The Laser Cutter Roundup — a weekly dose of laser-cut love: #116
Hey, Sam here collecting the post from The Laser Cutter.
Make sure you join TLC’s Facebook page.
Above is a laser cut corrugated cardboard pig from Manuel Moser.
After the jump, flowers and hair… (more…)
Ponoko-made projects from Tan Tek Wee and Antonio Barber
Last winter Ponoko teamed up with 3D software program ZW3D and 3D model library GrabCAD to 3D print the winners of their Holiday Design Challenge.
There were over 85 entries from around the world, and we’ve checked in with the winners to share their experience and final 3D printed designs.
Tan Teck Wee of Singapore won first prize with his flying toy train.
“I’m always looking out for other CAD software,” says Tan, a professional software developer and 3D printing hobbyist.
As a hobbyist, he was excited to see the quality of the commercial print from Ponoko which was made with a combination of our white Superfine Plastic and green Durable Fine Plastic.
Using a laser cutter to make 3D forms, fast
Pushing the boundaries of what is possible with laser cutting, researchers at the Hasso Plattner Institute have discovered how to make 3D objects using a standard 2D laser cutter.
The technique, dubbed LaserOrigami, takes advantage of carefully controlled changes in calibration that are usually the focus of maintaining a clean cut. Instead, a deliberately de-focused laser is used to heat the plastic enough for the material to bend. Gravity does the rest, as the sheet is alternately cut, heated, bent and turned to produce impressively complex forms.
One of the notable advantages of this technique is the speed at which the 3D form can be achieved. Click through for a comparison between 3D printing, traditional laser cutting and LaserOrigami as well as a video of the laser in action. (more…)
The Laser Cutter Roundup — a weekly dose of laser-cut love: #115
Hey, Sam here collecting the post from The Laser Cutter.
Make sure you join TLC’s Facebook page.
Above is a laser cut fox and babies brooch via Sally Crossthwaite.
After the jump, a crane, an African Village, and Redd at work… (more…)
Good Morning America features 3D printing… back in 1989
It may be 24 years on, but the excitement is still running high for the future of digital manufacturing. Taking us back to a time when 3D printing was truly in its infancy, the following clip from Good Morning America features Charles Hull (3D Systems) amongst other industry pioneers as they explain the technology they had a hand in developing.
We’ve seen the use of 3D printers continue to grow at a rapid pace, and many industries have indeed been transformed. The past few years have seen significant changes as costs continue to fall and the technology becomes more pervasive. Although we are still eagerly anticipating a future where 3D printing is an active part of everyday life, the sentiments of journalist Joan Lunden still hold true.
“It will be really interesting to see how scientists take this now and apply it in the future.”
Click through to watch the 1989 Good Morning America clip. (more…)
The Laser Cutter Roundup — a weekly dose of laser-cut love: #114
Hey, Sam here collecting the post from The Laser Cutter.
Make sure you join TLC’s Facebook page.
Above is a laser cut and etched map of Calgary from Solarbotic with artwork from David Byroe and cut at Protospace.
After the jump, a lamp, feathers, and pagoda… (more…)
The future of 3D printing is in your hands
Launching with acclaim on Kickstarter, the 3Doodler literally puts the power of 3D printing in your hands. Consisting of an oversized pen device, it houses an extruder similar to that used in low-end 3D printers. At the press of a button, PLA or ABS filament emerges to be dynamically controlled into whatever shape you desire.
It’s a little more primitive than the printers we are used to seeing, and the outcomes tend to have a squiggly, sketchy and sculptural look about them. But if you are not looking for technical refinement or digital precision, then the 3Doodler is a really fun way to introduce makers to the concept of additive manufacturing.
Click through for a video overview from the Kickstarter campaign as well as a few more images of forms produced using this nifty handheld 3D printer.
Ponoko-made products by Mariko Carandang
Most small creative companies start with a product — not a business plan. But Mariko Carandang of iluxo was all business right from the beginning.
“One day I decided that I wanted to start a company and start selling things on Etsy,” she says. “I wasn’t already making something that I wanted to sell. I asked myself ‘Now what should I make?”
As a web developer and designer in San Francisco, she had the software skills to jump into digital fabrication. Mariko did lots of product research ranging from materials to manufacturing methods to fashion trends. She finally decided to enter the competitive market of laser-cut jewelry, and the next big question was how to set her designs apart from the crowd.
“Laser-cutting is inherently flat, so I thought a good way to differentiate my first product was to make something 3D. That’s where the idea of creating a locket came from,” she says of her first design.
Arduino, 3D printing, and clever engineering result in an affordable prosthesis.
Easton LaChappelle has made a series of continuously improving robotic hands. The first, which he made at age 14, won 3rd place at the Colorado state science fair, and the second, which we previously covered, won 2nd place at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, the top science fair in the USA. At the Colorado fair he met a little girl who wore an $80,000 prosthetic arm, and he was convinced he could do better.
(more…)
Tutorial shows how to liven up your 3D prints
Are you finding the monochromatic output of your 3D printer a little drab? According to Andre Tiemann, coloured prints are easily achievable and he has written up a neat tutorial explaining how to achieve multiple hues… and you don’t even need to have the latest high-tech equipment.
With dual-head extruders becoming more and more commonplace, coloured prints may not seem so exceptional – but what sets Andre’s efforts apart is that he is producing multiple colours from a single extruder.
Referring to the prints as 2.5D (rather than full-blown 3D objects), he explains the process of colour swapping based on layer height to radically change the appearance of the printed object.
“…while this isn’t a breakthrough in 3D printing, it is a fun technique to liven up prints.”
Instructables via 3Ders
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