The Shapeways Blog: 3D Printing News & Innovation
Entries from July 2012
Tuesday, July 24. 2012
Acoustabowl: From Idea to Reality
Michael Williams, Shapeways forum moderator, had an idea one day...
It started one slow day at work. I wanted to sit my phone in a way that I could see the screen, charge it, and listen to a podcast. I set it up against my scanner, and the charger would make it fall over. When I put the phone in a cup I instantly noticed the sound being amplified. I could see the screen, hear the phone, and charge it! But I could not touch the screen as practically half the phone was in the cup. So I looked for something I could put my phone in that would solve this. I put it in a bowl, and was instantly sold.
So I decided to prototype my design using 123D Make. I tried some different versions and even made a paper model. I ended up making one out of cardboard using the stacked slices option. This option will make a fully solid model. So you will have more pieces to cut, but if you are using scissors as I was, it will make it so you do not have interlocking pieces that would be hard to cut out. After a few hours of cutting the paper, tracing onto the cardboard, cutting the cardboard, and hot gluing the cardboard, I had my prototype!
It worked great! With my prototype I noticed I was not able to hook up my charger while it was in the Acoustabowl. So I raised up the stand, and moved it out so that it would still hold phones leaning back and would now be able to hook up a charger.
I 3D modelled two versions for two different materials and ordered in Glossy Black Ceramic and Polished Alumide. Now I have 2 sweet phone stands for smooth music listening!
Check out the video to see the prototype progression and hear the Acoustabowl in action...and get one for yourself in his Shapeways Shop!
How a Handy iPhone Charger Wrap Came to Life Across Continents with 3D Printing
Today Michiel Cornelissen is introducing the US/Canadian version of The Wrap, a little accessory that attaches to the USB end of the iPhone charger. It mirrors the charger's prongs, to create a convenient way to store the charger cable.
There is a little story behind how the European, then the US version of the Wrap came into being.
I originally designed The Wrap for the European iPhone charger, simply trying to get rid of an annoyance I'd been experiencing myself. Of course, the European iPhone charger is very different from the one in the US and other countries, so on the web page, I put up a note, saying that if I received 100 e-mails requesting a US/Canadian version of The Wrap, I'd try to design one. I thought that, at most, a trickle of e-mails over a few months would amount to the 100 e-mails.
But then Cult of Mac wrote this: http://www.cultofmac.com/169108/the-wrap-an-unbelievably-beautiful-and-elegant-way-to-manage-your-iphone-charger/... and I had my 100 e-mails within 24 hours. I had to get to work, and through the miracle of Shapeways 3d printing, the first US version was ready 19 days later. (And most of that time was spent waiting for someone to ship a US charger to me.)
I did some tweaks, tested it, got the photography and webpage done, and here we are.
Monday, July 23. 2012
The Shape of What's to Come: Our New Look & Feel
The spark. It appears late at night, in a daydream, while doing a million other things. It often scurries across the forefront of your mind when you least expect it. But that fleeting spark, that spark has the potential to turn into a design, a product, a company, a community.
Starting today, Shapeways has a new look and feel. It starts with the spark - the idea, the laser - and continues with you, and the future that the Shapeways community is making a reality.
Why the change? Just as the 3D printing materials have improved and your designs have increased in complexity and beauty, we started growing out of our old clothes. We felt the need to break out of the box as this future is boundless. We also wanted to show your designs in the best possible light, and alas, our old sad dolphin blue isn't flattering on anyone.
Most importantly, though, we wanted to make sure that the experience you have on Shapeways.com and in the wild has deep roots in our core values.
While we could continue to wax poetic about our inspiration and color theories, hopefully the design speaks for itself. Many thanks to our talented design team and engineers who made this real. And big thanks to the whole team for tirelessly shaping what's to come.
Check out the Shapeways Look & Feel for more.
Following are the icons we will be using in the future in the png format.
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Friday, July 20. 2012
Thursday, July 19. 2012
Shapeways new 3D printer driving quality to NYC!
Bad puns aside, check out this TINY CAR designed by David Sun....look closely and you'll see it has SHAPEWAYS on its roof!
This amazing level of detail is possible printing in Frosted Ultra Detail...with our brand new 3D Systems ProJet printer located right here in New York!
This car was created for us, but you can get your own tiny car in David's Shapeways Shop!
Stay tuned for more updates as the Factory of the Future takes shape...
3D Printed DIY Minecraft Binary Clock
The ultimate geek timekeeper? 3D Printed DIY Minecraft Binary Clock, yes....
This is a binary clock that was built into a 3d printed case created in Minecraft. It shows the current time in a binary coded decimal format. The model was exported with the free tool Mineways and printed on a Zprinter 650 3d printer, with a block size of 25mm3 (so every block has an edge length of 5mm). After printing, LEDs were glued into the case after filing the openings a bit wider. Then, the LEDs were soldered to form a 4x4 LED matrix, and the matrix was connected to an Arduino board. Next steps will be to tidy up the wiring and add some buttons to set the clock to the right time (right now this has to be done in the code).
Wednesday, July 18. 2012
POP : Portable Power Supply for your Mobile Devices : Approved by the Mayor of Maui
Another great Kickstarter project that uses 3D Printing to help bring ideas into reality is the POP Portable Charging station by James Siminoff. James used his Makerbot to do the first prototypes then 3D Printed the final version seen in the video using Shapeways.
It is a great idea and another fantastic example of using desktop 3D Printing to iterate and resolve a design, Shapeways 3D Printing to get a high quality production ready prototype (or product), and Kickstarter to promote, gain support and fund the manufacture of the project...
You can back the project now on Kickstarter with confidence, as it is powered by 3D Printing and approved by the Mayor of Maui....
Tuesday, July 17. 2012
3d Printed Handcuff Keys Challenge Assumed Security
German hacker and security consultant who goes by the name "Ray" demonstrated Friday at the Hackers On Planet Earth conference in New York a 3d printed & laser cut keys that open high security handcuffs. He was able to open handcuffs built by the German firm Bonowi and the English manufacturer Chubb who both use a single key design for their products. Although the keys are purportedly harder to come by than more standard cuffs & not commercially available, Ray says he bought a Chubb key from eBay, and obtained the rarer Bonowi key through an unnamed source. He reverse engineered the keys & built CAD models that he then cut in plexiglass with a laser cutter and printed in ABS plastic with a Repman 3D printer.
Ray, says his goal isn't to reduce security but to expose the vulnerability. He states, that his tools are already available to criminals along with the rest of the public. "If someone is planning a prison or court escape, he can do it without our help." says Ray. He says he won't post CAD models online, given that those keys are harder to obtain and providing models for their reproduction could in fact reduce their real-world security. But their availability should serve as a wake-up call. The cuffs' applications include restraints for airplane passengers & plastic keys can easily be carried through airport security. "People who have a high value goal don't mind the cost of using a higher cost method. Someone with a higher criminal goal doesn't care if it takes one dollar or one hundred dollars to make this key" he says. "Lock security was broken before. I've just made it easier."
I submit that the zip tie style thumb cuffs are just as effective & cheaper than the old-timey metal ones particularly now that the keys are so easily reproduceable. Hey, you could print the zip ties too!
Thursday, July 12. 2012
How Your Designs Go Viral : Case Study of the 3D Printed Rocket Espresso Cup
We have seen quite a few of your Shapeways 3D Printed Products go viral through social media recently which brings a massive spike in traffic to a particular product, their shop and the rest of the Shapeways site. Following is a quick case study of how the 3D Printed Rocket Espresso Cup went viral over the past week.
It all started with an awesome design, the Rocket Espresso Cup by Isohedral which was 3D Printed in Ceramics by Shapeways. On June 30th the designer took some beautiful, warm, well composed photographs of the cup in the context of use, uploaded them to Flickr and tagged them with Shapeways as we suggest to help us find them.
On the 3rd of July I was taking a look at the latest Shapeways tags on Flickr when I noticed the beautiful images of the Rocket Espresso so I shared one to our Tumblr feed.
On 4th of July I checked our Tumblr account and saw that 600 caffeine and rocket lovers online had either shared or liked the image so I quickly posted another image on Tumblr to whet the interets appetite while I drafted a post for the Shapeways Blog.
Here is where things get interesting...
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Monday, July 9. 2012
3D Printing Automotive Additions to Make Your Volvo Complete
Sometimes when you buy a new car you can find there is a little something missing, whether it be an extra-large cup holder, iPhone mount or a custom gear shifter. Mark Moore found his new Volvo C30 came with the facility to hang dry cleaning but they provided no hook, only a slot. The solution, a 3D Printed hook to support coat hangers that slides right into the provided slot.
Mark has designed a long and a short version, the bottom of the longer version can be seen from outside the vehicle through the back window so that you can hang your cleaning without craning your neck inside the door to see what your doing. However, the long hook is long enough that you may want to remove it temporarily if you are going to have rear-seat passengers. An elegant solution to perfectly fit the functionality and aesthetic of the car....
Check out some more of the 3D Printed Volvo compatible parts in the Shapeways gallery.
Is the 3D Printed "DESIGNED TO WIN" the World's Fastest Shoe?
French-born engineer and designer Luc Fusaro, a student at the Royal College of Art in London, claims he has invented the world's fastest running shoe. Using 3d scans, the "Designed to Win" shoe is designed around the unique shape of a runner's foot, weighs 96 grams, and it can improve performance by as much as 3.5% (about .35 seconds in a 100-meter dash). The shoe is not designed for long distance but for sprinter's that time is the difference between silver and gold. Unfortunately it will not be available for the upcoming Olympics but Fusaro hopes to have it ready for the 2016 games.
see also: Biomimicry Shoe, Exoskeleton Shoe
Friday, July 6. 2012
Friday Finds: 3D Printed Designs From the Shapeways Community
Happy Friday everyone! For today's picks, we have a selection of products that demonstrate the power of pairs.
Two Piece Shade by Bettina Nissen Design, with an interlocking mechanism inspired by an easy open and close bikini clip.
Anvil Cufflinks by GothamSmith. They do the heavy lifting on function and form.
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