3D Printing & Imaging

If you’re a maker, 3d printing is an incredibly useful tool to have in your arsenal. Not only can it help bring your projects to life faster, but it can also offer unique results that would be difficult (or impossible!) to achieve with traditional methods. In these blog posts, we’ll provide you with some essential information and tips regarding 3D printing for makers—including the basics of how to get started, plus creative tutorials for spicing up your projects. Whether you’re already familiar with 3d printing or are just starting out, these resources will help take your game-making skills even further!

Zero to Maker: Five New-Maker Pitfalls (and How to Manage Them)

Zero to Maker: Five New-Maker Pitfalls (and How to Manage Them)

When I started this Zero to Maker journey, I was inspired by the idea that I could become a self-made industrial designer – that I could bypass an expensive education by learning only what I really needed to get started. Now that I’ve started down the road, I’ve realized that it’s a very long road. The good news is that I remain committed to my initial belief that there’s a less expensive (and faster) way to learn: through a strategic blend of internet resources, access to the right tools, and involvement in a community of like-minded makers. Most important for me, however, has been the commitment to trying to figure out and examine more of what I don’t know.

Continue Reading David Lang22
FDM Printing With Polycarbonate

FDM Printing With Polycarbonate

Rich was curious about printing with polycarbonate (PC), but couldn’t find any definitive answers to his questions online. So he bought a roll of 1.6mm PC filament and started experimenting, and his reports are fairly glowing. PC melts hotter than ABS or PLA, is more rigid, and comes out of the printer cloudy, which some have suggested may be due to atmospheric moisture.

Continue Reading Sean Michael Ragan8
MAKE’s Exclusive Interview with Bre Pettis of MakerBot: Life, M in Funding, and Beyond

MAKE’s Exclusive Interview with Bre Pettis of MakerBot: Life, $10M in Funding, and Beyond

MakerBot Industries is a company founded in January 2009 by Bre Pettis, Adam Mayer, and Zach Smith, producing an open source 3D printer to democratize manufacturing. You order it, build it, and you have a machine that can make almost anything. I met Bre years ago when he lived in Seattle and was a public school teacher, and I helped get him a job working with MAKE. Since then, he’s worked with Etsy, had his own TV show, founded MakerBot, got $10 million in funding, and just became a dad. After I saw the funding announcement, I asked Bre if I could ask him some really tough questions about what this means for makers and other companies. As usual, Bre answered them with style and grace as only Bre can. The questions I ask range from his time at MAKE to the future of MakerBot. Enjoy!

Continue Reading Phillip Torrone22