Since screaming on to the rapid prototyping scene in 2013, 3D Hubs has been relentless in making sure their message is heard. Billed as the “AirBnB of 3D Printing”, the company’s business model is based on experienced 3D printer technicians renting out their equipment to other users on a per-project-basis. Not surprisingly, the 3D Hubs crew has learned a thing or two about what makes for “good design for 3D printing” — and now, they want to share it with all of us. Released in 2017, The 3D Printing Handbook | Technologies, Design, and Applications was written for design and engineering professionals looking to master the key aspects of 3D printing—from…

Don your favorite bathrobe, cream that coffee and get comfortable with this week’s SolidSmack Weekend Reader. The Weekend Reader features a handful of the most interesting articles featured on the ‘Smack over the past week ranging from tips and tricks to inspirational designs, processes, and more. So lay back, relax and take a load off while reading the top ten stories on SolidSmack this past week. Oh and uh…don’t forget to shed some much-needed sunlight on your face, too. Sketchfab Launches Sketchfab Store, Lets Designers Monetize 3D Models For the entrepreneurial 3D modelers out there, there is no shortage of 3D file marketplaces to generate a nice little bit of…

We’ve said it time and time again, but the Raspberry Pi is just so dang cool and we believe all designers and engineers should have one in their toolkit—if not on their desktop. While there is a bit of a slight learning curve, it’s nothing that today’s designers and engineers can’t handle on a leisurely Saturday. So why not start now? The Raspberry Pi Mastery Bundle includes 8 courses to get started creating your very own Amazon Echo or even a KUKA-like robotic arm for your desktop (how’s that for office bragging rights). Throw in any of your own 3D printed housing designs, and the opportunities are limitless! For a…

Dusk hit, and the whir of a million tiny mechanical feet clinching the rock could be heard for miles around. The cliffs were not ours, but a good cliff isn’t formed out of its desire to be a good cliff. The centuries were ours as well, the time spent carving, the dust, the strange finds, and the endless pursuit to unearth these links. Halil Ural – Blurry, dream-like concepts of large creatures, distant worlds, an array of characters, disturbing scenes and an array of colors that break out of the screen. Tiny Wasteland – Instagram follow of the week. Peter Csakvari’ site where he creates wee little scenes of things that could…

I’m reading more about the concept of “metamaterials”, and believe this is a lot more important than I imagined. What Are Metamaterials? But first, what are metamaterials? They are simply 3D objects that gain their properties from an ingenious internal structures. In other words, an object made of metamaterials may adopt different engineering properties compared with the same object made of the same material without the internal structures. An example would be this lattice, which we’ve written about a lot recently. It’s a section of Carbon’s 3D printed Adidas midsole for their FUTURECRAFT 4D shoes. This lattice is made of a strong material, but the lattice structure allows it to…

Good news for those looking to add 3D capabilities to any device or machine as Intel recently released their RealSense 400 series depth cameras. Both the 415 and 435 cameras are USB-powered, ready to use out of the box and capable of processing depth using the onboard D4 Vision processor, which can process multiple real-time image streams without a GPU or host CPU. Both models work indoors and out, in any lighting environment, and are supported by Intel’s open-source RealSense SDK 2.0, making them ideal for not only developers but makers and educators as well. The hardware for each is nearly identical—with both models featuring a pair of depth sensors,…