3D Printing

If you’ve been pondering over whether a 3D printer is a sound financial decision, here might be your answer: researchers have calculated that they can pay for themselves inside a single year. The study, conducted at Michigan Technological University, considered 20 common household items—smartphone cases, a garlic press, a shower head, the list goes on—listed Continue Reading →

While industrial 3D printers often use ventilation shafts and filters to evacuate airborne particles, commercially available printers are often set up in environments with little or no thought about the emissions they might be kicking out. In a new study looking into the particle emissions of home printers, researchers at the Illinois Institute of Technology Continue Reading →

eBay has announced a new iOS app called eBay Exact that lets you buy customizable 3D-printed merchandise on the go. You can download the new addition now directly from Apple’s App Store. The products in question are available from three leading 3D printing companies, according to eBay: Brooklyn-based MakerBot, France-based Sculpteo, and Toronto, Canada-based Hot Continue Reading →

Casts suck. They’re itchy, smelly and ugly, but an essential step in healing a bone. Jake Evill, a recent media design graduate of the Victoria University of Wellington, wants to change that with a 3D printed arm cast that is downright beautiful. Unlike traditional plaster and fiberglass casts, this one is made of nylon, which Continue Reading →

Buttercup the duck was born with his left foot turned backwards, making it nearly impossible and extremely painful to walk. But now he’s waddling again with a 3D-printed foot. Buttercup was born in a high school biology lab in November. Because of his bum foot he was given to Feathered Angels Waterfowl Sanctuary in Arlington, Continue Reading →

On Wednesday, the New York city council introduced a new bill that would make it illegal to use a 3D printer “to create any firearm, rifle, shotgun, or any piece or part thereof,” without being a licensed gunsmith. And even the creator would be required to notify the New York Police Department and register the Continue Reading →

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that 3D printers are helping shoe manufacturers accelerate the prototyping of new shoes. But just how big is that impact? The Financial Times reports that both Nike and Adidas are embracing the semi-new technology and churning out prototypes at “previously impossible” speeds. Adidas previously required a team of 12 Continue Reading →

Every now and then a Kickstarter campaign combines innovation and simplicity with timing to create a real hit on the crowdfunding site: right now that is the case for The Buccaneer, a sub-$400 3D printer ‘for all’. The project from Palo Alto-based Pirate3D Inc only launched on May 30 and already its campaign has passed Continue Reading →

In Shelly’s awesome post on 3D printing,he hints at a future where spare parts will live on files and not shelves. It completely upsets our notion of manufacturing, where commodities are tangible objects. Physical would become virtual. The question would then become: open-source or closed-source? What’s the Difference? Open-source software and application-development tools are available Continue Reading →

Scientists at Princeton University have designed a bionic ear that can hear better than human ears. And get this: It was printed using an off-the-shelf 3D printer. We’ve heard of 3D printers someday building human organs before, but what’s noteworthy about this project is this printed ear intertwines embedded electronics. These Princeton researchers basically 3D-printed Continue Reading →