3D Printing

On Saturday, Defense Distributed—America’s best-known group of 3D gunsmiths—announced on Facebook that its founder, Cody Wilson, now has a federal license to be a gun manufacturer and dealer. The group published a picture of the Type 7 federal firearms license (FFL) to prove it. “The big thing it allows me to do is that it Continue Reading →

While debate rages over using 3D printers to make guns or gun parts, technologies for other possible abuses are emerging — including the ability to cheaply copy and reproduce works of art and jewelry. A few days ago at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas, 3D-printer company MakerBot introduced the other end of Continue Reading →

Fresh off the recent news of a 3D-printed semi-automatic gun and a 3D-printed bong, MakerBot has announced a new prototype that could make scanning objects, digitizing them, and then 3D-printing them even easier. “We are super excited to be able to announce at SXSW Interactive that we are developing the MakerBot Digitizer Desktop 3D Scanner,” Continue Reading →

3D printing technology has helped replace 75% of a patient’s skull with the approval of U.S. regulators. The 3D-printed implant can replace the bone in people’s skulls damaged by disease or trauma, according to Oxford Performance Materials. The company announced it had received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its skull implant Continue Reading →

If vending machines can dispense beer, pizza and movies, why not 3D-printed objects? Combining the hyper-local convenience of Redbox with cutting edge technology, Dreambox is a vending machine that aims to fuel the 3D-printing revolution from the bottom up. Dreambox was created by co-founders David Pastewka, Ricard Berwick and Will Drevno, who all met in Continue Reading →

The bad news: just as much of the world is starting to get excited about the prospects of 3D printing, science is moving on to the world of 4D. The good news: in the future, you might not have to assemble that Ikea chair yourself. “4D printing” is the term cientists are using to refer Continue Reading →

With 3D printing on the verge of going mainstream, you can manufacture almost anything. You can now add a 3D-printed car to that list. The Urbee 2 is a three-wheeled hybrid assembled entirely from parts spat out of 3D printers, reports Wired. Just as Makerbot and Form 1 have changed the way we perceive manufacturing, Continue Reading →

Liam Dippenaar couldn’t catch a ball with both hands. Holding two objects at once was a feat and, though right-handed, the 5-year-old used his left. Born with Ambiotic Band Syndrome, Liam lacks the instrument critical for most tasks: fingers. Thanks to two strangers halfway around the world and the magic of 3D printing, Liam is Continue Reading →

Happy Valentine’s Day! Oh no… forget to get your significant other a gift? No problem … you can just 3D print something at Staples! Well… not yet, but one day soon, you’ll be able to 3D print Valentine’s Day gifts or anything else you can save as a CAD/CAM file with “Staples Easy 3D.”  It’s Continue Reading →

Pretty soon you’ll be able to print your 3-D projects at the local Staples. A new service called “Staples Easy 3D” will allow customers to upload their designs to Staples’ website, then pick up the printed objects at their local office supply megastore, or have them shipped to their home or business — not unlike Continue Reading →