The debate over use of proprietary or open materials ecosystems is becoming a big topic in 3D printing.
zcorp
3D Printed Reconstruction Techniques
A 3D printing technique was used to develop a 3D virtual model.
3D Systems Rebrands Their Color 3D Printers
After 3D Systems’ acquisition of ZCorp, they found themselves owners of the Zprinter line of the only full-color 3D printers available. These machines continued to be improved and new variations added up until this week. What happened this week? 3D Systems has rebranded the entire Zprinter line into new ProJet models. No more Zprinters!… Continue reading 3D Systems Rebrands Their Color 3D Printers
The ZPrinter 850 is Announced
3D Systems and their recent acquisition, ZCorp, announced the availability of their most gigantic 3D printer yet, the ZPrinter 850. The 850 is capable of 3D printing large objects in full color using its powder-based printing approach. This beast is similar to the smaller model 650, but with a larger build area. The new… Continue reading The ZPrinter 850 is Announced
Massive News: 3D Systems Acquires ZCorp!
In an almost unbelievable announcement today, 3D Systems has apparently acquired ZCorp, one of their major competitors. In addition to ZCorp, 3D Systems also picked up Vidar, a leading manufacturer of medical film digitizers. The cost of these two simultaneous acquisitions puts a USD$137M dent into 3D Systems’ wallet, which will be refilled by a… Continue reading Massive News: 3D Systems Acquires ZCorp!
ZCorp’s On This Old House
If you’re watching the perennial PBS TV series “This Old House” you might see a 3D printed house in a couple of their October episodes. The series has used a ZCorp 3D printer to produce a model of a home being remodeled in order to show the viewing audience what the final outcome of the… Continue reading ZCorp’s On This Old House
My Robot Nation is Coming
Design News tells of a not-quite-opened 3D printing service: My Robot Nation. It’s a joint venture between ZCorp, Kodama Studios and Offload Studios (one of ZCorp’s print services clients). They’re attempting to bridge the gap that exists in the 3D printing space right now: where are some great printable objects? Specifically, robots. There’s not… Continue reading My Robot Nation is Coming
David Kaplan Reveals the Wrench Truth
The other week controversy erupted when National Geographic published a short video in which physicist David Kaplan visited ZCorp HQ and apparently witnessed the incredible feat of 3D scanning a large wrench and replicating it – will all moving parts! We thought this might be slightly misleading, as you can’t scan-capture moving and internal parts… Continue reading David Kaplan Reveals the Wrench Truth
ZCorp Ships 6,000th 3D Printer
We don’t know a lot about 3D printer manufacturer ZCorp’s financial results, as they are not publicly traded. But there is evidence they’re having as much success as the two public 3D printer manufacturers. ZCorp announced they’ve shipped their 6,000th 3D printer, an incredible milestone. But that’s not all – they also announced record… Continue reading ZCorp Ships 6,000th 3D Printer
ZCorp Questions Open Source Printers
A post from Olimpio DeMarco, VP of Research and Development at ZCorp questioned the possibility of using open source 3D printers for business use. He says: Who then is buying open source FDM printers? It isn’t clear to me that there is an industrial, true business application for open source 3DP. He’s probably… Continue reading ZCorp Questions Open Source Printers
Which Desktop 3D Printer Do I Buy? Part One
Editor: We are totally tickled to present our very first guest post – and we’re greatly honoured to have it written by well-known 3D Printing blogger Joris Peels. Most recently Joris was the Shapeways Community Manager, and now he’s blogging at Voxelfab. Over the past few years Joris has written extensively on 3D printing helping… Continue reading Which Desktop 3D Printer Do I Buy? Part One
ZCorp Chases HP?
Perhaps shocked by HP’s recent entry into the low-cost commercial 3D Printer market, ZCorp has released two new models that are very inexpensive. The ZPrinter 150 prints only in monochrome, but the price is right: only USD$14,900 gets you one of these babies in your office. Monochrome isn’t sufficient for your technicolor object dreams?… Continue reading ZCorp Chases HP?
ZBuilder Ultra Introduced
It’s a brand new, lower-cost option from ZCorp for building objects – but it uses a very different approach. It’s not like their 3D printers, which use a fused-powder technique. Instead the ZBuilder Ultra uses “a high-resolution Digital Light Processor (DLP) projector to solidify a liquid photopolymer”, similar to laser sintering. Here’s the specifications… Continue reading ZBuilder Ultra Introduced
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?
The Sculpteo 3D Printing Service
A new European 3D print service has emerged: Sculpteo. This friendly service appears to compete with Shapeways, as it offers not only a straightforward method of uploading your designs, but also has a “community gallery” from which you may choose pre-made designs. Once your design is set: You choose the material, the monochrome… Continue reading The Sculpteo 3D Printing Service
An Introduction to 3D Printing
Anthony Lockwood of Desktop Engineering writes a review of a white paper from ZCorp that explains in 2D print form the entire process of 3D printing for beginners. While the PDF paper is somewhat (well, quite a lot actually) slanted towards ZCorp’s line of 3D printers, it is very well written for those who are… Continue reading An Introduction to 3D Printing
Matt is BetaMaterialised
Matt Sinclair of We Dont Do Retro writes of his experience using the beta 3D printing service from Materialise, called “i.materialise”. The beta service proudly announces their manifesto: We love 3D printing and are excited by amazing designs. That’s why we developed the i.materialise platform. An online service making 3D printing as easy as printing… Continue reading Matt is BetaMaterialised
Robert Geshlider’s Works
Robert Geshlider is a San Francisco-based artist that makes great use of 3D printers for his works. They are abstract and can be found from time to time in the great galleries of the world, including the SFMOMA. This work, entitled “Journal”, is from 2008 – and was created using SolidWorks and a ZCorp 3D… Continue reading Robert Geshlider’s Works
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!
ZCorp Translates
ZCorp just launched a new version of their website – in Russian! If you happen to be able to read Russian, you might want to try it out here. According to their press release: The new site demonstrates Z Corporationās commitment to Russia and the Russian-speaking regionās superior technologists with a wealth of new… Continue reading ZCorp Translates
From 3D, Comes Infinium!
The University of Michigan has spent more than USD$1M to produce the above pictured Infinium solar car, which is to take part in the World Solar Challenge race across Australia. Yes, “solar” means the sun will be the only fuel for this bad boy during the 1,800 mile six day race. Why are we… Continue reading From 3D, Comes Infinium!
From Hands to Model
ZCorp, one of the leading 3D Printer manufacturers, also makes and markets 3D Scanners, such as the ZScanner 800 shown above. In a recent article posted by The Engineer Online and republished by ZCorp, they describe the case of Portuguese product development firm Protosys. Protosys recently assisted a boat manufacturer who had difficulties with hull… Continue reading From Hands to Model
Cisco 3D’s 10 Times Weekly
We all know that designers are more frequently found using 3D printers today, but there’s a wonderful article in TCT Magazine describing Cisco’s experience. Cisco, of course, is the mega-congolomerate that makes networking equipment among other ventures. Much of their product line involves physical objects that are installed in data centers or homes. Those objects… Continue reading Cisco 3D’s 10 Times Weekly
3D Printing Really Is Less Expensive
ZCorp issued a press release describing the experience of Converse, the footwear manufacturer using ZCorp technology in their design process. The interesting bit is that they’ve stated the savings they’ve found in actual dollars. Here’s the results from the press release: They “can produce a shoe model in two hours, or nearly 30 times… Continue reading 3D Printing Really Is Less Expensive
ZCorp Gets Harder
New material is now available from one of the most popular 3D printer manufacturers: ZCorp. They recently released zp150, a “premium composite build material” that can be used in their 450 and 650 3D printers. What is so interesting about this material? 40 percent increase in āgreenā strength for improved ease of use 40 percent… Continue reading ZCorp Gets Harder
ZCorp’s Good, Bad and Ugly
Desmoda tells all in a recent expose of his experiences using ZCorp 3D printers over the past few years. While ZCorp’s devices are praised – for speed, consumable cost and color capabilities, Desmoda reveals the dark side of using the devices, including: Problems obtaining a suitable smooth finish, as the raw printouts are “plastery”… Continue reading ZCorp’s Good, Bad and Ugly
ZScanner
ZCorp, the makers of that very popular line of 3D Printers, does more than just that – they also make 3D scanners. While the ZScanners are not exactly newly announced, we still think they’re worthy of discussion. It fascinates us how one could wander through the real world with a handheld device (and laptop… Continue reading ZScanner
SporeZ
Z Corp has taken another step to integrate its equipment into the personal manufacturing cycle. Recently they struck a deal with Bentley software to link with the construction industry. Now they touch the gaming space by providing a way to easily 3D print your Spore creations. Um, what’s Spore again? The Spore Creature Creator is… Continue reading SporeZ
Can You Print a Stadium?
Yes you can, although it will be a touch smaller than you’d expect. That’s precisely what HOK Sport is doing. They are one of the world’s leading architectural firms specializing in major sports facilities. Among their projects is the London 2012 Olympic Stadium. According to a recent Z Corp press release, HOK recently acquired… Continue reading Can You Print a Stadium?
Z Corporation Leads the Way
You might not be familiar with “Project Lead The Way”, but it’s a: not-for-profit organization that promotes pre-engineering courses for middle and high school students. PLTW forms partnerships with public schools, higher education institutions and the private sector to increase the quantity and quality of engineers and engineering technologists graduating from our educational system… Today,… Continue reading Z Corporation Leads the Way
Z Corp Engages Bentley
Z Corp announced a special arrangement with Bentley, makers of various products related to building, construction and architecture. Bentley’s software is used by a majority of such firms, and the deal is to ensure smooth use of Z Corp’s 3D printers from Bentley’s software. We have two observations on this development: Z Corp is making… Continue reading Z Corp Engages Bentley
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!
We’re Not Big Enough!
The 3D Print market is clearly at a very early stage of development. As such, there are fewer buyers than in a mature market. This means the costs of R&D must be absorbed by those fewer buyers. In other words, it’s gonna be expensive until there’s a lot more of us. To put this in… Continue reading We’re Not Big Enough!
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!
Z-Corp Spreads
Z-Corp, makers of the very popular Z-Corp 3D printers used by many 3D print services, recently announced they have struck a deal with EDST, the “largest PLM and 3D Visual Simulation solutions provider in India”. Evidently EDST works with some 650 clients across India in a variety of industry segments. What does this mean? We… Continue reading Z-Corp Spreads
What Z-Corp Ink is Made Of
We’ve been following a thread in the reprap forums that discusses the composition of inks, started by a post linking to two UK Material Safety Data Sheets that evidently show the composition of Z-Corp’s binder and powder. The binder contains: 1-10% Glycerol 0-2% Preservative (Sorbic acid salt) <1% Surfactant <20% Pigment 85-95% Water The powder… Continue reading What Z-Corp Ink is Made Of
ZCorp Expands
One of the most popular makers of 3D Printers, ZCorp is expanding. They’ve announced two developments: A new Vice President of Global Sales A new Director of Business Development In addition, their press release reveals they have added 22 more staff since January, and now comprise 161 staff in total. Analysis: 3D Printing continues to… Continue reading ZCorp Expands
Timberland is 3D
Timberland, the makers of fine footwear had a problem. Their traditional product development process involved using 2D designs for 3D objects. That may sound crazy, but this is the way manufacturing has been done for a very long time. It’s only recently that 3D technology has begun displacing 2D techniques. At Timberland the 2D-to-physical-model process… Continue reading Timberland is 3D
An Ideal Service?
Perhaps, but that’s what they are really called: Ideal. Actually Ideal is first and foremost a reseller of a very wide array of 2D scanners, but it appears they’re branching into the 3D printing as a service offering. We believe they are addressing peripheral needs of their existing industrial client base, as they do not… Continue reading An Ideal Service?
Z Corp and DeskArtes
Recently we were totally impressed with the amazing new ZEdit Pro software from Z Corp, which provides a variety of 3D printing optimizations in addition to standard 3D modeling capabilities. Turns out that ZEdit Pro wasn’t entirely from Z Corp. According to a press release from DeskArtes OY, a Finnish software house, the ZEdit Pro… Continue reading Z Corp and DeskArtes
Local Motors Chooses a Printer
A great post from Mike Pisani of Local Motors details their experience in selecting a 3D Printer. In the end they chose a Z Corp Z510 and a Z Corp Z800 scanner, both very popular items in the 3D fabbing world. Mike describes the results of the test prints fresh out of the build chamber:… Continue reading Local Motors Chooses a Printer
ZEdit Unleashed
The big news this week was Z Corp’s announcement of new software: ZEdit Pro, which is used to develop 3D designs suitable for printing on 3D printers. Of course, the software just happens to be optimized for use in Z Corp’s line of 3D printers, but we suspect it works with other devices as well.… Continue reading ZEdit Unleashed
Zapped by ZapFab!
A tipster put us onto a new 3D print service: ZapFab. This Manchester, UK-based business is a bit different than your run-of-the-mill “send us your 3D file and we’ll print it” operation. They offer not only the printing process, but also have a highly usable user-generated library of pre-made designs of various types. Fabbaloo readers… Continue reading Zapped by ZapFab!
3D Printing Assists Cardiac Procedure
As usual, inventive minds are developing innovative uses for 3D printing. This time European medical technicians developed an “anatomically correct 3D rapid prototyping model” of a patient’s heart in an STL file. They then used a 3D printer (Zcorp 510) to punch out the model. Why do this? Because they were then able to easily… Continue reading 3D Printing Assists Cardiac Procedure
AlphaPrototypes Service
We’ve uncovered yet another Rapid Prototyping 3D Print service: AlphaPrototypes. This west coast USA-based firm provides a simple way to upload your .STL files and print high-quality 3D objects, shipped to you “in about 24 hours.” While they don’t identify the specific 3D printer being used, it is a ZCorp model – the favorite among… Continue reading AlphaPrototypes Service
3D Science Fiction
Wouldn’t anyone like a boss like Phillip Torrone’s? The drafter had access to a Spectrum Z510 3D Printer at work, and his boss let him test the system in an unusual way: Whenever we had to reset the system or replace the print heads, we would run a test file through. My boss at the… Continue reading 3D Science Fiction
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