Digital Fabrication « Ponoko

DIY fishing lures from 3D printed models and silicone molds May 16

Ponoko-made project by Kevin Taylor

Kevin Taylor was the ‘T’ in T&C Lures, a small business started by two guys who loved to fish in the San Diego bay. His partner (the ‘C’ in T&C) was taking a CNC machining class and “just wanted the challenge” of creating his own lures. Their first product, the swimgrub shown below, made the rounds at fishing forums and quickly became very popular.

But after just a few months of starting the company, C moved on and Kevin was left to carry on design and production. He would either have to pay a lot of money to a product development agency or learn to do it himself. So he decided to dive in and learn.

After some initial research on CAD and rapid prototyping, he came across SketchUp 3D design software and Ponoko’s 3D printing service.

Rather than make CNC machined masters for molding the lures and bait, Kevin decided to try 3D printed models. Below are images of his SketchUp designs as well as a model he produced with Rhino.

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Posted in 3D Printing, Functional Art + Objects, Maker Stories by Kristen Turner | 1 Comment

Custom circuit boards with an Othermill CNC mill May 16

Easily make circuit boards, jewelry, and other detailed objects with this new desktop CNC.

There are a lot of options for CNC mills right now (and I mean a lot), but it’s rare to see one with the precision necessary to mill a custom circuit board. Finding one at a reasonable cost is simply unheard of.

The Othermill from Otherfab fills that need nicely. With it you can quickly and easily mill any circuit board your heart desires. Now all of your projects can have circuits seamlessly integrated into the design. Since it is compatible with any 1/8″ bit (like a dremel), it can also be used for a variety of other applications from jewelry to precisely machined mechanical parts.

Currently raising funds on Kickstarter, the Othermill started at $1000 for early adopters.
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Posted in CNC Routing, Electronics + Robotics, Hardware, Taylor Gilbert by Taylor Gilbert | 1 Comment

Capturing lightning in 3D May 15

Two photographs combined to model the path of a lightning strike

A chance encounter made possible by the informational maelstrom otherwise know as Reddit has resulted in this dynamic reconstruction of a lightning strike.

The animated image above is a render produced in Blender, and you can see how it all came together in a brief but informative post over on Richard Wheeler’s Calculated Images blog. In short, two separate photographers happened to snap pictures of the same bolt of lightning from slightly different positions. Richard then took these pictures and applied them in a similar manner to the way a stereoscopic image is resolved. (more…)

Posted in 3D Printing, Art, Guy Blashki by Guy Blashki | No Comments

The return of shop class, accessible CNC for everyone May 9

guest post from Danielle Appletone of Otherfab

This is the story of Otherfab. I doubt you’ve heard of us, but I think our story is a good one.

Four months ago, we were working on the future of this country: digital design and computer-controlled manufacturing tools for the STEM education of our children.

So many people in government had worked very hard to carve out the funding for a truly radical program to put shop class back into high schools with a focus on integrating modern technology. It was the first time I had worked so closely with a government organization, and I was blown away by how much they cared about our mission. Maybe that says more about me then them, but either way, it made me happy.

We were about to begin deploying our program into 1000 high schools when the sequester hit. For a small company like us, a sequester-induced delay and complete financial uncertainty of several months was crippling. We had very little buffer and a young team that absolutely could not be furloughed.

But here’s where it gets good.

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Posted in CNC Routing, Hardware by Ponoko Team | No Comments

Laser cut wooden record May 9

Digital music goes analog once again

We’ve encountered Amanda Ghassaei and her digitally fabricated records before, when she 3D printed some rockin’ tracks that were playable on a standard turntable. This time around, she has turned her talents towards exploring the potential of laser cutting to get her groove on.

The visual impact of this laser cut timber is stunning, but how does a record cut from Maple actually sound? As you’ll hear when you click through to the video after the break, we aren’t really talking hi-fidelity… however as an experimentation it is very interesting indeed. (more…)

Posted in Functional Art + Objects, Guy Blashki, Laser Cutting, Technology by Guy Blashki | No Comments

Forme launches new 3D design library May 3

Bring your work to life with digital tableware and animal bones!

Sourcing high resolution models for design work (and 3D printing) can be difficult and expensive. There are a fair number of free community 3D models on the web, but many are low quality or have restrictions against commercial use.

That’s where Forme It, a new service that sells high resolution 3D models, comes in.

Forme It’s library of 3D models is broken down into three main areas: Reference, Classic, and Modern. Reference contains models of the natural world, sorted into animal, plant, and mineral. Classic is for functional designs, currently holding a variety of tableware. And Modern at present has a few patterns to texture items with.

To help people actually use the content that they buy, Forme It has started a series of long-form YouTube tutorials. The idea is show one of the available designs used in a practical way, like this tree bark scan made into a container using Blender: (more…)

Posted in 3D Printing, Derek Quenneville by Derek Quenneville | 1 Comment

Awesome laser cut Castle Under Attack features working catapult & trebuchet May 2

Ponoko-made project by Andrea Garuti

Andrea Garuti’s engineering skills earned him the grand prize in the GrabCAD/SolidSmack laser cut toy design competition.

His castle-under-attack toy model — complete with draw bridges, trebuchet, catapult, battleram, and a basilica — blew away all the judges.

Andrea’s inspiration came from the medieval history surrounding his home near Modena, Italy. “It’s not a strict reproduction of a real castle. I wanted to include as many medieval elements as I could,” he says.

As part of the prize, Ponoko sponsored free laser cutting for the winner. Andrea’s epic design required thirty-two P3 (about 31″x15″) size sheets. Rather than ship an entire castle battle over from the US, we worked with our friends Vectorealism, a laser cutting service based in Milan, to have Andrea’s design made closer to home.

The picture below of Andrea’s son standing behind the castle walls demonstrates just how big this toy is!

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Posted in Architecture, Laser Cutting, Maker Stories, Toys + Games by Kristen Turner | No Comments

Reshaping NYC with 3D printing April 30

D-Shape Concrete printing awarded first place in Waterfront Construction Competition.

When Hurricane Sandy blasted some 565 miles of coastline across NYC, seawalls and other coastal features received quite a battering. Seeking out novel approaches to repairing and redeveloping these damaged areas, the NYCEDC competition “Change the Course” has awarded a $50,000 first prize to concrete 3D printer D-Shape.

The D-Shape proposal is to scan damaged infrastructure, design and fabricate encasements and extensions to the existing surfaces and then fabricate them off-site. (more…)

Posted in 3D Printing, Guy Blashki, Technology by Guy Blashki | No Comments

Can 3D printing go green? Bay area conference to brainstorm on ethics & sustainability of 3D printing April 29

May 2-4 in San Francisco

With 3D printing gaining traction as the democratization of manufacturing, now is the time to discuss the environmental impact and envision a sustainable future for this rapidly growing industry.

To anser the question ‘Can 3D printing go green?’ Swissnex, an organization that fosters connections between Switzerland and San Francisco, is coordinating a multi-day forum on 3D printing and biomaterials.

All are welcome to attend The Ethics and Sustainability of 3D Printing conference this Thursday in San Francisco. The four hour event includes speaker presentations, panel discussions, demos, and a reception. Advanced tickets are just $10, and free for students under 25.

There will also be a hands-on workshop on Saturday for creating your own biomaterials.

On Friday, experts ranging from business leaders and venture capitalists to government funded researchers and academic scholars will convene to discuss their insights, debate future scenarios, and develop a roadmap for achieving sustainability across the 3D printing industry.

• Get tickets for the conference here.
• Get tickets for the workshop here.

Posted in 3D Printing, Events by Kristen Turner | 2 Comments