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. Announced by…

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. 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 highly unusual 3D printing materials, and now…

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: Earlier this year, burning matchstick art creator Mokso built a…

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. 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 objects.…

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. After picking out the scraps that…

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…

In this modern age of everything-looks-the-same DIY furniture, it makes sense that some people want to make something unique to stand out from their friends’ IKEA apartment fixtures. While you could spend hours searching a thrift store for something out of the ordinary, the best way to find something one of a kind is to…well,…

Many kids are told to never play with mud. In the case of a team of designers from London’s Royal College of Art, however, playing with mud is a foundation for making the world a better place. Bauxite residue, also known as “red mud,” is a byproduct of the creation of aluminum. By refining bauxite…

A Girls 3D Print Club in Cincinnati, Ohio helps highlight STEM opportunities for students. GE Additive’s dedication to education is helping students of all ages gain access to 3D printing. Jessica Hughes of Hyde Park School is a teacher who is herself dedicated to that same mission. One of the early participants in the Additive…

Researchers at MIT have developed yet another unusual metamaterial, and this one is simply hair. We’ve seen some experiments in 3D printed hair previously, but those were essentially for fun and artistic merit. Those experiments used extrusion movements to pull strands from the nozzle, leaving thin and flexible hair-like structures that could be rearranged at…

While most people outgrow making model airplanes at an early age, others soldier on well into their adult lives; even going so far as to create a sport out of it. Airplane modeling began as early as 1871, where a Frenchman named Alphonse Penaud invented a rubber band-powered airplane. Though it would be more than…

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…