Everyone’s getting into the resin 3D printer business. Now Flashforge, a long-time manufacturer of inexpensive and popular desktop 3D printers using plastic extrusion, has shown a resin-based unit they call the “Hunter”. The Hunter follows the style of many comparable units, with a UV-protective translucent cover on the top, so you may observe the 3D printing process in progress. We were told the Hunter includes a “self-made projector”, which differs from many resin-based 3D printers that employ standard, off-the-shelf video projectors. There are very few machines that have a purpose-built projector of their own design in them. The benefit of doing so is the ability to optimize the wavelengths to…

This is right out of the blue. As of today, Carl Bass is no longer CEO of Autodesk. His 10-year stint as the San Fransisco-based company’s leader ends after transitioning the company to the cloud and subscription based product offerings, launching an open hardware platform, overseeing 30+ acquisitions and building Pier 9 workshop to help drive and nurture the passion behind it all. Back in 2006 when Carl took over as CEO of Autodesk, he was named by then-CEO Carol Bartz as her replacement. Carl’s departure sees no new CEO named. Only that day-to-day operations will be overseen by Amar Hanspal, Senior Vice President and Chief Product Officer, and Andrew…

I was always under the impression that I could get away with using an $4 bargain bin cutting board. I own two–a plastic one and another that looks like something similar to wood. They work for a while, but eventually look like they’ve been dragged behind my car–cut, warped, stained and burned. But those end grain, butcher block cutting boards. Mmmmm-hmmm. I could never bring myself to pay the price for what seemed an overpriced slab of sticks, hewn, designed and manufactured like any other, but after watching how Nova Scotia, Canada-based Larch Wood crafts their own, my mind is completely change. https://youtu.be/DYu37-vyMLA Making a butcher block, end grain cutting…

From media streaming centers to touch screen ‘magic’ mirrors, there are seemingly few things that the Raspberry Pi cannot do when put in capable hands. But in the case that you find yourself needing more power for all your DIY hacking sessions, look no further than….Asus? Yes – the same Taiwanese makers of the ZenBook, the ZenPad, and the ZenFone have taken the rocky bush plane into hobbyist territory with the release of the Tinker Board; a direct albeit more powerful competitor to the latest top-of-the-line Raspberry Pi. Featuring a quad-core 1.8GHz ARM Cortex-A17 CPU, 2GB LPDDR3 RAM, four USB 2.0 ports, support for gigabit LAN and Bluetooth 4.0, a…

Use Onshape? Well, there’s a reason why, today, your coffee is tasting especially good, why your underwear seems to fit a little better, and why you don’t have to pretend Onshape has sheet metal tools anymore… because now THEY DO. Onshape just announced sheet metal. They’re out at the Pacific Design and Manufacturing Show where they’re previewing the new sheet metal capabilities currently finishing early visibility testing and landing with the next big update. Apparently, they’re a bit ambitious this year, with this coming right on the heels of another huge feature addition, in context assembly design, which allows you to create and edit parts in the context of other assembly parts, without…

This week’s Spotify-powered SolidSmack Radio Playlist knocks you in the pop sockets with head-boppin’ groove tuneage to help propel you through the work week in style. Whether you find yourself inking markers until they’re dry, grinding material through a bandsaw or working that 3D geometry all day, consider these tracks as a tool for your process. This week we’ll start things off with “Transition” from Atelje and work our way through tracks from Voxtrot, Max Pope, Shady Elders, Ricky Eat Acid, Flake Music and others before wrapping up with “Love Me Tenderly” from The Felice Brothers. Have suggestions? As always, let us know what you listen to, what you want…