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!
OK, almost entirely: The actual cutting is done by a metal drill bit. Everything else, however, is Lego system elements. It looks like the machine uses a “raster” type subtractive process, covering the surface of the block in a close-packed grid of holes, each of which is drilled to an appropriate depth to form the final surface contours.
Charles Stross’ excellent new novel, Rule 34 (Ace Books), is a futuristic police procedural set in a near-future Edinburgh, in which 3D printing has become boringly ubiquitous. You can buy safe, prepackaged 3D printers at the local housewares shop, and they’re handy for whipping up generic replacement parts for broken appliances (at one point a […]
I got my hands on a Kinect a while back (thanks to Ashley Burns of Waggener Edstrom for sending me one to mess around with), and I’ve been itching to scan something and print it on my MakerBot Thing-O-Matic. I got as far as scanning things with Kyle McDonald’s KinectToStl, but as I have no skills with 3d modeling software, I had no clue how to turn it into something printable. I tried printing some of the STL files I got out of that tool, but they were way too complex. With some open source software, a few simple steps, and an occasional not-so-simple-step here and there, you can print what your Kinect can see.
Professor Arthur J. Olson of Scripps demonstrates a 3D printed model of a virus that self assembles when shaken. Olson is head of the Molecular Graphics Laboratory, which uses 3D computer models, 3D printing, and augmented reality to create tools for life science researchers and educators. He is also the project leader of Fight Aids […]
George Hadley of West Lafayette, IN, has been building the most lovely RepRap Mendel using 3D-printed parts. You can view his voluminous Flickr set or read his blog for more details.
The new Ultimaker 3D printer made in the Netherlands has arrived in the United States. The machine, which prints bigger and faster than the MakerBot printers, was created by three Dutch makers who met at the Fab Lab in Utrecht, Holland two years ago. The lab is one of dozens of digital fabrication centers around the world affiliated with MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms.
The hot Thingiverse thing on my radar this week is this hot shoe mount for a Zoom audio recorder for the top of your camera.
