We use clean, safe Javascript to make our sites easier to navigate. Please consider enabling Javascript for this site.
We’re starting 2012 off with a fast punch to the ear and perhaps the coolest 3D print design contest EVER. The insanely exotic 3D printed work of Anthony Tammaro is your inspiration and Shapeways is making your idea come to life. Here are the details.
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 new name for their new online customization portal, KraftWurx. They are currently signing up service bureaus with plans to bring on designers in two to three weeks. However, there is something strange and a backstory to all of this that is sure to add a little drama to the 3D printing scene.
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 Huang of Continuum Fashion and brought to you by none other than Shapeways, the first 3D printed bikini’s are now making waves in the world where fashion meets emerging technology. All the details and ‘safe for work’ pictures after the break.
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 your desk didn’t hold any of that. Excited? Well, now imagine it does hold a pen and… *sip o’ coffee* …PAPER!!
I know you have dreams. Not the one where you’re falling and wake up floating, then realize you’re just falling the wrong way and then you wake up. Not that one.
The dream I speak of is the one where you go to New York City, set up a giant platform at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center and showcase a single furniture piece… rotating… in a spotlight… and free popcorn. Shapeways could make that dream come true. For the first time, they are holding a design contest to get your design in front of the thousands at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF). Here’s how to make it happen.
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 question such things. However, puzzles are nothing new to him. He’s been making them for years. So, when he was faced with the challenge to beat all previous records and create a Rubik’s cube style puzzle 17x17x17, the edge of the puzzle universe quivered slightly, then threw up on itself repeatedly. Don’t believe me? Take a look and tell me you don’t do the same.
(more…)
You know what’s cooler than flesh-eating robots? Nothing. That’s the worse it can get. However, printing out robots and robot parts falls into a whole other class of cool which will distract you from any impending robot doom.
I’ve never thought about using Shapeways to print different variations of mechanical creatures and their implements of death. Although they can print just about anything you can model up, robots are slightly refreshing idea. Now if they’ll drop the price of what it cost to print items and continue to increase the available print options.
There are a few gems among mech print mix. Here are some of my favorites…
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 print full-color parts using SolidWorks. It’s simple and the steps are probably already familiar to you. Here’s the full-color, five-step process you’ll go through, that will make you even more worthy to sport that vest.
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 visibility that Shapeways has and certainly none with the same amount of options and materials to go from digital to physical overnight. Here are more details to get you printing.
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 2D image of an oinker, upload and print a colorful masterpiece onto a spectacular sculpture of a 3D printed swine. It’s all done using their full-color sandstone material. But that’s not all they’ve got going on. Interested in a gold-plated pig?
Follow Us:
