In FAB

GMax Super Size 3D Printer Blows by Goal, Offers More (including this Makeraser?)

3 Mins Read

The story of Gordon LaPlante may have started out similar to many other maker/tinkerer/Ima-gonna-start-my-own-3d-printer-company types. Tearing apart mechanized contraptions at an early age to determine their inner workings seems the prerequisite foundation–rebuilding, revising and improving on shortcomings to reuse the parts or make it twice as gooder than it was before. The gMax 3D Printer created by Gordon does that mightily, providing a massive 16″ x 16″ x 9″ (2,304 cubic in) build volume at a price you won’t believe.

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In RADIO

SolidSmack Radio | Tiger in Your Tank

1 Min Read

This week’s Spotify-powered SolidSmack Radio Playlist brings an entirely new face-smack of great music to help propel you through those laborious, tedious design tasks for the next few days. This week we’re heading down South to pull out some old Delta Blues favorites. We’ll start things off on the right foot with some mellow Muddy Waters and his Louisiana Blues before moving through some Big Bill Broonzy, R.L. Burnside, Smoky Babe, and others before wrapping up with the classic Black Snake Moan from the one and only Blind Lemon Jefferson.

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In FAB

Jix Building Kit Connects Drinking Straws Into Furniture and Usable Objects

2 Mins Read

The last time I used straws to make something other than a spitball shooter had to have at least been in primary school when we were tasked with building a bridge as part of our civil engineering curriculum. Besides being used as an educational tool, we’ve seen some innovative uses for drinking straws in the form of ‘green’ products and various DIY projects, but we’ve been yet to see a LEGO-esque building kit that has a unique connector system and design-forward aesthetic. The recently-released Jix kit from NYC product designer Patrick Martinez aims to put all those straws you’ve got laying around to good use—like aiding you in building a sub-$20 desk for example.

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In 3D CAD TECH

3DConnexion Ditches the Cord, Releases First Wireless 3D Mouse

5 Mins Read

Have you ever walked the hallways dangling portable 3D mice from your arms like a raging super villain who can expel them from beneath the skin as an effective attack mechanism? I knew you have. This may even less of an occurrence now as the wee, corded 3DConnexion SpaceMouse is shedding its ties to the tethered world of wire and sheath, slipping on a micro-USB receiver, 2.4 GHz wireless technology and a rechargeable battery–you bad little mousy. Here are the explicit details.

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