While the best (and easiest) ways to keep memories are through writings, photos, and videos, they aren’t quite as creative as what woodworker and filmmaker Frank Howarth has come up with. Taking an ordinary wooden sphere, he engraves a terrain map of Newberry Crater —located in Central Oregon’s Deschutes Forest — onto the wood before encasing the whole thing in resin: Howarth first imports a 3D model of the location into Fusion 360, where he fits the model into a 3.5-diameter sphere and sets the cam paths. Once finished, he uses a tapered bit with a small point to intricately cut the model into the wood. After making a small enclosure…

Researchers have been exploring new concepts for developing metamaterials. Metamaterials are small mechanical structures made from one or more basic materials, but the motions possible in the structure exhibit more complex behaviors. A very simple example might be to 3D print a spiral structure – but at the same time creating a “springy” material. The researchers define metamaterials as: “Metamaterials are artificial materials that derive their unusual properties from their periodic architecture. Some metamaterials can deform their internal structure to switch between different properties.” Multi-Property Metamaterials The research, performed at AMOLF in Amsterdam, examined how to control such microstructures in a more precise manner. In particular, they wished to determine…

Well, the end of the year is rapidly approaching! And if you are an aspiring Onshape CAD user I’ve got an early Christmas present for you! I’ve compiled my SkillCoach Onshape CAD Improvements Mega Resource Pack! Yep, I scoured the Onshape website for every CAD improvement they posted pertaining to modeling tools and techniques that are of interest to folks who develop consumer products, especially us Industrial design types. Contained in this post is my curated list of must-know Onshape features and enhancements. When I started digging around I decided I’d go back and grab the goodies from 2018 and mid-2017 as well. Hence the megapack!Over the course of this…

As purveyors of prime Grade A web content, the SolidSmack crew has done some of the heavy-lifting to make sure you get your Mondays started on the right track. Welcome to The Monday List. Every Monday, we link you up with some of the most insightful, informative, and socially-relevant stories to keep tabbed, bookmarked, reading listed, pocketed, or what have you to get your week started on the right foot. Be sure to check in each week for a new crop of freshly sprouted words curated straight from the source of your favorite homegrown ‘Smack. What We’re Reading This Week: How Chinese Sci-Fi Conquered America The translator Ken Liu has done…

Xomety just keeps on slamming out the hits. Early this week, the US (Maryland) based company, founded in 2013, acquired Germany ( Ottobrunn) based Shift to cement its plan of “growth initiatives, product development and global expansion” with its $50MM in equity funding early in May of 2019. As you (should) know, Xometry has established itself in the US with a slew of on-demand manufacturing capabilities from CNC Machining, Milling, and Turning to Sheet Metal Fab, 3D Printing, and Injection Molding, along with services for finishing and design. Over the years, they built support for and integrations with SOLIDWORKS, CATIA, NX, Inventor, and PTC Creo. They have supply partnerships for…

Industrial giant Siemens acquired Atlas 3D to add to their growing additive manufacturing portfolio. Somehow I missed this in the Formnext Frenzy, but on 12 November Siemens and Atlas 3D announced the Indiana-based startup was to be entirely acquired by Siemens. Sunata Features We’ve followed 3D Atlas for a few years now and were impressed with their Sunata product. Sunata can perform a sophisticated simulation of a metal 3D print in order to understand the thermal distortions while 3D printing a specific geometry. Then, it can re-engineer the design slightly to account for the thermal stresses to ensure that the part is geometrically correct when printed. In other words, if…