There were some questions on the forum lately about printing working hinges and what kind of tolerances you need to make them work. Some test objects were uploaded by pzich and we're currently printing those to see how they work.

While we're waiting for them, we thought we'd share a few insights that we gleaned from some test objects that we already have on our tables here

1. Flexible hinges
Instead of making a mechanical hinge, you can use White Strong & Flexible to make flexible hinges. Here are two example: one using a 'harmonica' structure. In this case the material is about 0.5 mm thick:

Another approach is to make a long, flat piece of plastic which can bend. The material here is about 0.5 mm thick as well:

2. Moving parts

This 'GearCard' was printed as a single model in White Strong & Flexible. You can make moving parts by modeling air gaps between the gear and the axis. Although our minimum tolerance is about 0.1mm, we do suggest that you keep gaps above 0.25mm to be safe (these measures apply to White Strong & Flexible only).

We'll get back to you once the new testparts are in!

Dutch designer Stani Michiels won a contest by the Dutch Ministry of Finance, the goal of which was to design the new 5 euro commemorative coin with the theme 'Netherlands and Architecture'. He explains both the creative and technical process in great detail on his website. An interesting detail: he used only open source software for this project: Python, the Gimp, Inkscape and Phatch (a photo batch processor).

Oh, and before you ask: no, we don't print money

CB Model Pro is an entry level surface modeler that's published by Dassault Systèmes, the creators of SolidWorks. You can use it to create all kinds of objects just by pushing and prodding objects in 3d space - much like working with virtual clay. You'll be using a basic tool set containing tools like Point Pull, Flatten, Bend, Neck, Scale and Poke. You can also draw in 2D on your models and then use these shapes for extruding or bending. Finally you can also 'paint' on your models using colors and decals.

It's a great tool for anyone who wants to get his feet wet in 3d design and it's great fun to play with. Having said that, it's unclear why the product is called 'PRO' because it's certainly lacking a number of pro-features (like having more control over your model and it's dimensions).

Download

CB Model Pro is available for both Windows and Mac OS X, and it's completely free (although after 15 days you'll have to register for a free key to continue using it).

• Download page
• Documentation (884kb, PDF)

Uploading to Shapeways

Due to the nature of this modeler, it's hard to create non-manifold objects, and it contains an STL exporter - the basic ingredients for having your model printed are both in place.

The exported STL files need a bit of cleaning up though - they trigger a 'non manifold' error after uploading to Shapeways (even though they're not!). This is easily solved though by downloading the open source package MeshLab, opening your STL with it and saving it as STL again. The default objects (cube, sphere etc) have a dimension of 1, so you should use 'inches' as the STL unit when uploading.

Tutorials

The website CB Model Pro Fans has published a number of nice video-tutorials and demonstrations that should get you started:

• Tutorial #1 - Basic Blob Shapes (Sphere & Cylinder)
• Tutorial #2 - Basic Blob Shapes (Cone, Cube & Sheet)
• Tutorial #3 - Basic Blob Shapes (Torus)
• Tutorial #4 - Combining Blob Shapes
• Cube to Table
• Cone to Lamp
• Creating delicate features in CB Model Pro
• And even more video-tutorials!

Who says a house has to remain in the same place all the time? The Danish art collective N55, together with engineers from the MIT have designed a house that can simply walk away if you fancy a better spot (say, if a flood is coming or you simply don't like your neighbours anymore). It has all the basic necessities for living on board - a living room, kitchen, toilet, bed and a wood stove.