A team of scientists led by Professor Lee Cronin of the University of Glasgow have developed 3D printed “reactionware” that can make particular chemicals based solely on the geometry of the design and the chemicals within the constituent printing materials.
Dirk Vander Kooij, winner of the 2011 Dutch Design Award, has developed a very elegant solution to all that trash sitting around. YES, you know where I’m going with this. Why should it be sitting around, when it could be doing something useful. Like being sat upon?
Hollywood seems to have a love/hate relationship with 3D Printing. And who doesn’t love/hate Hollywood? Daniel Terdiman at CNET wrote a piece called “Why Hollywood Loves 3D Printing.” Its a great piece about how 3D printing is speeding up the production process and improving prop-making.
Another step towards 3D printed electronics was taken recently – Stratasys and Optomec have been working together to develop a method whereby conductive material is deposited in a design. This has been the holy grail of 3D printing for a number of reasons.
Just when you thought 3D Systems was getting big and scary, the unexpected/expected happens. In an all-stock transaction, the merger of Israel-based Objet into Minnesota-based Stratasys, leaves the new entity with a $1.4 billion dollar equity value and a bigger slice of the market share.
3D Printing with Plastic? Pfft, whatever. Metal. Old hat. Bone? Get out of here! The number of materials being used and experimented on with 3D printers is getting out of hand – and actually, it’s quite remarkable.
You know what’s amazing about Crowdfunding? You’re not just buying something – you’re helping make it happen. If I had seen any of these projects on a blog or at a store I would say “Neat-o… Im glad someone made this.” And you know, I might buy it. Now I see these projects and I know…
A few low-cost 3D scanners have come out recently – ReconstructMe, Matterport and 3Dfy. These start-ups have utilized the Kinect or a Kinect-like device to make an affordable solution for modelling actual spaces and products. I was ecstatic when Microsoft released the Kinect and then the development software. It’s such a powerful hardware/software combo. It…
The moment when a 3D printer and a 3D scanner are combined into a single product… hasn’t happened, yet. But, we’re pretty sure there would be some positive returns for both the manufacturer and the consumer market. A great number of people would love to replicate the cups and spoons they already have instead of…
3D printers and designers have been doing some fancy footwork recently. The Smithsonian has put out a great article covering several new designs. Here’s my favourite, by Hoon Chung for the London College of Fashion.
Music and 3D printing, two things that are very close to my heart. Sheila Munro of Dropping Form Design is now selling her 3D printed flute in “Antique Bronze Glossy” through her Shapeways shop. Called a Shakuhachi Flute, it’s beautifully embroidered and grained. From the picture, it’s tough to even tell if it was 3D…
The most awesome thing in the history of awesome things has just come to pass. The hack slappin’ crew at F.A.T. Lab has slipped the surly bonds of inoperable construction sets making it now possible to interlink your favorite blocks with the Free Universal Construction Kit. LEGO, Tinkertoys, Lincoln Logs and seven other sets are…
This is what I would truly call ‘a 3D movie.’ This ‘3Drehkino’ is a series of 3D printed figures of a man walking. An LED is triggered by each passing figure in his appropriate pose, illuminating it and giving us the illusion of motion. Tobias Krawutschke designs all kinds of Zoetropes (which you can see here),…
If you’ve often dreamt of iconic typefaces exploding from your chest as you vocalize a Shakespearean sonnet, the idea of printing out an 3-dimensional representation of your monologue may sound attractive. Ravensbourne, the UK-based digital media university, adores typeface and 3D fabrication as much as you do, so it only seemed natural to illustrate the…
“This post is from guest blogger, JF Brandon. He works with Enrico Dini and the DShape. He likes 3D Printing, Naïve Architecture, Open Source, Mass Customization and Hockey. He lives in Vancouver, Canada.” 3D printing is part of my job. When I tell people this, I usually get the response “Oh, I heard about that…
Nothing screams I AM AWESOME like having the faces of the people you have vanquished surrounding you. But what if you could turn those faces into 3D printed vases (or coffee mugs), put some flowers (or coffee) in them and bask in the glory of your victories? Now you can. Sculpteo has released the Sculpteo…
I saw a clock give birth to a timeline once. It was sticky and had something to do with how Julia Child’s vocalization of the words Les oeufs brouillés changed over time. This timeline curated by i.materialise is cooking up something a little different though. It’s a look at the the past year in 3D…
It’s been just over four years since Digital Reality, Inc. made a rumbling about, what was at that time, the first web-based 3D customization to appear. Of course since then, countless online customization sites for every sort or 3D digital design has been established. Now, Digital Reality is back, with a new plan and a…
Disclaimer: The following information is for entertainment purposes only. SolidSmack.com, its owner, authors and/or subsidiaries are in no way responsible for any reprehensibly idiotic or unlawful behavior exercised on the part of anyone other than their ridiculously good looking and civic duty minded selves. One has to appreciate the ingenuity displayed by a recent gang…
Cell Cycle Ring via Ponoko With Maker Faire last week and 3D printing buzzing the skin off the ever-loving lips of everyone talking about it, there’s news galore to satiate those in dire need of a 3d print news fix. Really, what would you do if you didn’t know that researchers had found a way…
Why there’s nothing I quite like more than buttoning up the finest faux suede longcoat, donning my tophat and printing colorful componentry into the wee hours of the morning. There’s just something enjoyable about it that frightens people slightly. Part of that may be the amazing color assortment of plastic filament I have wrapped around…
You know that burning sensation, the one where you dump crunchy granules of fertilizer all over yourself after the spreader explodes? Yeah, that one. What to do? You’re stuck because you want to finish feeding the nitrogen-depleted grass blades, but can’t. Your afternoon plans have been foiled yet again. Well, there’s no better time to…
Why mess with printing petroleum-based plastic when there are whole deserts full of sand? Markus Kayser’s Solar Sinter Project converted a hot dog cart constructed a 3D printer that uses a giant Fresnel lens to sinter sand into 3D glass objects. Done as part of his MA studies at the Royal College of Art. There…
Does the idea of a 6 foot long, 16 inch wide robotic worm crawling beneath your epidermis frighten you? Not to worry because Dr. Jordan Boyle, post doctoral fellow at the University of Leeds, is working on making it smaller. His focus is also on creating a robot that can manage it’s way through small…
Who feels like printing some 3D? Oh yeah! But don’t rub it on yourself. It chafes like you wouldn’t believe and there has yet to be any partnership to produce a 3D anti-chafing cream. (I would pay good money for this.) There has, however, been a(nother) partnership to print 3D direct from a website where…
Lather that sun tan oil on. Summer is here and you look FABULOUS. But don’t worry about going to the mall to find that unique two-piece. They don’t do the 3D printing thing and oh, what a shame, because the latest fabric-free, platastic feat is bridging swimwear and SLS. Designed by Jenna Fizel and Mary…
Running out of things to give your mother for her birthday/Christmas/Mother’s Day? (hint: you’re late on that last one.) Shapeways, an online 3D printing company which already has one of the largest materials offerings on the net, has introduced Glazed Ceramics 3D printing. One of their trumpeted examples is a coffee mug, so it will…
Titanium fingertips. A chin shield. Elbow spikes. An inlay across the bridge of your nose to hold lasers manipulated by your eye. Yes, you’ve dreamt about such things in the waning hours of the morning. Now you can design them and have them made. Max Barry’s book Machine Man, a real-time serial about a man…
You know when you’re holding a baby goat, and your thinkin’, I can hold that spoon and that bag of chips… and that chair… and that pile of cream cheese balls… and that armadillo dressed like a Spanish conquistador. Yeah, I can hold ALL THAT. Well, just imagine if a simple product which sat on…
Maybe you’re walking down the street. The middle of the street. You can, because they are empty while people charge their electric cars. Suddenly… WHAM! Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go rings in your ears as you lift your body off the pavement. You’ve just been hit by an Urbee. “I’ve just been hit by…
Quickly now. Stick your hands against the screen. Now, lift them off slightly and move your head to either side. Did you see that? A physical 3-dimensional object rising from the aether around your digits? No, no you didn’t, because it hasn’t happened yet… but it could. Three technologies have surfaced showing how we may…
There are a lot of secrets in the world of design – materials, processes, handshakes and very few know how many raccoons it takes to gnaw a smooth continuous surface out of a chunk of clay. Perhaps that’s changing and perhaps it’s beginning with knowing a little more about the secret process behind modern concept…
What defines insanity? Typically, I’d say the amount of plastic beads someone can stick in their mouth before drooling all over the expanding foam they’ve stuffed in their shirt. In this case, however, I’d say it’s the amount of plastic blocks one can form into a puzzle. Oskar van Deventer is the man making us…
I know.You were probably hoping to see my improvisational flute playing skills in this post. We’ll do that later when you have quick access to a bucket and some earplugs. Today, we’re looking at something that will go down as a turning point in 3D printing history, but not only 3D printing history… all those…
It’s a fresh, slightly still doughy new year and what better way to start it off than with a contest and giveaway. This time i.materialise is bringing the opportunity to try out their fresh 3D printing service with a very slick tool you can use to create your own – very special, very unique -…
Glass vases, metal vases, vases made of wood, vases made of bone, vases fashioned out of the screams of the undead… even though you hoard all these types of vases, there’s probably one you don’t have yet. A 3D printed vase created from the generative form of liquid entering an empty vessel. Sounds poetic doesn’t…
Sculpteo, the 3D print service we featured last week, will announce tomorrow (October 19th) that their print service will be available to U.S. makers, fabbers or any other person that enjoys the feel of layered plastic.
Tighten your corsets folks. Actually, you can loosen them, because this design will make your eyes pop no matter how you’re compressing your innards. Last May we featured an iPad Canvas Wrap concept designed by Jeff Bare. Well, the design has come full-circle and the result is amazing. We’ve just uncovered images and video from…
I enjoy a good 3D print as much the next stark-raving mad 3D print fan, but there’s something cool about being able to upload a file to a faraway land via a slick interface, pay a fairly high price and get a freshly fabricated 3D print delivered to your front door. One of the latest…
You lika to burn tha meatballs eh? He lika to burn tha meatballs! OH, and the noodles!? and the TABLE!!? and the ULTEM 9085!!!?!?!? Bontà mia! Yes folks, and burn it will, all of it. Even the 3D print material that passes FAR 25.853 flammability requirements for aircraft with occupants. It’s ULTEM 9085, the up…
I hate Facebook games. Hate. them. Too the point I feel like butchering a hog over someone’s keyboard as they get a Crop Whisperer ribbon on Farmville. Those feelings may change…. I doubt it, but this… is cool. Last week 3DVia made the announcement that the 3D Social gaming blitzkrieg that is Billions is now…
Carve it. Shape it. Cut it. Smooth it. Knick it. Clip it. Daft Punk Helmet. Yeah, you know what’s good for you. 3 minutes of prop building madness from Volpin Props. The prop? The helmet of electronic, supersonic duo supremo, Daft Punk. The process took all of 17 months… yeeeeeah. So ya gotta think, especially…
You remember that time you were yelled at by that German guy for putting putting peanut butter in the print mechanism? Yeah, that was hilarious. He was like, “SLA!! Schweinhund!! nicht meine Erdnussbutter!!!” and you were like, “wha?” while spraying a goat down with a water hose. I’ll never forget that. It’s sad however that…
Put on that shiny, gold vest that says “SUPREME MASTER of COLOR” across the back, because you’re about to get busy pitching pasty ABS prints and adding some color to your fab process. Now that you have Shapeways plugin for SolidWorks, Duann at Shapeways has put up a quick tutorial to show you how to…
What’s better than exporting out an .STL file and uploading your precious 3D geometry to be printed? Not exporting an .STL, that’s what. Today Shapeways releases their 3D print add-in for SolidWorks which allows you direct upload capability from the SolidWorks user interface. There are other 3D print add-ins for SolidWorks but none with the…
Out of all the things I’ve wanted to line my desk, hallway, car dash and gold-plated cage of wild hogs with, brightly colored 3D printed pigs is 4th on the list. Shapeways has now made that easier. Just today, Shapeways launches Color it! making it possible for you or your little ones to color a…
Oh yeah, you know you’ve gone too far when you’ve got little Johnny sprayin’ cheese spread out his nose to form building for your moon-based train station display. Those hospital trips are about to drop significantly and your family can rest their weary nostrils. Fab@home Model 2 is here. Fab@Home is a project started by…
I don’t know if I’d really call it ‘the Biggest’ 3D print. I’d be more likely to call it the BIGGESTEST Freeform Architecture 3D Print ever excreted by the pucker of a print head. You remember Enrico Dini, right? The fine Italian gent with a passion for print? He’s working on his next project, a…
“Finally!” you think, “A cheap 3D printer I don’t have to build myself.” Yes, you’re probably already doing the calculations in your head. For a mere $3.5 million US dollars you can buy 1,000 of these suckers and build a tower of 3D printing power the likes no one hAS EVER SEEN!! muwwahhHAHA!! All you…