Make Parts Fast

Using FDM to go from concept to market

After her young daughter spilled Cheerios all over the back seat of the minivan for the (last) time, Melinda Shepard shared the idea of a “spill-proof bowl” with her husband Brad, an engineer. Brad Shepard turned to the engineers at Enventys, a “one-stop shop for inventors,” who used 3D printing technology to turn Shepard’s bowl-in-bowl concept into the Gyro Bowl, a marketable... Read More

Sciaky, Penn State University, and DARPA advance Direct Digital Manufacturing technology

Sciaky, Inc., a service-disabled, veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB) and leading provider of additive manufacturing (AM)/3D printing solutions, is teaming up with the Applied Research Laboratory at Pennsylvania State University to advance Direct Digital Manufacturing (DDM) technology, via funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Under terms of the agreement,... Read More

The Dimension 3D printer celebrates 10 years

Stratasys (Nasdaq: SSYS) is celebrating the 10-year anniversary of the Dimension 3D printer line. Introduced in 2002 at $29,900, the Dimension 3D Printer opened new possibilities for designers; it is a reliable, compact, simple-to-use machine. Its introduction enabled designers to not only produce models for design verification, but also to test function because the printer uses... Read More

3D printing—an industry in flux

The initial question from the early developers of rapid prototyping (RP) technology (now known as 3D printing) was, “Is there a better way to prototype?” The answer became stereolithography, fused deposition modeling, and other technologies now labeled 3D printing. That question has now shifted to, “Is there a better way to make?” And the answer here will likely be the personal... Read More

3D Systems begins next-day shipment service

3D Systems Corporation (NYSE:DDD) announced that it will begin next-day shipment service for its popular 3DTouch™ printers in response to growing customer demand. The 3DTouch™ printer is a personal 3D printer equipped with up to three print heads and a wide choice of print materials and colors. It can mix up to three different print materials and colors during its print cycle... Read More

First a jaw–medical applications of 3D printing

The news of a 3D printer-created lower jaw made of titanium powder has been populating the twitter-verse.   While this is probably a first time attempt to actually implant something like this in a human body, 3D printer companies like EOS  and others have been working on developing 3D printed implantable medical parts for several years. Layerwise, a specialized metal-parts manufacturer... Read More

Have we reached an agreement on what to call this industry?

Did you miss it? Todd Grimm, long time follower and analyst of the Additive Manufacturing/3D printing industry recently declared that the term 3D printing, by popular usage, is the official name of this industry. Two years ago, ASTM attempted to establish an official name and sort of settled on Additive Manufacturing. But, due to the popular hobby/maker style of 3D printers and... Read More

3D printed car dashboard on display at SolidWorld World 2012

Objet Ltd. announced that it will showcase a full-size, 3D printed car dashboard from StreetScooter 
at this year’s SolidWorks World in San Diego from February 12-15. Shown for 
the first time in the United States, the five-foot wide fully-assembled dashboard prototype was created with multi-material printing, including Objet’s ABS-like Digital Material, and features a display... Read More

A simple scanning tool for personal 3D printers

In the personal 3D printer field, one concern is whether the average user not trained in CAD will get any benefit from these devices sufficient to sustain the growth of this nascent  industry. If you’ve never designed anything in your life, how do you go about doing it? And, despite their simplicity, the current group of personal 3D printers does assume that users have some familiarity... Read More

3D printing shaves time-to-market for water heater manufacturer

Using a ZPrinter® to create prototypes in-house, A. O. Smith, a leading global manufacturer of water heating equipment, is shaving weeks off product development, saving substantial cost as well as time. Through the use of this 3D printer, they iterate more productively and thoroughly refine designs, according to the R&D team. “Instead of commissioning aluminum molds or sending... Read More