It may not be your favorite shop accessory, but a sturdy pair of safety glasses is an absolutely critical piece of kit. Whether running a 2 x 4 through the table saw or simply sanding the final edges of a model, the last thing you need is dust in your eyes or worse—something much larger. Which is why we love the Classic Safety Glasses from SAS Safety. These no-bull safety glasses feature durable impact resistant polycarbonate 99.9% UV-resistant lens and offer additional protection with temple covers. Lightweight and comfortable with just the right amount of ‘Shop Boss’ style, you can’t go wrong with these no matter what gets thrown at…
3D printing in color can be costly. Given how much time and resources spent upfront, having a failed print isn’t exactly as easy to deal with as printing a 2D color picture incorrectly. MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL)’s new ColorFab method (not to be confused with printing filament company ColorFabb) doesn’t aim to make the process easier, but it does help to reduce the cost of printing the same object in another color. Unlike just about any other additively manufactured object, ColorFab uses specialized 3D ink which changes color when exposed to UV light, effectively allowing you to change the appearance of 3D objects after they’re printed.…
Get that stretch out of your system with this week’s Spotify-powered SolidSmack Radio Playlist. It’s fashioned up, ready to make you pull your shoulder blades back and knock out another week of meaningful work while you bob your head to the beat. Whether you’re in the shop milling aluminum, sketching the latest product prototypes or modeling up a 3D storm, consider these tracks as a tool for your process. This week we’ll get the groove going with “Weapon of Choice – Set Mo Remix Edit” from Fatboy Slim before diving into sweet melodies from Nightmares on Wax, Radiator Hospital, Young Hunting, Dawg Yawp, Summer Camp, and others before wrapping up…
On Tuesday, February 6th, SpaceX elbowed history in the neck bone with the test launch of Falcon Heavy, the most powerful rocket ever launched. At an estimated cost of 90 million (150 million at most) and the ability to push 141,000 lbs beyond our atmosphere, it’s putting space exploration back on everyone’s mind. And, no doubt, it’s going to inspire many an engineer. Engineers like Lance Skelly, a Mechanical and Structural Draughtsman who runs thingimajigs.com. He knew anyone who is cool enough to freak the flip out over a Tesla Roadster being fired into space at over 18,000 mph would appreciate a 3D model of the spacecraft. So, he made…
Start-up capital has been a pain point—and roadblock—for many brilliant ideas that never end up seeing the light of day. Considering how costly software tools alone can be, it’s no surprise that some innovators refrain from moving forward at all knowing what they’re up against before even having a prototype in hand. Both Siemens and design collaboration platform Launch Forth know CAD creators can’t live up to their full potential when their tools aren’t up to par, so they decided to provide an exclusive version of Siemens Solid Edge software to 185,000 Launch Forth members. Seeing as the SaaS (software as a service) platform’s goal is to harness crowdsourcing and…
While there used to be a painful shortage of inspirational design sketching books out there, these days, design students and those looking to refresh their skill set may, in fact, have too many to choose from. The good news is, there’s something different to learn from each—so go ahead and build out that library. Among other design sketching book favorites, we love the broad variety of sketching styles presented in Sketching. While the book is ideal for any design student or classroom, many professionals and design studios will also likely learn a thing or two from the wide variety of sketching styles and form examples presented within the book’s 256…