Long considered an indispensable asset for anybody working in CAD, the 3D mouse is a quintessential tool that belongs on the desktop of any industrial designer or engineer. Within a 3D application such as SolidWorks, Rhino, Fusion 360, or Keyshot, the directional, zoom and rotate functions provide an intuitive extension of the users’ design intent. To put it quite simply, a 3D mouse helps get rid of those annoying repetitive keystrokes and allows the designer to come as close to possible to holding their digital 3D design in the physical world. As pioneers of the 3D mouse territory, 3Dconnexion has blazed a trail with their SpaceMouse collection. And when it…

Nobody likes walking on the pavement during a hot summer day to discover they’ve just come across—and stepped upon—somebody’s soft discarded bubble gum. Aside from the embarrassment, scrapping the discarded sugar-chew is no easy task. But what if said bubble or chewing gum could be scraped from the streets and converted into an actual shoe? Such is the premise behind the world’s first shoe made from chewing gum—the aptly named Gumshoe. Designed in collaboration with Publicis One, Explicit Wear and Gum-Tec®, the shoe aims to be a “non-preachy” messaging tool to remind Amsterdam folks about the 1.5 million kilos of gum that end up on their streets and sidewalks every…

M3D is well known for their inexpensive desktop 3D printers, but now they’ve added a very different machine to their product line. The new “Crane Quad” system is a full-color desktop 3D printer with a price said to be less than USD$500. Previously the company marketed single or dual extrusion machines that proved very popular, commencing with their initial Kickstarter campaign years ago that netted them a significant amount of business – and cash to expand. Since then the company has smartly leveraged its resources, avoiding the sometimes-fatal market changes that have affected so many other small 3D printer manufacturers. Today M3D is thriving and is one of the largest suppliers…

When you think of mobile workstations, a laptop with a detachable keyboard probably doesn’t pop in your head. In fact, a laptop that converts to a tablet – Well, the majority of 2-in-one laptops are low-power consumer products that, at best, gives you touchscreen capability and web access in a pinch. HP, however, has reached deep and introduced a 2-in-1 laptop truly made for professionals–the HP ZBook x2. HP provided one to take a spin, so let’s have a look. OVERVIEW When the new HP Z-class workstations were announced last year, they were turning heads. The design was different, no doubt–sleek, angular and sporting a new logo–but the upgrade options were enough to…

As many a designer or engineer knows, there’s no better way to learn than to jump in and get messy. Heck, that’s why the best way to learn a complicated CAD tool isn’t to read a book, but to get your hands dirty and make mistakes. Only then will your brain start to program the rights from the wrongs. Well, that same approach can be applied to just about anything—but off the top of our heads, we’re digging this project-based approach to Arduino consisting of 15 complete projects to get you on your way to becoming an Arduino ninja in no time. At just $9, this 15-project Arduino Bootcamp bundle…

Those wood parts won’t smooth themselves! But how often do you spend wrestling a piece of sandpaper around weird edges—only to be left with a half-crooked and totally botched result? There’s a remedy for that — and we can’t recommend it enough. The Preppin’ Weapon sanding block is a workshop necessity that lets users load sandpaper and adjust tension quickly and easily. And while just one Preppin’ Weapon sanding block will go a long way in your process, arming yourself with a four-pack for four different levels of grit will take it to another level—no need to stop and reload! For power users, the Preppin’ Weapon also lets you stack…