A Visit to Shapeways’ 3D Printing Factory

Skulls at Shapeways

A while back, I took Duann Scott up on an offer to visit Shapeways’ factory in Long Island City, New York, so I could see where nylon and lasers come together to make fantastic objects. (And today at 5pm Eastern, you can join the Shapeways engineers in a Google Hangout they are holding from their factory.)

Duann Scott shows off the machines that make stuff out of acrylic
Duann Scott shows off the machines that make stuff out of acrylic
One of the sintering machines
One of the sintering machines
Where nylon powder gets turned into your things
Where nylon powder gets turned into your things
Bulk powder; it won't be long before this becomes someone's design
Bulk powder; it won’t be long before this becomes someone’s design
Duann shows off where objects go to cool down after sintering. If they cool down too fast, the prints will be messed up.
Duann shows off where objects go to cool down after sintering. If they cool down too fast, the prints will be messed up.
"Easter Egg" baths for coloring printed objects
“Easter Egg” baths for coloring printed objects
How about a purple skull?
How about a purple skull?

You can buy the Crania Anatomica Filigre skull shown above on Shapeways: small, medium, large.

Big thanks to Duann for his tour. Next week, he’s giving a couple of workshops in New York City as part of DesignX (four days of affordable hands-on workshops): Intro to 3D Printing Marketplaces and Design to Fab with Autodesk 123D.

As I was saying my farewell at the end of the tour, I asked Duann if he knew about my Providence pal Wayne Losey’s Modibot, a 3d printed action figure. Duann’s answer was that Modibot has a fan club among some of the people at Shapeways. He later sent me some photos from the office to prove it:

photo 2
photo 3

If you’re curious about how and why Modibot came to be, Wayne will be speaking at both the upcoming Hardware Innovation Workshop, and at Maker Faire Bay Area.

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I'm a tinkerer and finally reached the point where I fix more things than I break. When I'm not tinkering, I'm probably editing a book for Maker Media.

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