It is hard to disagree that when Swiss quality meets German precision, great things happen. Take the case when Thorsten Franck put the Delta Tower printer to good use in a project called 7DAYS7STOOLS. One of the objectives of this project was to find a new way of production for real objects in human scale.…

…and the flood of desktop 3D printers keeps on coming. MakerBot, Stratasys and FormLabs are just a few of the models to hit the market over the years and even large corporations such as Autodesk and Hewlett-Packard are getting ready to release their own. Another large corporation, Roland DG, has recently announced their foray into…

The 5AXISMAKER puts a mill, 3D scanner, 3D printer, water cutter and wire cutter into one desktop box.
Changing the machines function is done through a simple head swap, making it both easy and versatile.

Having worked out considerably well for Local Motors, the crowdsourced design business model is certainly something on the radar of companies in other industries. The approach not only stirs up new ideas for a manufacturer, but also allows inspired users to fix whatever shortcomings they might see with an existing user experience…not a bad trade.…

Earlier this year SolidSmack reported on ‘Print the Legend’, a feature-length documentary that focused on the 3D printing revolution and what has become of it. Starting today, the film will be available on Netflix as one of their ‘Netflix Original’ documentaries. The film focuses on the rise of consumer-friendly 3D printer manufacturers MakerBot and Formlabs…

3D printers are great for making personalized object designs, but they typically don’t allow for customization while augmenting design parameters on the fly. This becomes a problem for those who want to design customized items such as personalized face masks, jewelry or irregular-sized parts for ‘not-quite-right’ projects. Norwegian-based software company Uformia is looking to solve…

3D printers rely on the input of G-code to print CAD-based models layer by painstaking layer over what seems an inordinate period of time. These slicer apps are inherently ‘non-customizable,’ meaning you cannot manipulate the extrusion thickness of the material being deposited or vary the deposition path along the printer’s X, Y and Z-axis. Simply…

3D printing and CAD software couldn’t function without each other, they go together like a match made in pythonOCC. As 3D printing continues to build its freight train like momentum for home users and hobbyists, so too does the adoption of CAD software that can be both expensive and difficult to master. Software such as…

With over 60,000 people in attendance last year, MAKE Magazine’s World Maker Faire NYC is more than just a science fair now; it’s a full-blown circus. The annual gathering of tinkerers, hackers, DIYers and those that love them had another successful year this past weekend thanks to good weather and a growing list of ‘Makers’…

As the market for 3D printing grows exponentially each year, so does the demand for those who are professionally-trained in developing three-dimensional objects outside of iPad apps and cookie cutter mesh-mixers. The number of job ads alone that require additive manufacturing and 3D printing skills has increased 1,834% in the last four years and over…

There are several reasons why Andrey Rudenko would have wanted to print his own 3D Castle – he wanted his own backyard kingdom and rule all Makerbots, or perhaps something as simple as revolutionizing the construction industry. We caught up with this interesting man, to get under his skin and understand why a 3D Castle…

Most desktop 3D printers used by hobbyists, such as RepRap and MakerBot, manufacture objects using the ABS ‘extrusion’ method, which is great for producing objects at resolutions at 100 microns on average (like the Replicator 2). While there is nothing wrong with making objects at that resolution, sometimes projects require increased resolutions that those printers…

If you’re familiar with Shapeways, chances are you’ve heard of Shapeways’ Designer Evangelist Duann Scott. The enthusiastic spokesman for the popular on-demand 3D printing service is not only a great voice for the 7-year old company, but also for the small world of 3D printing in general. On Shapeways, Duann describes himself as a Product…

As one of the easiest way to have an uninterrupted, fluid 3D printing experience, the FLEKS3D Build-Plate System is a designer’s dream come true. The design resolves 3 major issues with 3D printing, namely – getting the printed object off the build-plate with ease, getting us a good grip on the build-plate for no warping…

As the landscape of 3D printers has grown exponentially in the past few years, so have the number of options for printable materials. With options ranging from carbon fiber to flexible plastics, you would be hard-pressed to not find a suitable option for your next prototype or other 3D printing project. But what if there…

A tear falls on the molten plastic heap outside the confines of the 3d printer base. The print bed is too small. It’s sadness that creeps in at times, leaving us to scale down or chop up our designs. “But the model has already been created as a single, solid piece!” More tears. There’s a…

While we’ve seen quite the gamut of ‘3D printed ceramics’ over the past few years, few executions ever explored the possibility of adding detail to each individual extruded layer. Aiming to create 3D printed ceramic pieces that more closely resembled historic and detailed artifacts rather than a layered Play-Doh bowl, Dutch artist Oliver van Herpt…

As they say, there are two sides to the same coin; one side allows us to unleash our creative instincts and tap into the limitless possibilities of 3D printing and on the other side we have the wicked minds who can use it to abuse their power of imagination. The possibility of increasing theft via…

Almost exactly a month ago, SolidSmack reported that popular toymaker Hasbro would be teaming up with Shapeways to offer My Little Pony fans (AKA Bronies) the option to 3D print and sell their own creations based on the Hasbro-owned content via their new(ish) SuperFanArt platform. As we predicted, the experimental move into user-created licensed content…

It’s 2AM, your 3D printer sits amid scraps of shredded blue tape, you’re trailing Kapton on your shoe, and you’ve just sprayed yourself in the face with your Aquanet hair spray. Sound familiar? I’ve been there. Fortunately, you’ve got options, one of which is BuildTak. BuildTak is a layer of plastic backed with heat resistant adhesive. It…

When appreciating a furniture design, it’s easy to overlook the environmental impact of the various materials said design is made of including a frame, foam, padding, pillows, covers…and not to mention an oftentimes extremely large cardboard box loaded with foam or other packing material. Oh yeah—then there is the transport, too. Furniture is notoriously hard…

Since announcing support for 3D printing directly withinin Photoshop earlier this year, Adobe has been focusing on enhancing the popular photo-editing software to be an even more powerful 3D content creation tool. In a blog post from Adobe released late last week, the go-to software company for legions of designers announced that they will be…

Being touted as “a revolution in consumer 3D printing”, the newly-announced Solidoodle Press is Solidoodle’s answer for those seeking a true plug-and-play machine in a sleek and space-saving enclosed package. With the goal of creating a seamless user experience for the consumer 3D printer market, the Press includes a re-engineered internal setup that makes the…

3D printed food is nothing new…however the desire to eat something extruded out of cables and wires is still something that most people haven’t quite wrapped their heads around yet. Despite this food innovation hump, the move to create on-demand food is still pushing forward on a seemingly weekly basis with applications ranging from providing…

Mechanical creature. Those are the words you usually include in such phrases as, “Do my bidding, mechanical creature!” Or, “Touch me and you’ll face the wrath of my mechanical creature!” It’s also the answer to the age-old question, “What can we build that will totally awe geeks and scare the spit out of thier children?”…

As the sweat beads drip across my sun-scorched face, my mouse hand quivers and cracks in the cruel dry heat. “This was a bad plan.” I think to myself. “Setting up an outdoor office in the middle of the Mojave looked good on paper, but the reality is rather different.” If only I’d been wearing my bracelet, this never would have happened.

Add this to the list of jaw-droppingly awesome things that a student did for a school project. For his final project at the Royal Academy of Art, Nigerian-American industrial designer Oluwaseyi Sosanya has created a 3D weaving machine that can theoretically redefine what it means to produce soft goods and clothing. The patent-pending 3D Weaver…

Perhaps inspired by MakerBot’s recent addition of Sesame Street-branded content into their Thingiverse 3D model-sharing platform, Shapeways and Hasbro have teamed up to offer branded My Little Pony content to those willing to fork up to $100 for one of the bright and colorful accessories. Operating under the site SuperFanArt (on a side note…you couldn’t…

You may remember Dutch designer Jolan Van der Wiel’s Gravity Stool when it hit the internets a couple years ago. His unique take on the centuries-old seating design used the simple concept of magnets to sculpt the stool upwards rather than turning, blow molding, injection molding, or any other fabrication method seen thus far. The…

We can almost hear the ‘whys’ coming our way, but if you look at it from the creator – Deena Khattab’s perspective – a 3D printed pinhole camera contraption for the iPhone, sounds like a great idea. The background is that this was Deena’s first 3D printing project and iPhone is a passion, so it…

Shapeways and Google’s new Made with Code initiative thinks that the best way to make young girls ditch girlie stuff for learning codes is by inspiring them to create 3D bracelets, style a #selfie, learn how to animate GIF, design 2D Avatars and other cool stuff by coding them from scratch. The whole mission sounds…

As any true-blood designer, you never want to be too far away from your iPad and software apps to tide your sudden bursts of inspirations. Morphi is one such app that you’d want to download asap. Inspired by the UI of a TouchScreen, the app gives you access to libraries of unique 3D shapes, texts…

It’s common knowledge that 28% of people printed in ABS cauliflower blue, prefer to be smacked with savings on a daily basis. Fortunately, the extruders have aligned and our good friends over at Mediabistro Inc. have 1) announced the program for the Melbourne, Australia Inside 3D Printing Conference and Expo and 2) are providing SolidSmack…

Virginia Tech students are lucky to have easy access to the DreamVendor, an interactive 3D printing station. Think of it as your 3D Printing Vending Machine, where instead of putting in cash for a pack of chips, you put in an SD card that contains 3D printer code and dispense out a 3D part.

Aiming to be the ‘One-Stop Shop’ for all your 3D printing needs, iMakr has been met with an enthusiastic response since opening their first store in London in 2013. Since the opening, they have expanded their online store to include everything from an expansive range of 3D printers to fit any budget as well as…

It is the most important question that you want to pop, but will a 3D Printed Ring make the cut? Will it create excitement or disaster? There are two ways you can look at the first ever Nervous System diamond engagement ring. Cheap Bastard or OMG – Sentimental Fool Creative Genius – I love you…

I know, I know. After The Objet 1000 video, there was a hole in your soul that could only be filled by oddly informative, yet disturbing videos delivering the future of 3d printing in oddly informative, yet disturbing ways (emphasis on disturbing). While it lacks the sing-along qualities we desire, this new 3D Systems video…

It’s almost as if we can hear Chef Gordon Ramsey bellowing at the participant who dared to experiment with molecular gastronomy and 3D Printing Fruits! In the name of marrying technology with necessity, we know that NASA is exploring the possibilities of food printing for their missions in space, so is it really necessity that…

We’re always talking about the future of design, the future of technology, the future of MAKING. In a world where makeup can be customized and 3D printed in a user’s home, a world where umbrellas can be used as a crowdsourcing tool for real-time weather data, how do we find the next ‘big thing’? MakerGalaxy…

When the concept of a ‘3D Printing Pen’ launched a little over a year ago, it was met with equal parts “this is just freakin’ awesome” and “what the heck should I do with this thing?” Design visualization specialist, aerial cinematographer, Maker and all-around mad genius Matt Quest has created what is sure to go…

Since its launch in 2006 in San Mateo, California, the Bay Area Maker Faire has been the premiere event for makers, DIYers, hackers, and anybody with an interest in making things real. With everything from soldering clinics to a 3D printing village, it’s hard to leave the event feeling uninspired to get that wacky side…

Look out Stratasys. Look out ‘lil ol’ 3D Systems. Mama Autodesk is coming to hardware town, and bringing a truckload of open-platform 3D printed fury with them. Today, it was confirmed in a blog post that Autodesk is entering the hardware market and will be releasing their first 3D printer. It’s not only a 3D…

Scott Hudson of the Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University and Disney Research has created a way of using additive manufacturing to fabricate three-dimensional objects from wool and wool blend yarn. Similar to traditional ‘hard material’ 3D printers, this technique uses a CAD model to build up layers except for in this case, the…

The evolution of the water kettle has seen it grow from the unassuming thermos flasks to the present day electric versions. While flasks are more portable, they don’t keep the contents warm for a long period and conversely, electric kettles consume more power, can’t be used on the go but do the job more effectively.…

When it comes to the iPhone, we have seen some crazy things happen in the past. Right from technology blog Gizmodo daring to toe the line with the mighty Steve Jobs, to the latest rumors on the iPhone 6. Predictably, the industry is abuzz with speculations and as reliable sources from MacRumor and MacFan spill…

We have already reported on Project Ara, Google’s Modular Phone here, so building a layer on the story, today we look at why this phone is a good idea. Last month, Google hosted its first Project Ara developer’s conference and gave out more information on the project. Presently, the Advanced Technologies and Products (ATAP) team…

Marketing and 3D printing have been going hand-in-hand quite nicely in recent memory (and why not?). Whether using additive manufacturing as a self-promotional tool or as a way to make custom Oreo cookies, it serves as a good reminder just how custom we can get with manufacturing these days. The innovative indie rock band Broken…

Between the recent developments in creating 3D printed houses, replicas of T-Rex museum displays and even carbon fiber race car parts, the limits of additive manufacturing are being pushed daily. In the past, 3D printers were commonly used for creating prototypes and one-offs in the product development process. Today however, everybody from middle school students…

Artist, Designer and Inventor Joshua Harker (yes, he of Crania Anatomica Filigre fame) is at it again with an all-new Kickstarter campaign. After having raised over $75,000 for his 3D printed skull–which is still the most-funded sculpture project ever on Kickstarter–Harker is exploring new territory with the goal to help raise funds towards developing next-generation…

Printoo gives you the luxury of creating paper-thin, flexible, Arduino-compatible units that sync with your creative streak. The technology used here is simple and the process to make successful DIY projects is easy. All it requires from your end is a little bit of resourcefulness. Then, powered-up anything from Balloon Blimps to 3D printed objects…