Tag: 3d Printing

Some of the coolest stuff turns up on Kickstarter. I remember when the 3Doodler first showed up there a few years ago, I thought that was really cool but didn’t like the idea of expensive filaments to purchase to keep using the pen.

Zoetropes are pretty cool. You know, those things that you spin and they display a mini animation. PinShaper KitCameo created this fun 3D printed bicycle rim zoetrope. Once you see it, plain old bicycle rims will never do again.

YouTuber Charles Mangin is a big fan of Apple’s classic computers, even the apocalypse in a box known as the Apple III. Last year, Charles designed a Raspberry Pi case based on the disastrous PC. It may not look like much, but it’s actually a physical representation of Charles’ love for Apple (and making).

One of the dream – or nightmare – scenarios involving robots are ones that would automatically replicate or create other bots. One of the biggest hurdles for such a system is putting a robots’ parts together. 

It’s hard to 3D print a transparent object because even if the raw material itself is clear, you’ll need to completely fill any gaps at the right temperature and speed in order to avoid imperfections. ColorFabb claims that its new HT Clear filament makes it easier to print transparent objects thanks to its high flow rate.

You can choose from any number of door knockers if you want to make your door look really cool, but honestly, this dragon door knocker is your best bet if you live in Westeros or Middle Earth.

Last year, we checked out a cheap and open source sip-and-puff mouse for the disabled. CEBA’s GlassOuse seems to be another affordable alternative. It uses Bluetooth to connect to both desktop computers and mobile devices. It looks like a pair of eyeglasses but without the lenses.

Birds are like deer. They symbolize nature, freedom and all those heartwarming concepts, but in truth they can be annoying and cause a lot of damage. They eat crops, interfere at airports, hang out at harbors etc. 

We’ve seen a couple of fan-made wearable Pip-Boy replicas with useful functions. Will Sweatman wanted to make the most advanced Pip-Boy 3000 yet, and he believes he’s succeeded. In exchange for some sizable junk in its trunk, his replica is a Swiss army knife for explorers.

There are many 3D printers that can mix filaments of different colors, as well as those that can print with two or three different types of filament at once. But Stratasys’ new J750 PolyJet 3D printer raises the bar in both aspects, able to print over 360,000 colors and up to six different materials at once.

Thingiverse member Targ was inspired by a fellow designer dutchmogul’s 3D printed rattle mace and made a pair of sword rattles for his baby. Each sword is made of five pieces. Targ printed all of them using PLA filament, with the exception of the jewel, which is made of Taulman’s T-Glase filament.

It’s a tired joke, but there’s a real risk that mass adoption of 3D printing and 3D modeling will equate digital piracy with physical theft. Now it turns out you don’t have to swipe a 3D file to copy a printed object. 

This fun commercial for Dutch parcel company PostNL took advantage of 3D printing to deliver a trumpet that did not exist until after the box that it came in was shipped. With the help of 3D printing expert Joris van Tubergen, PostNL supposedly sent an Ultimaker 2 3D printer (and presumably a power source) through the usual stages of delivery while the machine printed the trumpet.

Behold, Julien de Muyter’s mighty invention! It’s a 3D printed replica of the magical box or chest that houses the animated game boards in Hearthstone. Julien’s model measures about 10″x 8″x 6″ and takes between 20 to 25 hours total to print. 

Three years ago I used one of my cooler puns on the Photon 3D scanner, which I called cheap because you could snag it from its crowdfunding campaign for $390 (USD). CowTech Engineering’s $99 Ciclop 3D scanner takes that crown in a lop-sided price war, and supposedly without sacrificing on quality.

There are a number of tried and tested ways to make custom molds of pretty much any small object, but the creative duo of Eclectical Engineering reminds us that 3D scanning and printing technology is a viable alternative.