If you’ve ever accidentally let go of a helium-filled balloon as a kid and watched it slowly float into the sky, chances are you’ve also wondered where it goes. Does it float past the point of no return and into space, thereby giving an extra-terrestrial child the joy of finding a free balloon? Now that…

While extremely versatile for a wide range of applications, there’s no denying that poorly-disposed PET plastics are affecting our ocean systems. To help counteract their contribution, Coca-Cola committed to manufacturing all of their bottles with at least 50% recycled plastics by the year 2030. So far, it looks like they’re on track. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKbZOQX8Mkc This month…

As mankind’s ever-growing desire to make his own stuff increases, so does the amount of materials he can use to 3D print with. Wood, metal, carbon fiber, and now… wool? Researchers at the University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning developed a new felting process—dubbed Hard + Soft—that allows for different kinds…

Ever since Elon Musk took to Twitter to ask his followers what they would like from a Tesla pickup truck, the world has waited with bated breath. Of course, this was back in 2018, and as we all know, he never really followed up on his promise—yet. https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1011724688706318337?s=20 This left a lot of Tesla fans…

There are plenty of uses of 3D printing, and one of them is for design feedback. The most frequent use of 3D printing is prototyping, in which a proposed model of the final design is produced and tested. The testing can take many forms, from mechanical to aesthetic, and this approach has been very successful…

We can all (mostly) agree that being environment-friendly and leaning towards sustainable manufacturing methods is a good thing. So is eating well and being healthy. So by the unspoken rules of the universe, doing both at the same time is doubly good and an all-around best-case scenario. Design firm Carly Ratti Associati (CRA) and multinational oil and…

They say space exploration is good because it generates “spin-offs”. Well, here’s one to add to the list. Over the past couple of years NASA has been searching for solutions for 3D printed structures in space. Specifically, on the Moon and other planets. Instead of developing the technology themselves, they used crowdsourcing to generate unique…

Though many people think of chess as a boring, non-contact sport to watch, there’s nothing boring about a chess set which lights up in the dark. Crafted by YouTube creator CraftStation, he repurposes an old, wooden chess set and uses the pieces as molds for an awesome resin-casted set: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpNvPSR5WSE&feature=youtu.be After encasing the chess pieces…

miniFactory has announced the release of a series of technical datasheets that should enable engineers to more easily use their 3D printers. Finland-based miniFactory (not be be confused with London-based 3D model repository MyMiniFactory) has been producing high-end desktop 3D printers for many years. We first saw them in 2013 when they exhibited a device…

You’ve been told time and time again how riding a bike can be beneficial for both the environment and your health. But if you’re not inclined to strap into the pedals for a pedal-pusher first thing in the AM, why not turn to an electrified solution? As Russian online power tool store Kuvalda shows in a…

Everyone needs to relax every now and then, and what better way to do it with some good old-fashioned snooker? But while most people would go to their local bar or arcade, the creators at Tube Unique Wilderness would rather make a pool room of their own. Using nothing but wood, their hands, and some…

It takes a heck of a lot of resources to get a superyacht seaworthy. Serious money, human resources, and time are spent making sure the luxury ships can withstand extreme ocean swells—yet still provide enough comfort for passengers so they can feel safe in what is essentially a floating hunk of metal in the sea.…

Researchers at the Berkeley Lab have developed a technique for 3D printing liquid structures that are reconfigurable. Microscopic Machines The researchers were experimenting with ferro-fluids, which are liquids infused with ferric nanoparticles. These iron oxide particles are only 20 nanometers across, so they are extremely tiny. The liquid was 3D printed into 1mm droplets through…

This tour of MADE Makerspace in Barcelona, Spain was my last stop of jet setting through Europe to learn about HW startup culture there. Watch the video below to take the tour with me, or read on for details! I’d like to give a big thank-you to Oriol Fernandez of “MAking props” for taking the…

If you’ve ever happened upon a raw sheet of aluminum in your workplace, you may not think anything unusual… or that perhaps a piece of scrap escaped from the machine shop. What you may not consider is how the surface can be finished to a near reflective material finish with an array of sanding pads…

On the 3rd installment of “How to Network with HW enginerds in Europe,” we fly to Kiev, Ukraine! (AKA Kyiv, Ukraine.) I only had two days in this city but managed to tour three facilities and pack in four meetings, proving Ukrainians are awesome. In this short visit, I learned a lot of interesting facts…

United States government invests $15 million towards the development of the next generation of metal 3D printing technology and 3D Systems is joining forces for the ambitious metal 3D printing project. Largest Metal 3D Printer This remarkable $15 million contract is officially targeted at work “to create the world’s largest, fastest, most precise metal 3D…

We had a closer look at Velo3D’s amazing metal 3D printing process. In a word, it’s delicious. No Support 3D Printing The company, which operated in complete stealth until just under a year ago, had been secretly developing a powerful metal 3D printing process. Now, we’ve seen up close some of the prints that were…

It’s no secret I love 3D printing, laser cutting, and CNC routing. What I don’t love is all the maintenance and calibration of my own machines or questionable reliability and transit times to other people’s machines. And soooo many software programs — Talk about workflow woes. Hence my piqued interest in the upswell of 3-in-1…

You’ve likely seen your fair share of wacky car ideas on the internet, but have you ever seen tires made out of…saran wrap? The guys over at the Novice Garage let their curiosity get the best of them and recently wrapped the clear-clingin’ stuff around the rear wheels of a dune buggy to see if…

If you’ve ever had the chance to see one in physics class, you may have come across a Ruben’s Tube when learning about acoustic standing waves. For those who haven’t (or need a quick brush-up), a Ruben’s Tube is a hole-riddled hollow tube filled with flammable gas; it shows how normally invisible sound waves and…

nTopology announced a revolutionary new tool for product design, nTop Platform. Generative Design for 3D Printing The tool is a bit challenging to describe, as it is a hyper-mix of functions that are today often found in separate tools and products. But let me try to do so! In the old world, product design followed…

Ever since they announced they would be making customized 3D printed chairs for gamers, IKEA has been slowly entering the gaming peripheral market. Now, in collaboration with UNYQ, a worldwide prosthetic company, and Swedish e-sports company, Area Academy, they are finally working on products which aren’t just meant for setting your bottom on. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLqWQ67OI_A Announced…

Recently, I toured Europe to learn about how hardware startups grew there. Where is the Euro Silicon Valley? How are startups treated there compared to in the U.S.? How does networking, funding and team-building work over yonder? One of my stops was Warsaw, Poland. Here, I’ll share what I learned touring the FabLab powered by…

Close to a year ago, we saw how Big Life Fix was inventing awesome and changing lives. The idea behind the show–finding life-altering solutions to really challenging problems–is just great and I hope you’ve had a chance to catch an episode. But, if you’re like me, you wish you could see a bit more behind-the-scenes…

When it comes to makeup, an extensive color pallet is what the pros are always looking for. Getting hues to match the outfit or creating contrasting and complementing shades to match the mood, are always a challenge. Mink hopes to solve the problem, and brings you the opportunity to 3D print the exact color you…

There’s normal lazy, and then there’s sit-on-a-chair-to-control-a-drone lazy. If piloting a simple rotor drone with a handheld controller seems too taxing for you, researchers from the Simon Fraser University in Canada have you covered with an office chair they’ve converted into a bonafide pressure-sensing drone controller. Flight Chair, as they are calling it, was created…

Here’s a history lesson for you: back in the 1820s, people used to sculpt pictures onto thin, translucent pieces of porcelain. By varying the cuts and placing a backlight behind the material, a clear image could be viewed. And thus “lithophanes” were born. But that was almost 200 years ago. Times they have a’changed and…

Have you ever wondered why food and product visuals look better than what you buy? Well, there are all sorts of tricks and, if it’s not a complete digital rendered/animated recreation, a lot of what you see on screen, box, and billboard is dolled up with fake ingredients and special effects to make them look…

Anisoprint announced a new 3D print material that we have never heard of previously, Composite Basalt Fiber. CONTINUOUS FIBER 3D PRINTING The company is very well-known for their continuous carbon fiber 3D printer, where you are able to insert continuous long strands of very strong carbon fiber into 3D prints. This is very different from…

Polymaker has announced a series of new materials, and showcased some dramatic demonstrations of their capabilities. PETG 3D print made from Polymaker materials Polymaker Engineering Materials The China-based company has been one of the leaders in the 3D printing industry and in developing engineering-grade high-quality 3D printing filaments. They have also come out with some…

3D printers (people) have a bad habit of wasting their print improvement effort on the shiny and new instead of the useful. I get it, I do. 3D printers (machines) are cool, and it’s fun to make them look cool. A big part of the fun is customizing and talking shop about mods. We spend…

Perhaps you know this but there’s a lot of equipment, not to mention sweat and long hours, that goes along with the experience you build as a designer. Pro photographers carry loads of lenses for every situation, pro painters are militant about canvas and bristle count, and 3D pros need their hardware to be just…

3D Platform has produced a rather large 3D printer, the WorkCenter 500 – and the build volume on this beast is substantial, at 1400 x 2800 x 700 mm (55″ x 110″ x 27″), or 2.7 cubic meters (95 cubic feet) of volume. It should be able to accommodate the needs of many large part-makers.…

It was bound to happen at some point, and burning matchstick art is currently having its moment in the spotlight. While we’ve previously seen projects including a 5,000-matchstick chain and a 10,000-stick flaming skull, we’ve never seen something as bonkers (or as flammable) like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8ySPbn_t2Y Earlier this year, burning matchstick art creator Mokso built…

You likely have not heard of Fortify, but you certainly will be hearing a lot more from them in the future. The Boston-based startup, founded by Joshua Martin in 2016 based on his academic thesis, has developed a highly unusual technique to 3D print strongly reinforced objects using magnetic fields in an ingenious manner. They’re…

After nine long years of waiting and watching your favorite characters die untimely deaths, HBO’s Game of Thrones has finally come to an end, and exploring the land of Westeros on television rather than reading it through books holds a special place in every fan’s heart. Dom Riccobene is a product design engineer who proudly…

The world is never short of life-size LEGO vehicles. We’ve seen a static Chevrolet Silverado Pickup Truck, a road-worthy LEGO Bugatti Chiron which can hit a roaring 12 MPH (20 KPH), and now, we have a classic: the Volkswagen Type 2 (T2) Bus or Kombi. For those unfamiliar with the name, the T2 might be…

I know, I know. We go a little LEGO crazy at times, but can you blame us with 400,000 piece VW van projects? You may recall the LEGO Nintendo Switch cartridge carrying case we shared. A simple build, but sometimes you just need a simple one to contrast the complex month-long builds. Reddit user squid50s…

Don’t freak out, but we’ve just learned of a new venture that looks at simplifying access to 3D printed bones: The ADAM Project. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHzhFFfdn2E Led by Vlad Usov, the founder and CEO of Kwambio – a company specializing in ceramic 3D printing and has developed and produced several powerful 3D printers, which create high-quality ceramic…

While Nintendo cashed in on the idea of using cheap cardboard peripherals with the Nintendo Labo for their Switch console, other console manufacturers and third-party companies depend on good old plastic and traditional manufacturing when it comes to expanding video game interfaces for a variety of gameplay styles. One of these interface peripherals that gamers…

Markforged has introduced its latest Onyx material, the flame-retardant Onyx FR. The Boston-based company first made its name with high-strength polymer 3D printing. As with the 3D printing industry in general, though, it seems like lately more spotlight attention has been focused on their metal offerings. Certainly metal is exciting, and Markforged is demonstrably working…

Researchers from Carnegie Mellon and the Missouri University of Science and Technology have developed a method of 3D printing battery components to dramatically increase capacity. There’s great interest in improving battery technology in recent years, due to the ongoing switch from oil to electric power, particularly in vehicle design. Many researchers are investigating a number…

If you have access to a shop, it makes perfect sense to jump at the opportunity to upcycle discarded materials into entirely new designs when creativity strikes. For woodworker Alex Fang, this came in the form of creating a sleek paper tray using scrap wood from his past projects. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tL6V0LQgLC8 After picking out the scraps…

Swedish designer Love Hulténn is no stranger to video game nostalgia. After making countless homages such as a handmade arcade wall cabinet and a glass-encased Nintendo console shrine, one can only wonder how Hultén could top his penchant for the machines of yesteryear. Enter the Yesterday Vision—his latest handmade wooden enclosure built to play emulated…

Purchasing a traditional home may be physical proof that you’ve officially made it as an adult. Making a custom “micro-home” or heated backyard workshop, however, may be physical proof of your dedication to relatively complex weekend projects. During the winter months of 2014, Jim Howard took to his backyard and decided to build his own…

Consider the humble smartphone case for a second. It’s something that many users may not feel an emotional attachment to, but these cases generate billions of dollars per year for large brands who mass produce these “computer bumpers” daily. So how can an independent “smartphone case designer” like Bailey Hikawa make a name for herself…

Researchers have developed an incredibly ingenious new method of 3D printing very strong structures using techniques analogous to nature. Researchers at the University of Southern California were inspired by the material called “nacre”. You haven’t heard of nacre? You probably have, as it is simply the scientific name for “mother of pearl”–the substance mollusks use…

We haven’t heard much from MakerOS over the past couple of years, but they have big news today. If you have not encountered MakerOS, they are a Michigan-based service that provides a number of powerful management functions to design and making communities and industries. Their tagline is: “MakerOS is an end-to-end management platform for your…

If you thought the age-old craft of metalworking couldn’t get any more precise, well think again. In a recent semi-viral Twitter post from Singaporean news service Mothership.sg, engineers demonstrate how to cut metal so precisely that you can’t even see the grooves between the pieces when they are put back together. This manufacturing process is…