Awesome factory tour at shapeways, with Duann Scott, organized with Pratt Center and NYDesigns

The Emerging Topologies of 3D Printing Showing in Sydney, Australia

Emerging Topologies is an upcoming exhibition exploring how contemporary technologies are changing our relationship with the architectural space we inhabit. The exhibition is the culmination of artist Josh Harle’s four year doctoral research, informed by degrees in Computer Science, Philosophy, and Sculpture, and completed between the School of Design, COFA, and the Faculty of the Built Environment, University of New South Wales. The artist’s practice utilises exotic production techniques and bespoke software tools that map, scan, and visualise the city in contingent, poetic ways using 3D fabrication, laser etching, cloud processing, and structural reconstruction from images.

The artist explores the shifting landscape of a city experienced through mobile mapping technology, sketching out his own improbable paths through the shadows. The works tell tales: compiling esoteric maps of journeys through strange cities, and taking playful, winding trips across the smudged face of the GPS screen.

The research thesis will also serve as the catalogue for the exhibition, and the artist is selling printed and DRM-free ebook versions to help with the cost of the exhibition.

Opening: Tues, May 21, 5-7pm

Where: Kudos Gallery 6 Napier St, Paddington, NSW

Hours: Wed to Fri, 11am – 6pm, Sat, 11am – 4pm

Autodesk Save Tinkercad from Extinction

Autodesk has announced that it has purchased Tinkercad and it’s core technology to resurrect the browser based 3D modeling app from the dead.

Several weeks ago Tinkercad killed the popular 3D modeling app, closing new users and announcing a slow death for existing users from the free to the pro accounts. Today’s news that Autodesk is saving Tinkercad is even sweeter as it has unlocked all of the pro features so you now have unlimited designs as well as access to the ‘superscripts’ that take the relatively simple ‘drag and drop’ assembly of geometry to a greater level of 3d modeling complexity.

The Autodesk team are also planning to continue to develop the 3D modeling app further with more import and export options and it may even find it’s way into the already impressive 123D range of apps that are perfect to design for 3D printing with Shapeways.

Thank you Autodesk, Long Live Tinkercad…

Ask Your 3D Printing Questions on Fridays at 5 with Shapeways Engineers

Fridays at 5 is our regular Google hangout where you get to ask Shapeways Engineers your questions about 3D Printing with Shapeways. Last week we talked about the upcoming launch of our new elasto material, how we 3D print our high detail acrylic and we set fire to a couple of Nylon and Full Color 3D prints to prove they are not suitable to put into a kiln.

Star Trek vs Star Wars vs 3D Printers

Science fiction becomes reality at Shapeways with on demand 3D printed products.

Shapeways Educational Discount for 3D Printing on a Student Budget

Today we have launched the first stage of the Shapeways Educational Program with an awesome 10% discount on 3D printing for all students and educators with a Shapeways account registered with an .edu email address.

This is our first step at helping students and educators have better access to high quality 3D printing through Shapeways. We will be rolling out more features as part of the Shapeways Education Program so that everyone from elementary to post graduate students can use 3D printing to help them learn, understand and communicate their ideas whether they be technical, artistic or conceptual.

Register for the 10% discount on all 3D printing by visiting the Shapeways Education page and activating your email. The 10% discount will automatically be applied at checkout unless you have another discount code you wish to enter. You can still use Shapeways credit and your student discount at the same time.

We will continuously monitor and review the educational discount so that we can optimize it to students needs which may involve a change in the terms under which we offer the discount. We will keep all of those registered for the education discount updated on any changes and/or additions to the program. We will also work to include other educational institutions that do not have an .edu domain for their emails in the near future.

Please pass on the details of the discount to your friends, fellow students and teachers, the more people that are registered and use the educational discount, the more incentive there is for Shapeways to develop the educational program further.

If you have any other ideas you would like to see implemented into the Shapeways educational program please email education@shapeways.com

(via Skulltruder by schlem on Shapeways)

Behold and fear my Skulltruder!

This is a set of spur gears for the Printrbot ( and other) extruder. Derived from Brook Dunn’s Printrbot’s spur gears, which were derived from Wades Accessible and Herringbone gears

( http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:16990 )

and Cleaned Skull by ssd

( http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4126 ).

Notice that there is a cap for the bolt the skull on the larger gear - may need a wee bit of sanding around the perimeter for a proper fit. This should seat at the proper depth for stealthy concealment of your secret hardware. Upgrade your Printrbot with these gears from Shapeways in Laser-sintered nylon for greater precision and consistancy.

I ditched the small skull on the small gear. It never printed well with the hole through the forehead and the reduction in size. The NEW! small gear has some nice features, including cleaned up teeth, and a flat bearing surface for the set screw.

See the picture with the black and the white gears: The Black gear came with my Printrbot Plus kit. The STL file shows a diameter of 63.78 mm. The gear that was printed by a Printrbot in my kit measures 61.25 (averaged 8 measurements) The white gear was printed by Shapeways in Laser-sintered nylon and averages 63.25 mm

mixeeme:

Team Mixee would like to congratulate Erin on her engagement!! Erin made 3D printed Mixee for her and boyfriend-now-fiancé for their anniversary. Two minutes later, her PROPOSED!!!

We are so happy for the couple, and wish them all the best.

Hang Out with Shapeways 3D Printing Engineers Fridays at 5 in the Factory

Fridays at 5 in the Factory (NYC time) is a Google Hangout to give you an opportunity to ask the Shapeways 3D printing engineers your questions about Shapeways materials, processes and how to design for success. We had an impromptu hangout last Friday that included a brief introduction to some of the Shapeways team along with a shaky, noisy virtual tour of the factory.

Register on Google+ to Fridays at 5 in the Factory or just virtually drop in to listen, ask questions and give feedback.

Please note this is a virtual hang out as we cannot yet host people in the factory, those events will come once we have finished building out the site and all of the machines are safe in their cages.

We are looking forward to seeing you online and talking 3D printing with you.

3D Modeler Needed to Model 3D Printed Repair Part for Senseo Coffee Maker

Every week we are seeing more and more people looking for 3D modelers to help them 3D print everything from human busts to scale laundry baskets through to slightly more functional objects.

A recent request by baerfoot is looking for someone to help him 3D model a repair part for his wife’s Senseo Coffee Machine.

The replacement part is not available from the manufacturer but he has the existing broken part that will be relatively easy to copy for someone with basic 3D modeling skills. If you are a 3D modeler who is capable of helping baerfoot keep his wife caffeinated drop him a line in the Shapeways Forums. While you are there you may as well submit your portfolio in the 3D Modelers for Hire section too.

How To 3D Print at Home with an iPhone and a Magnifying Glass (VIDEO)

While looking for a way to recycle our excess Nylon powder we found a way for anyone to 3D print at home with an iPhone and a magnifying glass.

At Shapeways we recycle most of the Nylon powder from our industrial 3D printing process but sometimes the powder does not meet the standard required for use in our 3D printers. We were looking at the testing process when we made a really exciting discovery, with a tightly focused beam of light you can solidify the Nylon powder into a solid.

We did some experiments and discovered a way that anyone can 3D print at home using an iPhone and a magnifying glass with our Nylon powder. Take a look at the simple video below and email freenylon@shapeways.com and we can send you (for the cost of shipping) some of our excess Nylon for you to try at home.

In a relatively simple step by step process that almost exactly replicates the way in which our industrial 3D printers work it is easy to 3D print a basic form with an iPhone with a ‘Torch’ app, a strong magnifying glass, a ruler and some fine Nylon powder.

Prepare the Nylon powder to around 3mm thick on a clean flat surface. The smoother this first surface the better quality your 3D print will be as this is the foundation of your entire print. (This is the same way that our 3D printers prepare for your 3D prints)

Use the Torch App to activate the flash on your iPhone and a magnifying glass to focus the light into a tight beam. You will need to experiment to fid the perfect distance from the Nylon and the time it takes to solidify the powder so that you do not burn the Nylon. (Our industrial machines use much the same process except with a laser to speed up the printing time and give greater accuracy)

Use a ruler or other straight flat item to gently cover the first layer of your 3D print with around 0.5mm of Nylon powder, you will be printing your part from the bottom up, tracing the existing layer to ensure the melt together. (Again, this is the exactly the same process our SLS 3D printers use, except the layer of Nylon is in the Microns yet still building objects from the bottom up)

Repeat steps 2 and 3 to print your object, ensuring you melt each layer to the layer below, as you gain confidence you can try to 3D print simple interlocking parts like a chain. (please note: The strength of the part is reliant on the uniformity of the bond between Nylon particles, we do not recommend you use this process for any parts under stress. The industrial 3D printers Shapeways use are high precision machines that 3D print high quality parts. Home 3D printing with this process is an experimental process for fun more than function.)

Take a look at the video below to see our results, if you want to try this yourself at home contact us freenylon@shapeways.com and we can send you some Nylon (for shipping costs) so you can try this at home too.

We Bid a Sad Farewell to Tinkercad

Today we bid a sad farewell to Tinkercad, one of the easiest 3D modeling apps plugging into the Shapeways 3D Printing API.

When Tinkercad launched in early 2011 as a simple browser based, drag and drop interface for 3D modeling, it made it easy for anyone to create a 3D form. In August 2012 when Tinkercad plugged into the Shapeways 3D Printing API it also became one of the easiest ways for people to learn how to 3D print their own designs which is why we used it to teach everyone from 2nd graders to senior citizens how to design for 3D printing. With the introduction of the ability to import existing designs Tinkercad also became one of the easiest ways to modify and customize an existing design.

Luckily we are seeing more and more 3D printing apps plugging into the Shapeways 3D Printing API to make it easier for people to access 3D printing but Tinkercad will be missed.

For Tinkercad users they are rolling out the closure in stages:

Effective immediately they have closed sign-ups for new users
April 30 2013 - All free accounts will be changed to read only
August 31 2013 - All academic accounts will be changed to read only
December 31 2013 - All paid accounts will be changed to read only
June 31 2014 - Read only access for all users will be discontinued

This means if you currently have files stored on Tinkercad, you will have until June 31 2014 to download them from their storage and/or upload them to another repository such as Shapeways, Sketchfab or Thingiverse. If you have unfinished models in Tinkercad you have a limited time to make the modifications to export and/or 3D print them.

There is also an FAQ with additional details.

We wish Kai, Mikko and the Tinkercad team the best of luck as they move away from the development of the Tinkercad user interface and onto Airstone Labs.

Farewell @tinkercad we are sad to see you go. #3dprinting #design #cad #software

Repairing Appliances with Shapeways 3D Printed Ceramic Parts (VIDEO)

How to extend the life of a kitchen appliance using Shapeways 3D printed ceramic parts.

When a small part for Shapeways community member Mitagaki’s Panasonic Bread maker broke he looked everywhere for a replacement part. The manufacturer no longer supported the model so what was a $5 replacement part became unobtainable and the $200 appliance was rendered worthless.

Rather than throwing the entire appliance away, Mitagaki 3D modeled a copy of the broken ceramic part and then 3D printed it in ceramics with Shapeways.

After successfully testing the 3D printed ceramic component he made a minor adjustment to the design and has now made the Panasonic SD-YD250 breadmaker replacement bobbin available for others to repair their appliance using Shapeways.

Do You Want More Flexible 3D Printing at Shapeways?

We found a squishy 3D printing material back in early 2012 that was not quite ready for us to use with our 3D printers so we found another flexible alternative that unfortunately was not up to our standards so we had to stop supporting the material when the trial ended.

We are super excited to learn the original flexible material is finally ready and we are preparing our 3D printers so that we can offer it to everyone to 3D print.

Do you want more flexible 3D printing for your designs?