While visiting Stratasys’ HQ in Minneapolis, we were able to meet CEO and Founder Scott Crump, who told the story of how he invented the Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) process many years ago. He was inspired by two things: the need to be able to make prototypes inexpensively and two-dimensional plotters. He had the… Continue reading The Beginnings of FDM 3D Printing
stratasys
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
3D Printing Plastic AND Metal
Whoa – 3D printing plastic AND metal at the same time? There are many kinds of 3D printers in the world these days, most printing only plastic and some able to print metal. But printing both? That’s exactly what a joint initiative between ABS plastic 3D printer manufacturer Stratasys is doing with metal 3D printer… Continue reading 3D Printing Plastic AND Metal
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
Final Fantasy IV Character Lives!
We thought this was perhaps the coolest 3D printed thing we’ve seen this year. As you can see, it’s a version of the Cecil Harvey – Dark Knight character from Final Fantasy IV. It was prepared by Neal Bockhaut on a Dimension 768 3D printer. So what, you might say. Everyone has printed figurines… Continue reading Final Fantasy IV Character Lives!
HP 3D Printing Update
At the recent Plastics Design and Moulding show in London, Fabbaloo caught up with Eric Erickson, HP’s Product Manager for their Designjet 3D printers. It’s been over a year since it was announced HP would market 3D printers through an agreement with Stratasys. How well has business been over that period? Has HP found this… Continue reading HP 3D Printing Update
StrataSys Goes Acquiring
It seems the big guys have their corporate acquisition shopping carts in motion recently. While 3D Systems was scooping up other companies last week, this week it’s Stratasys’ turn. They’ve announced the acquisition of Solidscape for USD$38M. What is Solidscape? They are a niche 3D printer manufacturer that specializes in high-precision devices for producing… Continue reading StrataSys Goes Acquiring
A Really Big Unboxing
We thought we experienced a large unboxing when we uncrated a BFB 3000, but we were clearly outdone by i.Materialise. The 3D print service recently received a brand spanking new Fortus 900mc FDM large-scale production system from Stratasys. While we used a box cutter, i.Materialise had to use not only a crew of burly guys… Continue reading A Really Big Unboxing
3D Printing Companies Will Continue To Do Well
One might think that it’s not a good time to invest in 3D printing companies after their latest run up. However, according to a report by analysts at Piper Jaffray: Based on conversations with industry sources and Q1 channel checks, we believe demand in the 3D printing market has improved and we believe… Continue reading 3D Printing Companies Will Continue To Do Well
Stratasys is Certified
Stratasys recently announced that they’ve achieved ISO 9001:2008 certification. For those of you unfamiliar with the intricacies of ISO manufacturing certifications, this particular cert deals with policies and procedures used to develop manufactured products. While the actual ISO documentation is extensive, Wikipedia summarizes this standard using “informal language”: The quality policy is a formal… Continue reading Stratasys is Certified
Stratasys 3Q2010 Results
We like to take a peek at Stratasys’ financial results, because as one of the very few dedicated 3D printing companies that is publicly traded, we get a glimpse into the state of the industry, at least from their standpoint. So what happened during the third quarter of 2010 for Stratasys? Their revenue hit… Continue reading Stratasys 3Q2010 Results
Stratasys Prints A Car!
Well, not exactly an *entire car* – but just its body. The Urbee was an entrant to Progressive Insurance’s Automotive X-Prize. The competition has now closed and Urbee ended up ranked “in the top 30 in the world” according to a recent press release. What’s so interesting about this to us? The car’s body, including… Continue reading Stratasys Prints A Car!
Stratasys Roars Back
Stratasys, the folks behind the popular Dimension series of 3D printers has released their quarterly results. We like to follow their announcements, because by extrapolation we like to pretend we can see what’s going on in the entire 3D print industry. This quarter Stratasys reports their revenue is up quite a bit: 22% over… Continue reading Stratasys Roars Back
Stratasys is Savoring
That’s according to their CEO, Scott Crump, who in a recent blog post described the moment when HP announced it entered the 3D printer market – using machines made by Stratasys. Crump: It’s a sweet feeling to see Stratasys reach this point. I’ve envisioned an event like this for more than 20 years. … Continue reading Stratasys is Savoring
WaveWash From Stratasys
One of the big challenges with 3D printers is the clean up process. Unlike 2D printers, where you can use the output immediately, most 3D printers produce objects that require various types of post-processing, and this is especially true for support media. While some printers simply use the same print material for support sections that… Continue reading WaveWash From Stratasys
HP is 3D Printing!
The big news today was the anticipated release of HP’s new line of 3D printers. The printers are actually made by Stratasys, makers of the Dimension line of printers by means of a joint venture the two signed earlier this year. The announcement specifies two models, which will be available this May only in… Continue reading HP is 3D Printing!
The Most Popular 3D Printer Brands & Manufacturers?
A strange post appeared last week on Red Chill Media where they listed their thoughts on the “Top 4 Most Popular 3D Printer Brands & Manufacturers”. Their list included: Objet Z Corporation Desktop Factory (!) Dimension/Stratasys We’re not sure we’d agree with this list, particularly item 3, Desktop Factory. While DT was highly touted and… Continue reading The Most Popular 3D Printer Brands & Manufacturers?
Stratasys Reduces Support Material by 40%
Stratasys, makers of the Dimension series of commercial 3D printers has announced a breakthrough in support technology. For those who don’t know, support material is frequently used in 3D printing to overcome the problem of printing overhangs. If there’s no support material to hold it up, the printer can’t properly deposit the build material. Support… Continue reading Stratasys Reduces Support Material by 40%
HP Ready to Ship 3D Printers
In an update to the blockbuster announcement in January, DesignNews reports that HP will very soon begin shipping their new 3D printers to five selected European countries, eventually widening their market to the entire globe. The printers are being manufactured by HP’s partner and 3D printing leader, Stratasys at their Minnesota plant. DesignNews believes… Continue reading HP Ready to Ship 3D Printers
Opinions on HP’s 3D Printer
Following up on last week’s massive news that HP has linked up with Stratasys to produce an exclusive line of 3D printers, we scanned the 3D blogosphere and found a great many comments and opinions. Here’s the highlights: Shapeways thinks this will raise the profile of 3D printing, but says everyone can easily print in… Continue reading Opinions on HP’s 3D Printer
The uPrint PLUS!
Stratasys just announced a new member to their 3D print family: the uPrint Plus. One year after they announced the inexpensive commercial uPrint device, they’ve upgraded it to the new Plus version. The main features of the Plus: Small floor footprint: 25×26 inches (.635m x .660m) Build chamber: 8x8x6 inches (.2 x .2 x .15m)… Continue reading The uPrint PLUS!
HP Makes 3D Printers!
Not quite yet, but apparently soon – HP will be selling not only 2D printers, but 3D printers, too. Today it was announced that Stratasys will “manufacture an HP-branded 3D printer” after the two parties signed a “definitive agreement”. The new line of printers (suggesting there will be more than one model) will be… Continue reading HP Makes 3D Printers!
Stratasys Reports 3Q09 Results
We like to follow Stratasys’s financial results because as one of the major public companies involved in the 3D Printing and rapid prototyping space that issues financial reports, we believe we can get a feel for how most of the industry is doing. This past quarter Stratasys reports revenue, shipment and income all lower than… Continue reading Stratasys Reports 3Q09 Results
Stratasys Adds Four More
Four more build materials, that is. Specifically made for their Fortus 900mc 3D printer, the new materials have improved properties: SABIC’s ULTEM 9085: Strong and lightweight, this material’s claim to fame is its resistance to heat, smoke and toxicity. We suspect it might show up in aircraft. PC-ABS: Similar to existing materials, but has added… Continue reading Stratasys Adds Four More
Stratasys Results
As is customary (and required), Stratasys announced their latest quarterly results. We like to examine them because we suspect they may shed light on the state of the 3D printing industry. And it turns out that their revenue was still down as compared to the same quarter last year, USD$24.6 vs. USD$31.3 in 2008. Unit… Continue reading Stratasys Results
Get That Extreme Redesign Ready!
Dimension Printing, makers of the Stratasys line of 3D printers, is running its annual Extreme Redesign contest once again. This year the deadline for entries is February 1st – so we hope you got your design in on time. We’ve covered this event before, and it always produces some rather unusual and creative results. The… Continue reading Get That Extreme Redesign Ready!
Stratasys Smoothes it Out
One of the shocks encountered by those first seeing a 3D printed object is that they aren’t always smooth. We’re all used to seeing and feeling totally smooth/polished plastic objects, and when we handle or look closely at a 3D printout we instantly recognize roughness. This often puts the objects in a bad light,… Continue reading Stratasys Smoothes it Out
Stratasys Defies Economic Swing
Stratasys, makers of the Dimension line of 3D printers, recently released their 3rd Quarter 2008 financial results. Surprisingly the company produced “record third quarter revenue”, some 16% higher than the previous year. Their income also increased 15% year over year. Now, we don’t know how you feel, but it seems to us that there is… Continue reading Stratasys Defies Economic Swing
The Cost of a Wrench
It’s apparently USD$49, including USD$14 that was “dissolved away” according to a post at the ChiefDelphi forums. Team222badbrad produced these wrenches on a Dimension 1200es, and the discussion contemplated the price of production. Poster Leav asked the inevitable question: “how much would it cost to fill the entire volume of the machine with plastic?… I… Continue reading The Cost of a Wrench
Stratasys Gets Harder
New print media materials were recently announced by Stratasys for use in their FDM 360mc and FDM 400mc 3D printers. Both PC and PC-ABS are available for the 360mc, while the 400mc may now use ABSi and PC-ISO. According to the press release: PC is particularly useful for design or manufacturing engineers in the automotive,… Continue reading Stratasys Gets Harder
Extreme Redesign Repeats
For the fifth year Stratasys’ Dimension 3D Printing Group is running their annual Extreme Redesign: The Ultimate 3D Printing Challenge. According to the press release, it’s: a global design and 3D printing contest for high school and college students that awards scholarships to the winners. Over the past four years, more than 2,500 entries have… Continue reading Extreme Redesign Repeats
It’s Christmas Already at Stratasys!
Fabbaloo received several notices of a press release from Stratasys in which they announced they have: given over $400,000 to schools across the nation to underwrite the purchase of 3D printing systems for the 2008-09 school year. More than 40 schools received the $10,000 grants Stratasys’s program emphasizes providing 3D equipment to schools and students… Continue reading It’s Christmas Already at Stratasys!
Z Corp is the Fastest!
The fastest 3D Printer? Perhaps, perhaps not. But they are evidently one of the “fastest growing companies” in America, according to Inc.com, a very popular daily blog for entrepreneurs. Each year Inc.com selects the 5,000 fastest growing companies and publishes the results. This year Z Corp was positioned at #2734 of the 5,000. Stratasys, the… Continue reading Z Corp is the Fastest!
Stratasys Ships FDM 900mc
Stratasys, makers of high-end 3D printers, announced they’ve taken on a “record number of orders” for their newest product, the FDM 900mc direct digital manufacturing machine. In this case, the number is 17 pre-sold units. Now hold, on, you say, 17 isn’t a very big number. Actually it can be a large number. Remember the… Continue reading Stratasys Ships FDM 900mc
Motley Fool Questions Stratasys
Motely Fool, a popular financial analysis site, recently examined Stratasys’s quarterly results, which showed a drop in the number of units shipped from the previous year – but also showed higher revenue. Stratasys explains this by suggesting they are moving to a higher-end model, where the 3D printers offer more features – at a higher… Continue reading Motley Fool Questions Stratasys
Additive Manufacturing: The Edge of the Wedge
Stratasys announced the sale of multiple large FDM 900mc 3D printers to “an unnamed Fortune 500 company”. The mysterious company will be using these high-powered devices to produce “plastic parts for end use”. Evidently this form of “Direct Digital Manufacturing” is rapidly increasing for low-volume runs. According to Stratasys CEO Scott Crump: More and more… Continue reading Additive Manufacturing: The Edge of the Wedge
10,000 For Stratasys
Leading 3D printer manufacturer Stratasys passed a significant milestone this week: they’ve shipped their 10,000th device. The lucky owner turns out to be PSA Peugot Citroen Brasil, who acquired a FDM 400mc. Via FoxBusiness
Instant Quotes… and A Lot More
Stratasys continues reaching into the market with innovative moves. Today we learned of another rather interesting angle: Instant Quotes. As readers may recall, Stratasys is the company behind the renowned Dimension series of 3D printers. Their service unit, Redeye RPM is now partnering with Alibre (makers of the Alibre Design 3D CAD software) to offer… Continue reading Instant Quotes… and A Lot More
Discounts From Dimension
Stratasys’s Dimension Printing Group is offering a USD$10,000 credit for commercial customers for purchases of their 1200ES 3D Printer. The catch? You must trade in an existing 3D printer. And do it by the end of summer, 2008. This is a bold move by Stratasys, since 3D printing is still a relatively new activity. We… Continue reading Discounts From Dimension
Stratasys Leading
A press release from Stratasys, makers of the popular Dimension series of 3D Printers, seems to indicate they lead the pack of manufacturers. The release. Evidently the Minnesota-based company is now producing more than half of the 3D printers being made today (53 percent, according to a report from Wohler’s, available here.) Other highlights: … Continue reading Stratasys Leading
Motley Fool Features 3D Vendor
Our favorite online financial information service, The Motley Fool, posted an analysis of Stratasys’s recent results. And the results were quite good indeed. We wrote our opinion of this as well, but The Fool says that “the idea seems to be catching on.” They rave of how the big guys use Stratasys, and how their… Continue reading Motley Fool Features 3D Vendor
Stratasys Reports Record Results!
In spite of the lousy economic situation, Stratasys has managed to pull off very good results for the first quarter of the year. Manufacturers of the Dimension line of 3D printers, Dimension set records for revenue and unit sales. According to their press release, some 577 units were shipped in 1Q08, and revenue rose to… Continue reading Stratasys Reports Record Results!
Clean Media for Your 3D Printer
One of the main concerns with any 3D printer is the media. To a large extent, its characteristics govern the quality, appearance and robustness of a printed object, beyond the object’s design itself. We’ve even seen edible media, such as sugar, used in homemade printer projects. However, sugar-based objects generally have poor characteristics, even though… Continue reading Clean Media for Your 3D Printer
StrataSys Stock Falls
Stratasys, makers of the Dimension series and high-end FDM series of 3D printers, suffered an 18% drop in stock price after fourth-quarter 2008 earnings were announced. Earnings grew a measly 11%, down significantly from earlier quarters. However, we suspect this is simply due to a general slow-down in the US economy that is affecting many… Continue reading StrataSys Stock Falls
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
RedEye RPM Goes Down Under
We’ve posted on RedEye RPM before; they are the service bureau arm of Stratasys, who manufacture various types of 3D print gear. This announcement ensures strong access to 3D print services for those in Australia and surrounding regions. Details about the service can be found here. Via BusinessWire.com
RedEye RPM Adds Modeling
RedEye RPM, the service unit of Stratasys, announces the availability of an architectural modeling service. According to their website, RedEyeArc says: RedEye ARC is your solution to fast turnaround, high quality, 3D plastic models that bring your blueprints to life. We use innovative 3D printing technology to build architectural models that will exceed your expectations… Continue reading RedEye RPM Adds Modeling
Stratasys Focuses
Stratasys, makers of the interesting FDM 900MC digital manufacturing system, have dropped marketing of the Arcam line of devices. They had been marketing the European-based Arcam products, which apparently specialize in printing 3D metal objects. What does this mean? We think that the strongly increasing demand for non-metallic printing (which appears to be more mature… Continue reading Stratasys Focuses
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
RedEye Goes European
RedEye RPM is opening a new “European rapid prototyping and direct digital manufacturing center in Leuven, Belgium.” RedEye is a sub of Stratasys, which produces high-end 3D printing equipment. RedEye provides 3D printing services to engineering firms and manufacturers for low-volume runs, presumably using current Stratasys hardware – possibly including that new FDM 900mc device.… Continue reading RedEye Goes European