For some designers and engineers, 3D scanning physical objects to use as reference models can be the ultimate time-saver. Industrial Designer Eric Strebel is one such design professional—and as always, he has some insightful tips for fellow designers and engineers out there who want to kickstart their 3D scanning game—aka, photogrammetry. Photogrammetry is a process…
Sheet metal design and fabrication is a topic I’ve aimed to cover for quite a while. So I thought I’d kick things off by highlighting one of the build projects by Ron Covell a master metal fabricator and teacher. His Youtube channel is packed full of tips and techniques for the aspiring fabricator. Additionally, if…
AstroPrint announced a spectacular arrangement with Stanley Black & Decker. According to the press release, Stanley Black & Decker will use AstroPrint’s Enterprise Cloud “to connect, control, and optimize their fleet of 3D printers across multiple facilities.” AstroPrint is a popular cloud–based solution for managing groups of 3D printers. We first wrote about them in…
The technology of 3D printing has opened an entirely new, nearly limitless medium for instrument makers and artists. Traditional instruments are being reborn as futuristic masterpieces, and entirely new instruments have also been created. This medium gives the maker total control over how the instrument looks and sounds, and is allowing us to analyze and…
There have been a few developments recently that have brought me to the view that STL file format will slide away quietly. STL has always been a highly problematic format, but at the same time has been used almost ubiquitously in 3D printing. Now there seems to be a crack in that standard that ultimately…
There’s something very interesting going down at Velo3D. The previously mysterious California-based metal 3D printing startup made a splash last fall with their new Sapphire metal 3D printer, which has the incredible ability to 3D print extreme overhangs without the need for support structures. Today we learned quite a bit more about the company and…
Using a series of post-processing techniques like sanding, painting, gluing, and mold-forming, you can easily make your 3D printed projects look just like their store-bought counterparts — ideal for when presenting realistic “looks like” prototypes to clients or coworkers. From sanding and gluing all the way to crafting different molds and finally painting the objects, MakerBot’s…
A report suggests that upcoming Apple iPhone designs may include powerful 3D scanning capabilities. According to a report on Bloomberg, it seems that Apple is expanding its 3D camera technology in a way that might enable some extremely interesting 3D scanning applications — not just applications the company is pursuing. Let’s review what Apple does…
With much of the world turning a newer, greener leaf, many people are finding ways to incorporate a “greener” lifestyle with 21st-century technologies. In the case of Rotterdam-based design studio The New Raw, this means letting citizens create their own recycled furniture. https://vimeo.com/311304894 The studio created the ‘Print Your City’ initiative: a recycling project first…
Even with the prevalence of touchscreens and touchpads, no piece of input hardware can interact with a computer quite like the traditional mouse. Introduced as a prototype in 1964, the very first personal computer mouse has let users edit their Word documents, play video games, and altogether explore a digital world created by 1s and…
E3D-Online has nearly completed its beta test of an unusual tool-changing 3D printer. The UK-based company is most well known for their powerful and reliable hot ends and extruders, which are used in countless 3D printers made by dozens of manufacturers worldwide. But they’re also working on an advanced 3D printer. Their “tool-changing” 3D printer…
Much like LEGOs, modern modular design kits contain various pieces that let the user build various structures. Desks, shelves, pot holders – depending on the kit’s materials, the user can make an assortment of things from a cleverly-designed family of attachable components. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhSQjGRsYWg TikA by TiKA Lab are modular kits comprised mainly of different-sized connectable…
While he is best known for setting intricate matchstick pieces aflame, there is undoubtedly more substance to YouTube creator BLACKHAND than your average pyromaniac. Case in point: his wooden smartphone photography slider using little more than wood and a few metal fixtures. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUr0QTofl80 Beginning with two reasonably large holes drilled into a piece of wood,…
There’s something about epoxy and wood that creates some of the most fascinating wood pieces we’ve seen—be it a side table, a bowl, or in this case—a hand-carved pendant light. For his latest wood project, YouTube creator Modustrial Maker combined epoxy resin and LED strips into a cookie slab to create his hanging pendant light:…
Researchers at the University of Michigan have developed an extremely interesting process that is quite different from current approaches to 3D printing with photopolymer resin. The researchers sought to eliminate one of the most pervasive problems when 3D printing photopolymer resin: window adhesion. Window adhesion occurs when the light engine solidifies liquid material at the…
Despite the unpredictable nature of CEO and founder Elon Musk, Tesla cars are still taking the industry by storm. With their all-electric motors, many argue the vehicles are better in every way compared to just about any gas-guzzler…provided you don’t have to travel more than 300 miles at a time between charges. The company’s latest…
Formlabs is introducing two new resins this week at CES while showcasing end-to-end workflow with 3D printing. There will be plenty of 3D printing at CES this year, but it may not always be so obvious as in years past when rockstars came to big-name 3D printer manufacturers’ booths to talk up consumer usage. In…
When you think of something on two wheels with a motor, chances are it’s fast, heavy, highly dangerous, and takes an entire assembly line to construct. What if you just needed a 3D printer? Well, 3D printer production company BigRep and their NOWLAB innovation branch are bringing us something lighter, sleeker and (almost) completely 3D…
We talk a lot about 3D printers, but most use plastic or resin materials. Rarely do we have the pleasure of seeing a ceramic 3D printer which uses honest-to-goodness earthen clay to print an object. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ker1FTS1q1Q The Cerambot does exactly that – it takes your standard Kaolinite clay material and allows you to builds shapes,…
I’m looking at a 3D printing startup that recently emerged from stealth mode, Origin. The San Francisco-based company apparently began in 2015 when two entrepreneurs became frustrated with existing 3D print solutions they were using for their small 3D print service. They had been using inexpensive desktop equipment to produce items for clients, but encountered…
While many Earth-based A.I. systems are meant to eventually replace the tasks of humans, NASA’s International Space Station is currently exploring the benefits of A.I. so their astronauts will simply have someone to talk to. After all, space can get pretty lonely sometimes, and seeing as the only thing between you and the black abyss…
Materialise published a series of trends and we have some thoughts. Materialise is one of the larger and more notable 3D print services in the industry, and they’re one of the oldest as well. They work with global businesses to help produce 3D prints in many ways, including software and services. Recently they published a…
Three words for ya. Camping. Is. Fun. Besides the heat, the cold, the rain, the wasps, ticks, poison ivy, and animals that would devour you given the chance, it’s one of the most enjoyable experiences you’ll have. Prepping and lugging the necessities into the great outdoors can present some other challenges. Did you remember your…
Despite often being pragmatic to the point of dispassionate, it turns out that I am not immune to hype, particularly when it comes to 3D printers. So, I fell for the lure of MakerBot’s announcement of a new product reveal on December 11th featuring cryptic and tantalizing images of glass and angular enclosures. It was a…
You don’t have to be an absolute green thumb to understand how plants eat, breathe, and even generate their own bio-electricity. But can a plant use its own bio-energy sources to power a robot? Thanks to a recent project by MIT scientists Harpreet Sareen and Pattie Maes, we now know. Elowan is a self-driving robot powered…
I’m reading a detailed post by Ars Technica on automated theft of AutoCAD designs, but is this also applicable to 3D print designs? The post explains that multiple nefarious characters have long been using scripts as a means of industrial espionage. These scripts are secretly installed on Autodesk AutoCAD instances, and then silently relay encountered…
Not as many self-sufficient folks live off the grid like they used to, but the way of living is still as self-gratifying as it has ever been. How cool would it be to say you got your food from your backyard or your new leather shoes from last year’s cowhide? Living on a farm still…
If I’m to be truly honest, the infinite possibilities of LEGOs can be a bit daunting when it comes to building. When someone 10 years younger than myself can make a masterpiece out of the same 500 bricks I’m given, it can feel disheartening to even begin my own creation. Not as many adults have…
We hadn’t heard much from Kodak on their new 3D printer for quite a while, but now they’re back in action. We first saw their machine earlier this year at CES, where they showed their Portrait 3D printer. At that time we noted that the machine included a number of fascinating features that were designed…
The Leatherman Wave was released back in 1996 and was the first Leatherman to feature accessible blades without opening the handle. People must have loved cutting things to ribbons because it became the company’s bestselling multi-tool ever. So it only made sense for BRANDMADE.TV, a documentary YouTube channel, to show how this iconic multi-tool gets…
Sure, the initial impact and risk to life in a fender bender are pretty frightening; but having to deal with the insurance company and getting the car fixed afterward is just as terrifying. Affidavits and scamming auto shops are only a few of the terrors which should scare you into never hitting another vehicle again.…
Halloween may be over, but that hasn’t stopped YouTube creator BLACKHAND from making one of his creepiest chain matchstick pieces yet. SolidSmack previously covered one of his chain matchstick reactions, but while the old one was a hodgepodge of smaller matchstick structures stuck together, this new one is a bit more… bare bones. His latest…
While bikes, scooters, and maybe even unicycles are cool, nothing beats riding on a plank of wood on wheels at top speed with reckless abandon—particularly when said board has some pretty killer artwork on it, too. Tye Sheehan may be a civil engineer during the day, but during his free time, he makes some of…
Back in February 2018, Nike challenged innovators around the world to come up with solutions to two significantly impactful athletic footwear issues: material waste and how to improve the recycling process to create more useful resources, footwear-related or otherwise. Over 600 applications came from around the world, with five winners tasked with creating new inventions…
The world is in full color, and now so is functional 3D printing with Rize’s latest introduction. Today Rize announces a significant portfolio enhancement, unveiling the full-color XRIZE desktop additive manufacturing system and expanding the materials capabilities of the Rize One 3D printer. Let’s start with what’s new with the Rize One. Since its market…
As much as we love discovering new and quirky product designs, there’s something about utilitarian design from the 21st century that strikes our fascination every time—particularly when it’s restored to its former glory. YouTube creator DiesInEveryFilm Customs makes a ton of knives, sheaths, and metalworks on his channel, but his most fascinating pieces are his…
Whenever a tree is cut down to produce paper, furniture, or any other product, it’s likely that not all parts the tree are used. Frequently, bits of the tree trunk that are hard to work with are left to rot and never to be used. Instead of watching local Tennessee tree stumps get turned into…
I’m looking at some material from Robotfactory and noticed that print quality challenges are quite different. Robotfactory is an Italian 3D printing startup that produces the Sliding-3D desktop device, which we wrote about earlier this year. This is a highly unusual 3D printer that can print continuously. And by “continuously”, I mean literally continuously: the…
Remember all the times you spent building impossible sandbox structures as a kid so that you could drive your toy cars through them? While seeing a grown adult do the same thing may seem kind of…well, weird, Audi has given us an excellent reason to jump right back in the sandbox and become a kid…
Nobody likes getting stung by bees, but all things considered, bees are actually kind of amazing—and are essential to any ecosystem. The only reason a bee would sting you is if you agitate it or get too close to its beehive. Wasps, on the other hand, are like living darts with a bad attitude; they…
With all the complicated manufacturing technology and automated processes around us nowadays, it’s nice to take things back to basics every now again and remind ourselves how brilliant good-old-fashioned handiwork can be. Traditional Chinese crafter Li Ziqi doesn’t need computers or fancy machines to make furniture; all she needs is a ruler, some hammers, chisels,…
This past July, we checked out the APSX Spyder Desktop CNC Machine. It’s not the only sub-$5k high-precision desktop CNC machine on the market, of course. One commentator brought up another option, the Saturn Series CNC Router from Fine Line Automation. The team at Fine Line Automation call the Saturn Series “the most advanced CNC…
Perhaps you wouldn’t simply hand your young kid his or her own iPhone to play Fortnight all day every day, but would you stop them from having their own mobile phone if they had to learn how to build it from scratch? What about if they had to code their own apps? The MAKERphone may…
One of the hardest tasks in 3D printing is the production of highly complex figurines in color material. 3D printing of figurines has long been a popular activity among desktop 3D printing enthusiasts, and particularly among gamers. Very often you will see game pieces being 3D printed, either original or stock designs. The first problem…
It’s when I entered middle school that I started to excel in math. Maybe excel is too strong a word. I was a good math student, but I wasn’t the best. I worked really hard at it. The award I publicly got at Parent’s Night was “Most Improved”. Middle school is also when I was…
Ultimaker has released Cura version 3.5. The Netherlands-based 3D printer manufacturer has been supplying the open source 3D print slicing and printer management system for many years, providing periodic updates that add functionality and quality to both the software and the prints generated with it. Now they’ve released version 3.5 and it includes a number…
Sure, you can ask your grandmother about it, but I’m certain her explanation of how cookie cutters are made won’t be as relaxing (or intriguing) as the “making of” videos from Cookiecutter.com. This family-owned and operated business may not sell actual cookies, but their love for the baking craft shows through in their various baking…
You wouldn’t think it at first glance: “Come on, a hairdryer of all things?” But look past the nozzles, diffusers, and concentrators and you’ll find something with far more value. It goes without saying that the gold inlays of the Dyson Supersonic hairdryer are pretty expensive, but what’s even more priceless is the art of…
Seeing as the gaming community spends the majority of their time in front of a desk or television sitting down, it’s usually their gluteus maximus which get the most exercise. But when you’re sucked into a game of Overwatch, Battlefield, or DOTA 2, chances are you won’t have the luxury of thinking about small things…
While multi-million dollar companies are trying to bring the flying car dream into the real world, one ambitious Filipino man has already beaten them to the punch. Kyxz Mendiola isn’t a famous designer, engineer, or CEO of some big wig company. In fact, he’s a dancer! Most of his electrical engineering, fabricating, aircraft designing, and…
