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!
I know it’s just a video of a 3D printer laying down plastic, but Festo sure does a great job of showing how sexy the hardware is! I love the spool holding the plastic, and the threaded rods spinning as the extruder rises and drops. [via the Technocratic Anarchist]
If you’re interested in doing gel electrophoresis at home, there are certainly easier ways to get a gel casting kit, but I wanted to throw some more props at Thingiverse user cathalgarvey, who has recently also brought us a printable microlathe and a printable centrifuge attachment for a motor tool. He’s fast making a name for himself as a designer of practical printables. Might I suggest a printable microtome next?
The Foresight Institute has announced its Kartik M. Gada Humanitarian Innovation Prize to design and build a better RepRap. There is an interim prize of $20,000, and a grand prize of $80,000. They consulted with the core RepRap team before the announcement and we were initially concerned that the prizes might drive developers to secrecy […]
Check out this great Bre Pettis interview on the Shapeways blog, where he expounds on such things as RepRaps, Thingiverse and ramen. From MAKE magazine: MAKE Volume 21 is the Desktop Manufacturing issue, with how-to articles on making three-dimensional parts using inexpensive computer-controlled manufacturing equipment. Both additive (RepRap, CandyFab) and subtractive (Lumenlab Micro CNC) systems […]
Apparently I’m not the only one charmed by the simple elegance of the Geneva wheel movement (Wikipedia). Thingiverse users PrintTo3D and raumfahrtagentur have created printable and laser-cut-able versions, respectively, of the classic mechanism. PrintTo3D has also posted a YouTube video showing the final printing, assembly, and action of his model.
More component storage, here I come! Check out these modular printable boxes by Thingiverse user Domonoky. [Thanks, Nathan!]
Nick Santillan wrote in to share his collapsible wooden 3-axis CNC machine. He decided to make the machine portable because he didn’t have a permanent space to use, and needed to be able to move it easily.
