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!
Being able to ask “what if…” and getting a print a few minutes later is part of what makes 3D printing so amazing. You might not be able to print a flying car or jetpack anytime soon, but rather, indulging creative curiosity to further the next big thing brings the future that much closer. Therefore, Joaquin Baldwin’s 3D-printed bacon Möbius strips are even cooler than originally thought, and a steal at $19 from Shapeways.
Next Thursday, the first of our new International Maker Meetups is happening. The idea here is to get makers all over the world together, to talk about the latest issue of MAKE, and making in general, hang out with like-minded people in your area, and hopefully have a lot of fun. The main subject of this meet up will be 3D printing and our just-printed Make: Ultimate Guide to 3D Printing.
Thingiverse user Chris designed this 3D-printed punch card reader and posted it on the site.
Apparently even Dilbert’s office just got a new 3D printer.
MAKE’s 3D printer buyer’s guide hits the newsstands Nov. 20. Join the editors of MAKE for a sneak peak on Monday for a special Google+ Hangout on Air Nov. 5 at 2pm PST and 5pm EST
Zach “Hoeken” Smith is a co-founder of MakerBot, but he left the company 18 months ago and now calls Shenzhen, China home. In addition to pursuing his own projects he’s the program director for Haxlr8r , San Francisco-based hardware start-up incubator. As part of MAKE’s coverage of the “maker pro” space, I recently interviewed Zach about his work in China.
The phenomenon we call the Maker Movement is characterized by many things, among them the ability to cheaply and quickly prototype hardware. Open hardware principles, collaborative design, and crowd funding are contributing factors, but perhaps the most empowering is access to inexpensive computer-controlled tools and software. If there’s someone who embodies what’s possible with this array of tools, it’s Printrbot founder Brook Drumm.
