Matt Boyle is the VP of Engineering at Shapeways and, in a recent post from him on StackOverflow, reveals some of the methods the company uses to provide high-speed, global 3D print services.  Shapeways History Shapeways has been one of the longest-running 3D print services available to the public. They launched in the Netherlands long…

Essentium announced a pair of new materials for its high-speed 3D printer.  The Texas-based 3D printer manufacturer’s claim to fame is its highly engineered HSE series of 3D printers that can operate at 3D print speeds unseen in most other FFF devices. They are able to do so due to the precise engineering of the…

Read the full article here – Massive Hybrid Manufacturing Machine Pushes Boundaries of 3D Printing https://youtu.be/CxNKbYDJKFw?t=3

Researchers have developed a complex system that is able to 3D print tiny structures at very high speeds.  There are few vendors providing microscopic 3D printing today, but those that do enable the production of incredible microscopic devices, lenses, and components. Many use what’s called the “two-photon” approach, where light is focused deep within a…

Recently I’ve seen moves by several 3D printer manufacturers to position their equipment for use in specific industries, and this is a strong trend. Let me explain my thinking here: years ago, when the initial 3D printing patents expired, a large number of 3D printing startups appeared. Most tended to offer very basic equipment with…

If you’re a youngin’ whose neurons have just myelinated or an educator who’s responsible for bludgeoning their brain tissue with knowledge, there’s a 3D printer option you’ll want to add to your lab list – A RIZE 3D Printer. If you’re unfamiliar with RIZE, they came on the scene in 2017, introducing the RIZE ONE…

I’m looking at how a 3D print company provided colorful 3D prints for sale using commercial designs. We’ve all seen this many times, where a popular character from the movies, TV, games or other mass media has been somehow reproduced in 3D form and placed on sale. The question is whether this is done legally. …

If you’ve ever wanted to get into photography but were always hindered by how expensive cameras can be, then Ethan Moses has you covered. Provided you have your own 3D printer, you only need $40 worth of filament to make his patented panoramic Cameradactyl Brancopan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wa4fhQ6KMME The Brancopan isn’t your run-of-the-mill, cheapo analog camera. Nope.…

I’m looking at an interesting project undertaken by Protolabs, the well-known manufacturing service. The project in question is the curiously-named “Wayzn Slide”, a smart robotic door opening system designed for pet access. It’s a mechanism that attaches to a standard sliding door and can open and close the door automatically. It does this through a…

After reading yet another mainstream publication talk about “3D printed human organs” I thought it wise to share my thoughts about the five most frequently heard myths of 3D printing.  These myths have been around since I started in this business over 12 years ago, and for some unexplainable reason, they have not gone away.…

The season of festive celebration is upon us! With the semester of teaching ID at Virginia Tech behind me, I’m thoroughly enjoying my extended moments of family, fellowship, and food! So when my daughter Phoebe got inspired to make a batch of cookies the other day, I was all in! Being the creative type that…

Industrial giant Siemens acquired Atlas 3D to add to their growing additive manufacturing portfolio. Somehow I missed this in the Formnext Frenzy, but on 12 November Siemens and Atlas 3D announced the Indiana-based startup was to be entirely acquired by Siemens. Sunata Features We’ve followed 3D Atlas for a few years now and were impressed…

With the rise (fall, rise, plateau, small rise, little fall, and rise again) of 3D printing and its ability to let us create, basically, anything (except for money, which is illegal), it was only a matter of time before its close cousin, injection molding, got in on the accessible, mass part-producing action. Formlabs recently released…

Stratasys announced a new workflow system, GrabCAD Shop. GrabCAD GrabCAD is Stratasys’ main 3D model repository, having acquired it from independent owners way back in 2014. Stratasys bills it as: “The largest online community of professional designers, engineers, manufacturers, and students” And this is likely true, as they say there are currently over 6,550,000 members.…

As the old adage goes, “You either go big or go home.”; and in the case of the University of Maine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center, they DEFINITELY went big. Using their ginormous in-house 3D printer which has a printing space of 22 by 100 feet and 10 feet high, they were able to print…

Why limit recycling to Earth when you can do it in outer space too? Space manufacturing company Made in Space recently teamed up with thermoplastic resin and polypropylene company Braskem to create a plastic recycler for astronauts stationed at the International Space Station. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoGKLlJhDXI Using Braskem’s specialized Green Plastic (a sugarcane-based plastic made using thermoplastic…

Built to meet the needs of the full design process in a wide range of industries including consumer goods, consumer electronics, automotive, and even educational settings, the new Stratasys J850 3D printer from Stratasys puts a focus on both speed and quality—including full-color PANTONE® color validation and multi-material capabilities via a PolyJet system. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyGnjf3P300 Claiming…

Vacuum forming is oftentimes a critical factor for many package designers during their prototyping stage when exploring manufacturing methods. And just like the physical product it houses, package designers employ prototyping processes for a variety of packaging types to ensure that their design helps unify the full customer experience—or at least, properly fit the finished…

Autodesk seems to be tightening up their rules regarding use of the popular Fusion 360 CAD system. The company moved the product to a subscription-based cloud system a couple of years ago and then simplified their licensing levels. This is a very common practice in the software industry as it provides significant advantages: a near-100%…

As mankind’s ever-growing desire to make his own stuff increases, so does the amount of materials he can use to 3D print with. Wood, metal, carbon fiber, and now… wool? Researchers at the University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning developed a new felting process—dubbed Hard + Soft—that allows for different kinds…

While they started as a simple peer-to-peer 3D printing network for locating desktop 3D printers in your area, Amsterdam-based 3D Hubs has since expanded into a full online custom part service. Now, the company offers industrial 3D printing, CNC machining, and injection molding. With the addition of sheet metal fabrication, announced at EMO Hannover last…

While in-house 3D printing is commonly used for early concept work, many professionals and businesses still outsource their parts to industrial services when more complicated materials are required. Among others, Protolabs has been a leader of custom 3D printing services over the past decade—with more than 100,000 parts printed every month across six different additive…

There are plenty of uses of 3D printing, and one of them is for design feedback. The most frequent use of 3D printing is prototyping, in which a proposed model of the final design is produced and tested. The testing can take many forms, from mechanical to aesthetic, and this approach has been very successful…

We can all (mostly) agree that being environment-friendly and leaning towards sustainable manufacturing methods is a good thing. So is eating well and being healthy. So by the unspoken rules of the universe, doing both at the same time is doubly good and an all-around best-case scenario. Design firm Carly Ratti Associati (CRA) and multinational oil and…

If you’ve cyborged your upper torso with gears and lights glued to a cardboard box, I hate to tell you but, the transformation isn’t complete until you’ve embedded a Nixie clock in your chest cavity. Oh, what’s that? Missing one? Hmmm, shameful, in’t it? Well, I’ve got two options for you today – 1) Snag…

miniFactory has announced the release of a series of technical datasheets that should enable engineers to more easily use their 3D printers. Finland-based miniFactory (not be be confused with London-based 3D model repository MyMiniFactory) has been producing high-end desktop 3D printers for many years. We first saw them in 2013 when they exhibited a device…

That Xometry, they’re just not satisfied to bring you nearly every mill, print, metal, and mold option available. They had to go and bag a partnership with Carbon — you know, the company that dropped jaws with their breakthrough CLIP tech that prints high-res parts 25-100x faster. Yeah, well, if you’ve seen a Carbon printer,…

Researchers at the Berkeley Lab have developed a technique for 3D printing liquid structures that are reconfigurable. Microscopic Machines The researchers were experimenting with ferro-fluids, which are liquids infused with ferric nanoparticles. These iron oxide particles are only 20 nanometers across, so they are extremely tiny. The liquid was 3D printed into 1mm droplets through…

This tour of MADE Makerspace in Barcelona, Spain was my last stop of jet setting through Europe to learn about HW startup culture there. Watch the video below to take the tour with me, or read on for details! I’d like to give a big thank-you to Oriol Fernandez of “MAking props” for taking the…

United States government invests $15 million towards the development of the next generation of metal 3D printing technology and 3D Systems is joining forces for the ambitious metal 3D printing project. Largest Metal 3D Printer This remarkable $15 million contract is officially targeted at work “to create the world’s largest, fastest, most precise metal 3D…

We had a closer look at Velo3D’s amazing metal 3D printing process. In a word, it’s delicious. No Support 3D Printing The company, which operated in complete stealth until just under a year ago, had been secretly developing a powerful metal 3D printing process. Now, we’ve seen up close some of the prints that were…

It’s no secret I love 3D printing, laser cutting, and CNC routing. What I don’t love is all the maintenance and calibration of my own machines or questionable reliability and transit times to other people’s machines. And soooo many software programs — Talk about workflow woes. Hence my piqued interest in the upswell of 3-in-1…

nTopology announced a revolutionary new tool for product design, nTop Platform. Generative Design for 3D Printing The tool is a bit challenging to describe, as it is a hyper-mix of functions that are today often found in separate tools and products. But let me try to do so! In the old world, product design followed…

Those dreams where you walk into the office and giant flowers open up to shed rays of light on you, yeah, those dreams might become a reality. “Can it be daisies?” Suuuuure, if you want it to be daisies, it can be daisies. 3lobit has been doing the 3D print thang since early 2017, working…

When it comes to makeup, an extensive color pallet is what the pros are always looking for. Getting hues to match the outfit or creating contrasting and complementing shades to match the mood, are always a challenge. Mink hopes to solve the problem, and brings you the opportunity to 3D print the exact color you…

Have you ever wondered what’s involved to bring a new product to market? Perhaps even now you have a juicy idea scrawled out on a napkin tucked away somewhere. Every time you happen across it you’re thinking “Without a doubt, this here puppy is the next big thing!” Problem is, you have no earthly idea…

Ever thought of co-manufacturing your camera gear? “What did you just say?” You heard me right — Co-manufacturing. The innovative camera equipment company edelkrone is shakin’ up the manufacturing scene to team up with YOU. As the makers of camera sliders, dollies, heads, and accessories, they know all that camera gear can be a drain…

Anisoprint announced a new 3D print material that we have never heard of previously, Composite Basalt Fiber. CONTINUOUS FIBER 3D PRINTING The company is very well-known for their continuous carbon fiber 3D printer, where you are able to insert continuous long strands of very strong carbon fiber into 3D prints. This is very different from…

C-Clamps are great for two things: 1) holding stuff together and 2) everything else. You can use them to support a slab of wood for a tabletop, fasten a tarp around… that thing that needs a tarp around it, grab your friend by the ear, make spaghetti. As a matter of fact, outside of a…

Polymaker has announced a series of new materials, and showcased some dramatic demonstrations of their capabilities. PETG 3D print made from Polymaker materials Polymaker Engineering Materials The China-based company has been one of the leaders in the 3D printing industry and in developing engineering-grade high-quality 3D printing filaments. They have also come out with some…

There are few things better than a good, hearty soup. Although you might have a winning argument if you said, “A good, hearty soup served from the BUCKET OF A CATAPULT is way better.” Oh, you meant launched from the catapult. Well, of course, that’s better. And whether it’s soup launching, cow launching, or sending…

3D printers (people) have a bad habit of wasting their print improvement effort on the shiny and new instead of the useful. I get it, I do. 3D printers (machines) are cool, and it’s fun to make them look cool. A big part of the fun is customizing and talking shop about mods. We spend…

3D Platform has produced a rather large 3D printer, the WorkCenter 500 – and the build volume on this beast is substantial, at 1400 x 2800 x 700 mm (55″ x 110″ x 27″), or 2.7 cubic meters (95 cubic feet) of volume. It should be able to accommodate the needs of many large part-makers.…

You might have your own opinion on who broke Captain America’s shield, but regardless whether who or even if it really happened (IT DID), there’d have to be some power behind that shield slap. Maybe you already have a Captain America mask, or a shirt with a star stencil spraypainted on it. You’ve got to…

You likely have not heard of Fortify, but you certainly will be hearing a lot more from them in the future. The Boston-based startup, founded by Joshua Martin in 2016 based on his academic thesis, has developed a highly unusual technique to 3D print strongly reinforced objects using magnetic fields in an ingenious manner. They’re…

Have you’ve ever arrived at your desk and felt a sudden onset of ‘MY DESK IS SO BEIGE’ horror flood over you? It’s not uncommon. It’s why we put charts of conversion tables and part number inventories on the wall… then shriek in horror again when that makes it all worse. You need some COLOR.…

As North America’s most influential additive manufacturing event, Rapid + TCT 2019 exists on its own playing field when it comes to heavy-hitting announcements, power lunches, impactful keynotes, and all-around industry influence. Held this year at the Cobo Center in Detroit, Michigan during May 20-23, over 400 3D technology providers alone will make up the…

Don’t freak out, but we’ve just learned of a new venture that looks at simplifying access to 3D printed bones: The ADAM Project. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHzhFFfdn2E Led by Vlad Usov, the founder and CEO of Kwambio – a company specializing in ceramic 3D printing and has developed and produced several powerful 3D printers, which create high-quality ceramic…

How difficult is it to design a lamp? Not very. Jab a few holes in a paper plate, wrap it in a lightbulb, GOOD TO GO. If you want a classier option though, you’ll need the design chops of the pros at VOOOD. I was seeing how many LEDs could fit under my eyelids when…

Markforged has introduced its latest Onyx material, the flame-retardant Onyx FR. The Boston-based company first made its name with high-strength polymer 3D printing. As with the 3D printing industry in general, though, it seems like lately more spotlight attention has been focused on their metal offerings. Certainly metal is exciting, and Markforged is demonstrably working…