Introduced by Lesney Products in 1953 as a way for British children to bring toys to school that satisfied the “toys must fit into a matchbox” requirement, the Matchbox brand of die-cast cars have since become one of the most iconic toy brands of all time. While the brand expanded out from die-cast cars into…

Artists take many shapes and forms. A lot of contemporary visionaries nowadays use paint or photography to capture their in-the-moment experiences. And while taking photos of your dinner is technically considered art (is it?), it sure as hell doesn’t compare to what stone carver Anna Rubincam does for a living. https://vimeo.com/216658674 In a recent film…

Toys and weapons these days are just too expensive. Gone are the times when kids could be content with a good slingshot and rock. Now every adolescent and their mother is obsessed with fidget spinners – pieces of metal and plastic that look like miniature propellers. *Indistinct dry-heaving sound* They don’t even do anything other…

Canada-based Mosaic Manufacturing announced a new version of their Palette multimaterial accessory, the Palette+. If you’re not familiar with the Palette concept, it is a very unusual approach to achieving multimaterial 3D printing on almost any open materials desktop 3D printer. Imagine this: a multicolor print is simply a long series of filament swaps, from…

Despite that old expression of “you don’t need to reinvent the wheel,” Michelin has proved this week that there’s still plenty of ground to play with the future of wheel design…and tires, too. Introduced at the company’s annual Movin’On conference in Montreal, the new Vision concept tire is a one-piece 3D printed wheel-and-tire design that…

“I got two words for you brochacho, CARBON FIBER.” Some 3D printers can print in carbon fiber, but this 3D printer is made from carbon fiber. Carbon fiber is an increasingly popular material in the 3D print world, due to its low weight and high strength. Multiple 3D printers now have the capability of 3D…

You’re slouching. It’s so bad sometimes, it looks like your arms are trying to escape your body. *Roll your shoulders BACK* There we go. That should last a few seconds. If you need a reminder, the Slouch Alert is a DIY device that electrocutes you vibrates when you start to slouch. Slouch Alert was created by Instructables user Lara…

A recent Kickstarter project from OPENCREATORS has shown a 3D printer with features we haven’t seen previously. The cryptically-named BS210 is a desktop 3D printer using the standard filament extrusion process, and the machine is mostly typical among many in the market, with the exception of a couple of rather unusual features. Certainly it appears…

Sure—zombies have already taken over mainstream culture, so it makes sense. Still, it seems as though just about everybody and their grandma has a morbid fascination with how to survive a zombie doomsday. And if there’s one thing that you can count on just about every craftsman on YouTube to do well, it’s making survival…

“It’s time we bring back the human touch, and get our hands dirty again.” Formlabs has introduced the Fuse 1 selective laser sintering (SLS) desktop 3D printer. It’s a slight departure from their resin-based 3D printer focus that catapulted the company to the heights as the standard for high-quality SLA parts. However, it lines up…

Thanks to Instagram, it’s never been easier for designers, engineers, makers, and just about anybody else who makes something document their creative process. For some of us, it can be educational content—while for others, it can be a way to live through a highly-skilled craftsman vicariously for a few seconds a day. G. Phil Poirier…

I’m reading an interesting story about how a photographer designed and 3D printed a specialty film camera and realized what this actually signifies. The camera project in question was undertaken by Paul Kohlhaussen, a photographer and designer based in London. Kohlhauseen, like some professionals, has an affinity for the older film approach to photography, over…

A startup company has launched a 3D printer specifically designed for clay 3D printing. ClayXYZ, found currently on Kickstarter, has developed a simple and low cost 3D printer that prints just clay. But it’s not any clay, it’s the commonly available “air hardening clay” that doesn’t require firing in a furnace as most clay does.…

We’ve said it time and time again, and we still mean it from the bottom of our hearts: if a zombie apocalypse ever breaks out, we want to be as close to ‘Slingshot Master’ Joerg Sprave as humanly possible. While the German slingshot sensei has created everything from an Oreo Cookie Separation Pump Gun to…

Mosaic Manufacturing announced a new cloud-based multi-material software tool for 3D printing, CANVAS. The Canadian company has been busy building and marketing the Palette, which we’ve covered previously. This device is an ingenious 3D printer accessory which dynamically splices differently colored input filaments together in just the right sequence and lengths to enable printing of…

What if you could surf on tram tracks? Faced with rough cobblestone streets instead of smooth and paved roads, these creative skaters created a workaround by modding their boards to fit the tram tracks embedded within the cobblestone streets…effectively providing an ultimate smooth ride. Featuring one wheel in the front center of the board and…

Previously the company marketed the AstroBox (no touch), which provided an easy means for you to connect an otherwise standalone desktop 3D printer to a powerful cloud environment, from which many interesting and useful functions became instantly possible. And that’s really what Astroprint is all about: maintaining a huge cloud network of 3D printing participants…

Remember Stemi? The six-legged, build-it-yourself robot removes the complexity of building such a machine, offering a building experience that requires no soldering and detailed videos that teach how to use each part. Their Indiegogo campaign was a huge success, it’s been on multiple ‘Best Robot Kits for Kids’ lists and there’s been a waiting list……

We’ve seen legions of YouTubers manifest chaos to bring us absurd contraptions with little purpose other than to document how capable they are of destruction. And with high-end slow-speed cameras more accessible now than ever, watching these homegrown science experiments has never been more entertaining…even, educational. Among others leading the way is Kevin Kohler, aka…

Hot off the trail of their One DLP 3D printer debuted last year, Taiwan-based Phrozen is back, this time with Make, “the world’s most compact, reliable, and precise LCD light-cured resin 3D printer.” If that sounds like a mouthful, you’re right, but over 240 backers have already put Phrozen over their Kickstarter campaign target goal…

I’ve written on the concept of digital inventory previously, but now a company is doing so directly. The basics of the concept are found here, but in short, the idea is to maintain a digital, rather than a physical, inventory of spare parts to reduce costs. Just 3D print the parts when you require them.…

A huge bonus for any manufacturer is the ability to upcycle any wasted material from the manufacturing process into entirely new products. We’ve seen this before with discarded cardboard upcycled into surfboards and even sawdust as a result of pencil manufacturing upcycled into Duraflame logs. More recently, tequila brand Jose Cuervo has been to getting…

With such a wide variety of camera lenses available to us these days, it’s easy to overlook the details that go into creating each and every precision-engineered “glass.” From the ultra wide-angle 24mm f/1.4L for expansive landscape shots to the behemoth 800mm f/5.6L monsters used to capture high detail from a distance, each and every…

Few materials are as cheap and versatile as cardboard, which makes it a perfect building material for everything from rough prototypes to even finished products. Put in the hands of a true artist, however, and the material elevates to a new dimension entirely. At least, this is the case with Japanese artist Monomi Ohno. While…

Desktop Metal has finally shown their 3D metal printing technology, and from a first look, it does appear to be game changing in several respects. The mysterious east coast startup has been a bit of a puzzle for some time now. We’ve seen only glimpses of their equipment and hints of powerful capabilities. But now…

Last week Carbon and Adidas announced a deal to produce 3D printed midsoles. But how big is this deal, exactly? It’s hard to gauge the magnitude of a business deal from popular reports, but I believe it can be estimated based on the statistics shown to the public. Carbon has developed a custom resin specifically…

When it comes to summertime activities, few things beat a lazy ride around a lake or down a creek in a canoe. And while today you can fetch a decent newer model for anywhere from $500-$2000, nothing beats the beauty and craftsmanship of a traditional dugout canoe. And if you’ve ever wanted to make your…

When it comes to some of the more exciting developments in product design, oftentimes it comes down to simply looking at new ways of manipulating old materials rather than seeking out new ones. Such is the case with ‘Tenderwood’, an experimental new bench design from Taiwanese industrial designer YenHao Chu. Using a combination of Japanese…

“You know the thrill of walking down a back alley in hopes you might find something amazing? I fucking live for that.” This is how US traveler Scott Allen opens up the About page on his website devoted entirely to hardware hacking and documenting his strange-but-true stories straight out of the world of technology and…

Looking for an easy way to find/create 3D printable terrain models? Go no further than TouchTerrain. TouchTerrain is a project of the University of Iowa that allows you to select a rectangular surface area of anywhere on the Earth and then download a 3D model of the surface terrain. 3D Print a Terrain Models The…

While 3D printing may still be in the midst of having an identity crisis in the world of mass production (although the recent Adidas and Carbon partnership looks promising), there is no shortage of applications for custom parts in the aviation industry. Although airline manufacturers have been using a variety of additive manufacturing methods for…

Gambody is a 3D model repository for all that’s awesome in gaming and pop culture. The detail on many of their models is impressive, which is one reason why 3D design teacher Sam Fenimore chose Gambody to snag the STL files for his StarCraft Hyperion Battlecruiser. The ship is predominantly featured in StarCraft II: Wings…

Peopoly’s Moai 3D printer began as a personal project between a pair of friends (Shu Peng & Richard Li) who wanted a better 3d printing option that could go beyond what RepRap, Ultimaker and other kit-based printers had to offer. They wanted professional quality with an affordable price. After building several of those machines, they…

For an industry responsible for wrapping material around a human foot for athletic performance purposes, it’s been a long hard road for shoe manufacturers to take 3D printing seriously as a viable form of bespoke manufacturing on a grand scale. And while companies ranging from Under Armour to New Balance have been keeping pace, it…

SketchUp has a very interesting extension called “PlaceMaker” to instantly generate 3D models of cities. I don’t often recommend SketchUp for 3D printing purposes, as it is primarily focused on visual 3D, rather than the solid 3D required for proper 3D printing. It’s just too easy to create non-3D printable models in SketchUp and you are…

There’s been plenty on 3D metal printing to talk about over the last few years, but 2017 may be THE year of more metal – more metal printers and more structures printed in metal. I’m ready for it too – ready for a metal suit, a metal house; bring on the metal. CES 2017 saw…

Whether it’s the 1991 film The Rocketeer or any of the more recent Iron Man movies, Hollywood has been teasing us with the jet pack for years. After all—who wouldn’t want the chance to fly? As a result, dozens—if not hundreds—of dreamers have built countless prototypes in an attempt to build the most viable solution…

When it comes to ‘garage inventors’, few people carry the title as well as Colin Furze. The plumber-turned-viral YouTube video star out of Stamford, Lincolnshire has created everything from the world’s fasted pram to a hoverbike in his humble UK-based garage workshop. And while he probably worries his friends and family sick, he’s showing no…

I read an interesting announcement from Aleph Objects and colorFabb that begs a question about the latter’s strategy. Aleph Objects is, of course, the producers of the very popular line of LulzBot desktop 3D printers. These are very well regarded machines that have proceeded well through a number of increasingly powerful iterations, leading up to…

They may have had their heyday in the 1980s, but cassette tapes, like vinyl records, are making a huge comeback in the digital age. While streaming music services such as Apple Music and Spotify have more monthly subscribers than ever before, there is an equally popular need for tangible, physical music, too. And unlike vinyl…

Carbon introduced a couple of new items that should make their products far more interesting to those intending on production use. The problem with almost all 3D printers when considering “production” is that they are not designed for production. They are designed for prototyping. They require human attention at frequent points during their operational cycle.…

While 3D printing might have lost its magic in the mainstream, there’s no denying that those that are still in the thick of it are coming up with ever more impressive ways of extruding melted plastic into functional objects. And for some, 3D printing is still a viable way for not just prototyping but also…

Xometry, an advanced manufacturing/prototyping software platform, has recently acquired $23 Million in investment capital from GE Ventures, Highland Capital Partners and others to help accelerate development of its advanced manufacturing platform. Put another way, the company gained a ton of funds to ramp up development of their online quoting systems and software integration to dominate…

Performing surgery isn’t a perfect science, and even doctors need to practice their skills, especially when it comes to children. To hone those skills, doctors practice various techniques using anatomical models or mannequins. However, these are typically limiting regarding complexity and feel, which limits the training. To overcome those limitations, Ph.D. grad student Mark Thielen…

With the continual introduction of new 3D printer filament materials, it’s become hard to keep track of them all. Until you see this terrific chart. The chart was produced by UK-based ThreeDotZero Studios, who provide “support service to fast-growing technology-based businesses.” Currently, they offer services in VR/AR, Home Automation, UAVs/Drones, Maker Market, Gaming Hardware, MVNO/MVNE…

It’s one of the most recognizable and versatile shoe designs ever created—yet how it’s manufactured has remained a mystery to many over the past 40 years. The Nike Air (bag), which is used in everything from the company’s basketball shoes to even golf and skateboarding shoes, was a pioneering idea that helped establish Nike as…

The Hangprinter is one of the most unusual 3D printer concepts yet seen, and it actually works. The Hangprinter is a project by Torbjørn Ludvigsen, based in the city of Umeå in the northern end of Sweden. Ludvigsen, who goes by the handle “Tobben”. It’s a RepRap variant designed by Ludvigsen apparently in 2014, but…

While Nike and Adidas consistently pull out all the stops when it comes to promoting their latest footwear innovations, other footwear manufacturers have taken a much quieter route in promoting their technologies—but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they don’t have them! While it may have been 30 years in the making, this epic mini-documentary from…

With sales of vinyl records in 2016 reaching a 25-year high (3.2 million LPs sold), it comes as little surprise that more musical artists want their albums pressed for a growing base of fans that are treasuring physical music formats once again over streaming services. Yet, because of the downfall of vinyl in the age…

By itself, one isn’t all that impressive. But, bring enough of them together, and it’s certainly an impressive sight. Originally designed by researchers at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory, the Perdix drone (formally Project Perdix) was built for swarming operations and tasked with airborne environmental monitoring. The tiny 6.5-inch drone was impressive enough in its swarming capability…