Cloud support for fleets of 3D printers

bot

More than ever, 3D printers are being used for small prototype and production runs, and the normal way of using a 3D printer with a single desktop app is becoming more and more out of date. [Zach 'Hoeken' Smith] has a solution to the frustration of printing out multiples of objects: it’s called BotQueue, and allows anyone to submit … Read the rest

DEFCAD, the island of misfit objects

AR

Defense Distributed, the guys working on 3D printed guns and lower receivers for an AR-15, have a storied history with makers, corporations, and our elected representatives. When the news broke they were designing a 3D printed weapon, their $25,000 leased 3D printer was taken away from them. When their designs were too controversial for Thingiverse, they were taken down. Defense … Read the rest

Molding rubber for a pre-production prototype use a 3D printed model

molding-rubber-for-production-models

When you’re getting close to a production run the prototypes really need to hit the mark before pulling the trigger. [Bob's] still hard at work getting his scoreboard off the ground and his most recent endeavor was to find a way to prototype the rubber gasket without blowing his shoestring budget. His solution was to harness the power of 3D … Read the rest

One piece, 3D printed crossbow

bow

Centuries ago, craftsmen and smiths of all sort spent hundreds of hours crafting a crossbow. From the fine craftsmanship that went into making the bow to the impeccable smithing a windlass requires, a lot of effort went into building a machine of war. Since [Chris] has a 3D printer, he figured he could do just as well as these long-dead … Read the rest

Makerbot shows off 3D scanner

scan

We’ve said our piece over Makerbot and their interpretation of what Open Source means, but the fact remains if you’re sourcing a 3D printer for a high school shop class or a hackerspace, you really can’t do much better than a Makerbot Replicator. Apparently Makerbot is looking to expand their 3D design and fabrication portfolio; they just announced an upcoming … Read the rest

Fabricating edible LEDs

fabricating-edible-LEDs

They’re edible, yes. But they don’t light up. That’s fine with us, since the process [Becky Stern] used to make these gummy candy LEDs taps into several techniques handy to have under your belt.

The first part shown in her video (embedded after the jump) is to make a mold for the candies. You probably have a few bags of … Read the rest

Print your own adjustable lenses

3d-printed-eyeglass-lenses[Christopher] is really going the distance with his liquid-filled 3D printed lens project. The idea is to create a bladder out of two pieces of clear plastic. It can then be filled with liquid at a variable level of pressure to curve the plastic and create an adjustable lens. He was inspired by the TED talk (which we swear … Read the rest