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!
Celebrate the holidays in style with these adorable MakerBot ornaments, by Thingaverse user rplumley. They don’t seem to be available for sale, but you can of course print one at home with your own MakerBot (or Reprap).
From Thingiverse user gianteye. This is how I’ve seen the world pretty much since 1994 or so. CROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!
Will Langford, the Tufts student who created printable shop glasses on his MakerBot and rendered Thom Yorke’s head in 3D, has now printed a Sumbot chassis for an Arduino-driven sumo. Nice work, Will! It’s so cute! Will’s page on Thingiverse More: Print your own glasses Radiohead´s Thom Yorke printed in 3D
I branded myself, about 8 years ago, with a cookie cutter and a blowtorch. The first time my dad saw it, he asked if someone had held me down and mutilated me in some kind of gangland reprisal. Dad thinks my life is a lot more exciting than it actually is.
Anyhoo, Cory just boinged this link to the Shapeways blog, wherein is described a nifty little 3D-printed metal branding iron they’ve developed, which clicks onto a standard disposable butane lighter and is fully customizable with your own logo/gang sign/frat house letters. Click the iron in place, flick the Bic for 30 seconds, and you’re ready to burn some skin!
If you don’t enjoy the smell of your own curdled flesh, this could be a great tool for hallmarking those little handmade wooden widgets you sell on Etsy, or whatever.
[via Boing Boing]
So I was really stoked this morning to read this post over on the Thingiverse Blog about the advent of OpenSCAD, which does for 3D CAD what POV-Ray did for raytracing. At long last, you can program your 3D CAD models instead of sculpting them. And it’s free! I can hardly wait to try it out.
Charles Pax is working on a new MakerBot extruder he’s aptly calling the Paxtruder. It makes it super easy to change out the plastic filament, and can even be butted up against another one of itself for potential support material extrusion one day. Check out the plans on Thingiverse.
Qi Pan, a PhD candidate at the Engineering Department of Cambridge University, has developed a novel approach to capturing 3D objects with a standard webcam.
