up Offers Blueprints For 3D Printed Parts

Stratasys Reports 3Q12 Results

As one of the two publicly-traded major 3D printing companies, Stratasys’ financial results are always interesting to examine.    They’ve been on a tear in recent years, consistently setting new records for various financial statistics. This quarter seems no different: their revenue increased a massive 40% in 3Q12 from 3Q11, while units increased 52% to… Continue reading Stratasys Reports 3Q12 Results

3D Print Design Contest

Engineering.com has launched a four week 3D print design contest. Readers may consider entering this contest as it has few rules and a grand prize of USD$2,000.    Engineering.com will print nine winning entries on their Stratasys MOJO 3D printer and ship them directly to you.    Three winners will be announced each week, beginning… Continue reading 3D Print Design Contest

The 2013 Extreme Redesign 3D Printing Challenge

Each year Stratasys sponsors an excellent competition between students to determine the most interesting and useful 3D printable designs. This year they’re launching the 2013 edition of the Extreme Redesign Challenge.    The rules are very similar to previous years: submitted designs compete for scholarships and an opportunity to print out their design. Nine winners… Continue reading The 2013 Extreme Redesign 3D Printing Challenge

3D Print Speed Advice From Stratasys

Stratasys has published a very informative white paper detailing their thoughts on the speed of 3D printing. This is sometimes a touchy subject, as 3D prints often take many hours to complete and some manufacturers may claim their printer is faster than another’s.     But what’s the whole story? Stratasys says, correctly we believe,… Continue reading 3D Print Speed Advice From Stratasys

Save Some Cash With ISQUARED Consumables

It was only a matter of time before someone began producing “clone” plastic materials for high-end 3D printers. That’s the business of Swiss-based ISQUARED, who produce “high quality FDM filament at fair prices”. They say: “Our products are 100% compatible with OEM parts.”   Currently, ISQUARED offers material evidently compatible with the following devices:   … Continue reading Save Some Cash With ISQUARED Consumables

Four Reasons Why Stratasys Won’t Announce a Personal 3D Printer

There are two massive corporations that currently dominate the 3D printing market. One is 3D Systems, whom most have heard of, and the other similarly sized corporation is Stratasys, who recently merged with Objet.    As of today Stratasys does not manufacture a personal 3D printer designed for consumer use, whereas 3D Systems offers several.… Continue reading Four Reasons Why Stratasys Won’t Announce a Personal 3D Printer

Emma’s Story… And More

A wonderful story emerged last week when Stratasys published the story of Emma, a young girl with congenital biomechanical problems. She was unable to raise food to her mouth, among other issues.   The story told how Emma’s doctors used 3D printing technology (from Stratasys) to produce a custom-fit armature that fits around Emma’s upper… Continue reading Emma’s Story… And More

HP and Stratasys Divorce

Somehow this wasn’t a complete surprise, as we’d been hearing rumors of difficulties in the relationship between IT Giant HP and 3D Printing leader Stratasys. Now it’s come to a close, with Stratasys announcing that the two companies have “have agreed to discontinue their manufacturing and distribution agreement for 3D printers, effective at the end… Continue reading HP and Stratasys Divorce

The Mojo 3D Printer

Today Stratasys announced a new FDM 3D printer for designers, architects and other professionals  – but it’s very different from anything you’ve seen before. It includes a couple of revolutionary features that we’re certain you’ll find very interesting.    The Mojo 3D printer is more like a 2D paper printer than anything we’ve seen. The… Continue reading The Mojo 3D Printer

Extreme Redesign 2012 Winners Announced

The 2012 Extreme Redesign Contest is completed and the winners have been announced by sponsor Stratasys. Winners were selected in four categories: Middle/High School, College Engineering, Art & Architecture. Winners received USD$2500 scholarships and runners-up received scholarships of USD$1,000 each.    As usual, the winning ideas (as well as those placing second and third) were… Continue reading Extreme Redesign 2012 Winners Announced

A Visit to RedEye

Recently we had the privilege of visiting Stratasys’ Minneapolis-based 3D print service: RedEye On Demand. Wait, we shouldn’t call it a “3D Printing Service” anymore. This facility performs much more than just 3D printing, although that forms a large portion of their work. In addition to Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM), they offer cast urethane and… Continue reading A Visit to RedEye

Massive News: Objet and Stratasys Merge

Stratasys announced they’ve merged with the largest remaining large commercial 3D printer manufacturer, Objet of Israel, creating the now-largest 3D printing company with a market capitalization of USD$1.4B.    The newly merged company was created by merging stock such that Stratasys shareholders will own 55 percent and Objet shareholders 45 percent. The new company retains… Continue reading Massive News: Objet and Stratasys Merge

How To Screw Your 3D Print

We don’t mean ruining it! We mean being able to successfully insert screws into your 3D printed model for attaching other components. Let’s be clear: you can make much more interesting objects when you use multiple components. But how do you fit them together?    One could resort to designing matching slots in each piece… Continue reading How To Screw Your 3D Print

Extreme Redesign Finalists Announced

Stratasys sponsors the Extreme Redesign 3D Printing Challenge each year and they’ve just announced the finalists in the three categories: Art & Architecture; Middle / High School Engineering; College Engineering.    An inspection of the list shows a huge variety of entries from across the world. This challenge is not a US-only event by any… Continue reading Extreme Redesign Finalists Announced

Ten Years of Inexpensive 3D Printing

Industry giant Stratasys just reminded us that it’s actually been ten years since they introduced a low cost 3D printer to the world. The term “low cost”, is of course, relative. At the time 3D printers were industrial behemoths costing major dollars. The Dimension introduced in 2002 cost just under USD$30,000, enabling many small businesses… Continue reading Ten Years of Inexpensive 3D Printing

Time to Enter The Extreme Redesign Contest

Stratasys’ annual Extreme Redesign Contest for students is open – but only until the deadline of February 2. If you’ve been thinking about entering, think no longer because you’d better fill out the forms straight away.    The contest enables students in grade school as well as university to enter a design (product, enhancement, art… Continue reading Time to Enter The Extreme Redesign Contest

Unboxing A Stratasys

Brad Rigdon, the owner of PrintTo3D, a small 3D print service just received a brand new Stratasys Fortus 250mc commercial 3D printer. While we often see unboxing scenes of much smaller personal 3D printers, here’s an opportunity to see the unboxing of a much larger – and much more expensive – commercial 3D printer. Check… Continue reading Unboxing A Stratasys

Stratasys Drifting Away from HP?

In early 2010 big-time 3D printer manufacturer Stratasys signed an agreement with even-bigger-time 2D printer manufacturer HP to market 3D printers. The deal involved Stratasys producing HP-labeled printers that would be marketed through HP’s massive reseller networks. They started sales in Europe later that year. Now we see this arrangement may not be proceeding as… Continue reading Stratasys Drifting Away from HP?

Stratasys 3D Printers For Less?

There’s those low-cost personal 3D printers we often write about and there’s those really expensive commercial 3D printers that you’d never be able to afford. Or at least that’s how it used to be.  Stratasys announced something they call a “3D Print Pack”, composed of their small uPrint 3D printer, a cleaning system and startup… Continue reading Stratasys 3D Printers For Less?

Stratasys Expands

3D printing industry giant Stratasys has been spending some money lately – on a new 90,000 sq. ft production facility in Minnesota. The new facility, which is actually a refit of an existing building in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, actually doubles their capacity for building their line of 3D printers.    Evidently Stratasys believes there’s a… Continue reading Stratasys Expands

Exclusive Video: 3D Printed Car Unveiled

Last night Fabbaloo attended the official unveiling of the Urbee 3D printed car, which we’ve covered previously. The Urbee is an ultra-efficient urban vehicle prototype that changes travel paradigm – and also engineering paradigms as its entire body was 3D printed using Stratasys 3D print services. Click the video above to see the unveiling, and… Continue reading Exclusive Video: 3D Printed Car Unveiled

Urbee, The 3D Printed Car

Can you 3D print a working car? The folks making the Urbee car believe so. They’ve prototyping an ultra-efficient (300 miles per gallon, 0.8L/100Km) urban vehicle whose body is entirely 3D printed.    We recently visited the Urbee shop and found it to be a very unusual vehicle:    Two seater with some room for… Continue reading Urbee, The 3D Printed Car