If you’re looking for a video game to play with friends or your kids, Rocket League is a great way to remove stress, bond with them, and crush them in race to the finish intensity. It’s basically soccer only, instead of football players, you’re controlling a virtual RC car which can double jump and rocket…
When working on a project for a client, designer Eric Strebel likes to help out his fellow man by dropping some of his own modelling tips and tricks along the way. He’s already showed us how to create casting boxes, approximately a hundred cast parts from scratch, and his personal process for low volume manufacturing.…
If you thought 3D printing an entire jet engine was a ambitious task, you aren’t thinking big enough… at least as far as size is concerned. 3D printed houses have been attempted in various ways, but we’ve been keeping our eye on what non-profit organization New Story and for-profit construction firm ICON is doing. They…
It’s always nice to see well-designed creations built from relatively cheap materials. With a little ingenuity and (in some cases) a lot of hard work, you don’t need a fortune to craft something worthy of a showroom floor. Among others, master builder Mike Clifford recently proved this with his homemade white glass-fiber reinforced concrete (GFRC)…
YouTube user kiwami japan has a bit of an odd obsession with making homemade blades and other weapons from obscure and unusual materials. Case in point. This knife wasn’t made from a hard-to-find metal, but from a roll of aluminum foil you likely have stashed in your cupboard to wrap a sandwich or make tin…
You know what’s more satisfying to watch than a thousand soda cans being crushed? Seeing them get turned into solid blocks of pure aluminum bliss. After consuming an unhealthy amount of soda products, Ben from PressTube decides to crush and melt the cans into reusable aluminum ingots (which can be used as bricks for a…
From simple song requests to complicated trivia questions (not to mention painlessly ordering new bubble gum), the Amazon Echo Dot is undoubtedly a fun little gadget to have around. But for some, the minimalist Roomba-like puck design could use a little work in the TLC department. Baard Fleistad has always wanted a gramophone of his…
A French company, Bombyx Prod, has devised a different way to provide 3D print services to manufacturers. The problem being attacked here is the low-volume production market. This market exists because there are those who require smaller volumes of products than would otherwise justify the expense of setting up a traditional manufacturing line. Several 3D print…
On March 9th, 2018, mHUB in Chicago celebrated surviving its first year and it’s showing a strong start to its 2nd. A product of Chicago’s rich manufacturing history, mHUB refers to itself as a “manufacturing and physical product innovation center”. It provides incubator-type resources, fabulous and expensive prototyping equipment & software, and coworking spaces. Their 1st…
You know Eric Strebel likes to show you how to make stuff, right? Did you also know he’s a science fiction fan. Upon watching a movie involving a magical, glowing amulet (which narrows the potential number of films down to about a thousand), he felt inspired to create his own wearable glowing rock – one…
This could be a very big idea: 3D Hybrid Solutions announced a system to convert everyday CNC machines into powerful 3D metal printers. The startup company, based in Los Angeles, offers add-on hardware that could become a tool in a multi-tool metal CNC machine. Typical competent metal CNC machines today offer the ability to mill…
As plastic continues to pollute our oceans and overtake our landfills at an all-time high, it’s clear that to reverse the effects of a potentially unlivable planet; it’s up to consumer product manufacturers to take matters into their own hands. Along with Nike and Apple—both of whom are spending billions to try to reverse the…
With their rickety structures, questionable harness systems, and lack of insurance waivers to sign, wooden roller coasters offer daredevils a glimpse at death from the (relative) safety of a fast-moving cart. While most modern roller coasters are built of metal, there are still some amusement parks that stick to the tried-and-true method of making thrilling…
Most professional and amateur filmmakers and photographers have probably used a camera dolly at some point for everything from time-lapse imaging to creating smooth horizontal camera movements. Suffice it to say, those dollies can be costly depending on the rig, which is why some creative aficionados decide to build their own, which is precisely what…
Call me surprised, but Ultimaker is moving ahead rapidly. The company embarked on a tricky strategic change a couple of years ago and now it seems to be paying off with a blockbuster announcement from Bosch. The giant manufacturer has agreed to equip their worldwide offices with Ultimaker 3D printers. This could amount to thousands…
Homemade weapons have come a long way since the traditional slingshot. Since nearly everyone, their dog, and old aunt Emma now has access to a 3D printer and the internet, more designs for must-have office battle weaponry are poppin’ up like inflamed nostrils. Case in point: this devilishly deceptive mini-crossbow. Created by Etsy user Edwards for…
You know the book you’re reading is excellent when it escapes your imagination and enters the reality. Fan fiction, cosplay, recreations – these are just a few ways fans show their (sometimes creepy) appreciation for fictional worlds made up by an author. But Zack Mclaughlin is more than just a fan – he’s an illustrator…
We’ve heard a lot about “personal” 3D printing in the past, but perhaps it’s time for “personalized” 3D printing. By “personal” 3D printing, I mean the ownership of a 3D printer and production of objects for personal use. This was, and probably still is, the vision for consumer-based 3D printing. While there was a great…
I’m reading more about the concept of “metamaterials”, and believe this is a lot more important than I imagined. What Are Metamaterials? But first, what are metamaterials? They are simply 3D objects that gain their properties from an ingenious internal structures. In other words, an object made of metamaterials may adopt different engineering properties compared…
Pencils haven’t changed much over the last century, at least not for the General Pencil Company, one of the last pencil manufacturing companies in the US. While they do use conveyors and other machine shop tools, the pencils crafted there are still made by hand and have been done this way since the company opened…
At CES last week, I noticed something interesting at the T3D booth. If you recall from our previous stories, T3D is a 3D printing startup that produces a clever desktop 3D printer that re-uses your own smartphone as the printing engine. The T3D mobile desktop 3D printer uses a resin process to create solid objects. Photopolymer resin is…
It turns out that Microsoft has now officially ceased production of their popular 3D sensor, the Kinect. What does this mean for 3D printing? The Kinect’s purpose originally had nothing whatsoever to do with 3D printing; it was designed as a method for Microsoft’s gaming console system, the XBox, to have an unusual input method.…
The web-based version of SketchUp is now official. Trimble’s SketchUp is a very popular 3D modeling tool that is used worldwide. I believe a large component of its popularity is due to the fact that for a time Google-owned SketchUp before it was sold off to France-based Trimble, who has managed the product since then.…
First used to carry items in nomadic times, then later sold as a way to sustain life, woven baskets have played a critical role in the history of human culture across all continents. While we may not have a massive need for them anymore, the craft of making woven baskets from scratch is still very…
Back in the summer of 2016, MillRight CNC burst onto the scene with their surprisingly affordable M3 desktop CNC machine ($299 for the kit)–a barebones setup which featured an MDF frame, NEMA 17 stepper motors, a modest 10.25″ x 10.25″ (260mm x 260mm) work area and powered by an Arduino Uno control board. Consequently, the company…
A 3D printer manufacturer has a new application target: foam! Foam, you ask? Everyone is familiar with foam, as it’s been around for decades. Foam has been traditionally produced with a chemical reaction process: resins are mixed that produce countless small bubbles. These bubbles become fixed when the resin solidifies shortly thereafter. Foam is incredibly…
You’d never realize flooring was such an important factor in a living space until it isn’t there. Stepping things up from self-made toys and coasters, Good Works Studio is using 3D printing to do more than profit. The Houston-based company comprised of Scott Key and Sam Brisendine has a mission to relieve unnecessary suffering for…
When it comes to zany, off-the-wall projects that actually work, it takes a lot for Colin Furze to outdo himself—yet, the ingenious (and ballsy) garage inventor from Stamford Lincolnshire in the UK may have finally done it. In celebration of the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi this week, Furze partnered with eBay to…
Formlabs announced a new “color kit” for their equipment. The company has marketed resin-based desktop 3D printers for years now, but until recently had a rather limited selection of resins. At the beginning they had only a standard utility resin available in grey and clear colors. Times have changed; Formlabs now offers a wide variety…
Industrial designer Eric Strebel is at it again – this time with a how-to guide on making reusable mold boxes for casting silicone or urethane parts. Eric has already skipped the boring part and cut the pieces out, so it’s just a matter of predrilling the sides to prevent the wood from splitting. He overlaps…
Created in 1998 by the now-defunct Tiger Electronics to be a demon furball companion to children, the infamous Furby saw widespread success before being repurposed by countless modders. Among others, Zach Levine, an electronics enthusiast at howchoo.com, has taken a 1998 Furby and outfitted it with some modern upgrades. He replaced the original Furby’s processor…
When 3D printing arrived, the public waited to see how it would change the world. While no major changes can be noted yet, as the cost of 3D printing drops and it slowly enters the mainstream market, businesses revolving around the technology are beginning to appear. By blurring the line between producers and consumers, and…
Before you get to work on the final product of your design, it’s in your best interests to make a prototype first, right? Of course. You’ll have a physical sample to test and abuse, plus you can adjust the aesthetics of the design without worrying about the cost. We’ve covered plenty about 3D printing, but…
Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos aren’t the only renegades out there building rockets. “Mad” Mike Hughes is a 61-year-old limo driver who apparently has had enough of driving on land and has set his sights to the stars. The ‘Flat-Earther’ has spent the past few years using his self-taught knowledge of rocket science to create…
Despite the onslaught of VR 3D modeling apps, there aren’t a lot of ways to use a tablet and a spoon-like device to make the process more awkward. Fortunately, Kickstarter has brought us one. The Yeehaw Wand might look like any ol’ spoon of colorful mosaic tiles, but it’s actually an electronic sculpting paddle that…
When it comes to smuggling contraband, criminals have developed some very creative ways over the years. This method, in particular, is far more outlandish than a stealth submarine or a pack mule: a makeshift bazooka consisting of a tubular mechanism and a compressor, along with 203 marijuana packages weighing a total of 1,800 pounds, has…
Something quite interesting was observed at the recent FormNext exhibition. This year’s FormNext was indeed the largest dedicated exhibition of 3D printing equipment, materials, and services ever held in human history, with 420 exhibitors and over 20,000 attendees. However, I noticed something very interesting when compared to the same show last year. This year there…
In other robotic and A.I. advancement news, robots aren’t just becoming all-terrain, hazard-traversing back-flipping machines; now they can play musical instruments just about as good as mathematically-precise humans, too. Nigel Stanford, an ambient dance/ electronic musician, has repurposed a number of robotic arms for his newest album, Automatica. Designed and manufactured by KUKA, the robotic…
Plagued by a loss of his Native American identity, booze, and drugs, Master carver Wayne Price was once a drifter who no longer had a connection to his warrior spirit. Today, the Tlingit wood carver from Haines, Alaska calls upon thousands of years of his ancestry in the form of wood carving to help both…
Electricity does way more than light up your home and toast your Pop Tarts; it’s raw power which, when improperly used, can lead to some extremely dangerous—and highly entertaining—science experiments. The guys at Photonicinduction know this all too well. Their YouTube channel is filled with videos of overpowered transformers being used on everyday objects. In…
Washington DC is not known for a being a manufacturing town, which is why I was so surprised when I first heard that TechShop was opening a location here in Spring 2014. When I went on a tour I was smiling ear to ear in wide-eyed disbelief. Had I won a golden ticket? How is…
We’ve just done a quick test of a new 3D model repair tool, CUR3D Maker Edition. The need for 3D model repair tools has never been higher, with the number of 3D printers increasing rapidly around the world. 3D printers and their software typically treat poorly formed 3D models in a bad way, often resulting…
4-Mation Is A Series of 3D Modular Zoetropes With Swappable Animations Before the introduction of film and movies, pre-animation devices like zoetropes presented a glimpse into the future of moving images. Using a series of paintings or drawings in different phases of animation, a person could paint the illusion of an object (or objects) in…
Who could ever dislike Mario? The virtual plumber has been capturing the hearts of gamers worldwide since his first appearance in the 1981 classic, Donkey Kong, and has become synonymous with the video game industry as a whole. To celebrate the mustachioed mascot’s newest game on the Nintendo Switch, YouTube user TheDominoKing spent the last…
Cardboard generally isn’t the first material that comes to mind when discussing sculptures, models, and prototypes—but legions of designers and artists have shown us otherwise. From quick and dirty product models to functional skateboards, it’s difficult to imagine what can’t be made with a little creativity. More recently, artist James Lake has been slicing and…
AstroPrint is on a roll. They’re announcing the release of another app today that does two things for 3D printing. Toy Maker is a free app that 1) introduces kids to the world of 3D printing and 2) introduces developers to the capabilities of AstroPrint’s Cloud platform. Toy Maker On the surface, the Toy Maker app is…
3Devised is about to launch their new “PLUTO” desktop 3D printer on Kickstarter. The machine is resin-powered and uses the “top-down” approach, unlike almost every other SLA-style 3D printer, which tends to illuminate (usually with lasers) through the bottom of a transparent tank. Instead, the PLUTO fires its light downwards onto the (hopefully) flat and…
No matter what anyone says, machines will never fully replace humans in the food chain. Having a human supervisor on hand beats out a cold, robotic heart any day. The guys at Sarcos Robotics aren’t trying to make manual labor obsolete. In fact, their newest creation requires a human helping hand. The Guardian GT is…
This could be big news for 3D printing of all types: iMakr intends on opening up 40 new 3D print retail shops across the globe. It’s actually a franchise arrangement, whereby local entrepreneurs can gain iMakr’s expertise, brand and processes for deployment in a regional setting. This leverages the experience iMakr has gained over the…
If you were not paying attention to AstroPrint, the startup that changed the pains of makin’ with their 3D printing software and wireless capability, then you’ll want to take notice of what they’ve been up to lately. AstroPrint has had a string of product launches this month. AstroPrint Mobile First, they announced the public unveiling of AstroPrint Mobile, their…
