Just in time for Maker Faire in New York, we have our latest 3D Printer up and running in NYC.

This is the first of an army of Selective Laser Sintering machines we are installing in our "factory of the future" we are currently building in New York City (Long Island City to be precise). We are using this EOS machine to laser sinter your Nylon plastic parts. This is the second printer we've installed in our temporary space after starting with UV cured acrylic this summer. We have some more exciting news coming up over the next few weeks as we continue to expand our materials and processes in NYC, so stay tuned.

If you are in New York this weekend, be sure to come and visit us in the 3D Printer Pavilion, zone D at the New York Hall of Science in Queens, take a look at some cool 3D Prints and meet the Shapeways team.

So you want to enter the iPhone 5 contest we are running to win $500 worth of 3D Printing but you do not know where to start? We uploaded some files to TinkerCad so you can get started and now the team from TinkerCad have taken it one step further with a really handy video showing how to customize an iPhone case in TinkerCad.

TinkerCad is a perfect tool to get started designing for 3D Printing thanks to it's drag and drop capabilities.  Because it is browser based you never need to download or update the software. You always have the latest version.

Thanks again to the team at TinkerCad for putting the video together... 

It Arrived!!!

The first 3D Printed iPhone 5 has landed at Shapeways and along with it an update to the design for the iPhone 5 case templates for the contest we are running at Shapeways where you can win $500 worth of 3D Printing by designing an accessory for the iPhone 5.

There are already over 30 3D Printed products already available on Shapeways to fit the iPhone 5, enter your design in the contest to win.

We have updated the downloadable files for customization now that we have been able to test the fit, especially around the corners for the iPhone 5, the case can be downloaded here, and the bumper here. 

Teenage Engineering not only make one of the sexiest synthesizers but also get the prize for being the first electronics company to offer their replacement parts as downloadable 3D Printed files.

This is the first company that I have seen so far that offer replacement parts to be 3D Printed by their consumers.  This is an incredibly smart move as it takes away the need for them to warehouse and distribute replacement parts.  It also means that their fans have an opportunity to modify and customize aspects of their synthesizers.

We work hard to make our OP-1 users happy with free OS updates and added functionality. But sometimes we fail. As some have noted, the shipping cost of the OP-1 accessories is very high. This is because we can't find a good delivery service for small items. Meanwhile, we have decided to put all CAD files of the parts in our library section for you to download. The files are provided in both STEP and STL format. Just download the files and 3D print as many as you want. Next fail is the OP-1 manual update. We are almost there...we promise it will be ready sometime next week. Thank you all for your patience, we promise to work even harder in the future to make you happy.

Teenage OP-1 "fail" Team

The parts are now available on Shapeways if you need to 3D Print replacement parts for your OP-1 synthesizer. 

Teenage Engineering, we LOVE you.... 

As Ikea starts to use more 3d renders of products in it's catalogues Kickstarter has changed it's guidelines on new product and hardware projects stating the product renderings are prohibited and that product images must be photos of the prototype as it currently exists.

This is interesting from a number of angles:

1. Ikea is using 3D Renders as it is faster and cheaper than photographing an object in different settings, it also means they can prepare the catalogue artwork before the product is in production.  Ikea as a brand is reliable enough that we understand the basic quality of product we will receive if we purchase from the catalogue.
2. Kickstarter is moving away from 3D renders so backers can better understand the quality of the product they will receive. The projects on Kickstarter are not (often) from a reliable brand, so people are taking a risk that they can actually deliver the product they promise, to an acceptable quality, in a timely manner.
3. 3D Printing your Kickstarter project with Shapeways, either as a prototype like the Glif, or as the final product as Joshua Harker has done gives you the opportunity to show that you have a better chance of delivering a viable product.
4. Shapeways renders your 3D model as soon as you upload it so you can preview your design before you 3D Print it for yourself.  We recommend that you do 3D Print and photograph any product you would like to sell so that your customers can see exactly what they will get.  Like Ikea, uploading photorealistic renders is often faster and cheaper than taking photographs but like Kickstarter potential buyers of your designs are relying on these images to determine the look, feel and scale of the design as proof that your design will work. This is the reason we only promote products that have photographs, not renders to ensure that your customers have a better understanding of what they will receive.

We would love to get your thoughts, are there any scenarios where you think a render is suitable?

via Solidsmack Image Cunicode

Who wants 3D Printed food when you can dine in elegantly decayed style with the range of cutlery in 3D Printed sterling silver designed by Eragatory.

Cutlery refers to any hand implement used in preparing, serving, and especially eating food. Aside of the functional aspect of tableware, silverware has always been and will perpetually be an ornamental figure. Conceived to pleasure the eye while fulfilling one of our most primary needs of food consumption and or squander. Cutlery is unique in its ability to sustain time and carries a remarkable family heritage. Sets of knifes, spoons, forks have been passed on from generation to generation all over the globe, traveling the whole world as a piece of personal history. Key elements while designing this set was the notion of decay/processing, ornamental and aesthetic excess as in former rococo and barock times, moments of collapse/disequilibrium and a balance in between etiquette dining and painful torture tools. By subverting the logic of perfection and beauty, non-perfect images coming from controlled methodologies were generated. What used to be about mastering the result of a non-perfect process is now about the production of monstrosity and the grotesque throughout very accurate mechanisms, like 3d printing. Which creates an unlimited range of possibilities concerning material usage, design approaches/aesthetics and form production.

Only once a technology becomes boring does it truly start to make fundamental changes to the way we live our lives.

The internet is amazing at connecting people around the globe, social media gives us all voice to simultaneously broadcast to many and have intimate conversations in both real time and asynchronous fashion, but it only becomes powerful and life changing when (almost) everyone has access to it. So to with 3D Printing, we have had around 20 years of 3D Printing being available to a privileged few who have had access to the design tools and digital fabrication machines.  Now that everyone can get access through online 3D printing services such as shapeways we can start to see it used in commonplace, everyday scenarios, like the toilet.  

The time for 3D Printing is now.... 

Mikola Lysenko has created an app to turn an 8-Bit character sprite into a 3D printable model with his Shape Carving Editor using WebGL and the Shapeways API.  You can see some of his 8-Bit voxel sprite models in his Shapeways Store.

To use the Shape Carving Editor to make your own models take a look at Mikola's blog which has all of the instructions how to use the app along with all of the thinking behind the project.... 

The source code for the client is available on GitHub, so feel free to download it and try it out.

This is a 3D Printed mobius strip of Level 1 of Super Mario Bros. The whole level is wrapped around itself in a single surface, and poor Mario begins and ends at the same spot every time

All the elements from the level are there: every mushroom, turtle, cloud and star. They are all carved out of the surface at different heights, which looks fantastic when you have a light coming from the side, and each block casts a shadow.

It's a great piece to have on your desk, or to hang from a string to let it spin around.

UPDATE: These files may not be 100% correct, I will double check ASAP...

UPDATE 2: THE CORRECT FILES ARE NOW AVAILABLE, PLEASE SEE DETAILS HERE.

We announced the contest to win $500 worth of Shapeways 3D Printing last week and have already seen a few designs for the iPhone 5 trickle in but we wanted to make it a little easier for you with a few 3D files to download that might help.

We have used the specifications provided by Apple to 3D model a dummy iPhone 5 suitable for 3D Printing in Nylon and one for Full Color 3D Printing, along with a basic case for the iPhone 5 and a basic bumper.

Please note we are waiting for the 3D Prints to come back and of course we have not yet tested them on an iPhone 5 yet..... 

You can download the STL files to modify in your 3D software of choice as long as it supports STL import, we have also uploaded the case to TinkerCad along with the bumper and the dummy iPhone 5 so you can start customizing the design even if you do not have any 3D CAD skills, yet... 

Ever wondered what Shapeways 3D Printed Nylon looks like really really close up? Well now you can see it up close thanks to a few videos of 3D Printed Nylon posted on Brandon's Twisty Puzzle Channel on YouTube.

The first video shows the surface of a Nylon laser sintered part, which shows the varying grain shapes and sizes, some partially sintered powder and a couple of random particles bonded to the surface.

The second video shows the 3D Printed Nylon part with super glue applied. 

"I don't have pure cyanoacrylate, my glue also has polymethyl methacrylate. The glue doesn't seem to change the macro structure of the surface at all. It soaks down into the cracks and coats the grains which makes them reflective and refractive but doesn't do much else."

The third video shows the Nylon Powder next to a single human hair so you can get an idea of scale.

Thanks to Brandon for sharing these videos.. 

This is a 3D Printed brake or gear cable stop designed for use on a bamboo, wooden or carbon fibre bicycle where fittings such as these need to be glued and screwed on, rather than welded.

This cable stop has two countersunk screw holes with 3mm diameter to allow for a M3 screw to be used to affix to the bicycle frame. The bottom of this cable stop is curved for tubing 35mm in diameter, so it's suitable for use on down, top and seat-tubes. See my other smaller diameter design for use on seat and chain stays.

UPDATE: THE CORRECT 3D FILES ARE NOW AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD, PLEASE SEE HERE.

The iPhone 5 has now been announced and about go on sale on in the U.S. so we want to see what innovative new designs you come up with to 3D Print for the latest iteration of the iPhone to hit the market.

We are running a contest to find the coolest possible 3D Printed accessory for the iPhone 5, be it a case, mount, amplifier, magnifier, connector, stand, spinner, launcher, disguise, necklace, shoe, bottle opener, ping pong paddle, helmet, destroyer, anything.

Upload your NEW design for the iPhone 5 with the tag iPhone5_3D by Friday October 19th for your chance to win $500 worth of Shapeways 3D Printing!

The Shapeways team will choose a winner based on the design we deem to be most awesome... 

You can download the dimensions of the new iPhone 5 from Apple now to make your design perfectly fit the new device and check out their Case Guidelines to ensure your design does not impede the performance of the iPhone 5.

Showing some of the beautiful detail possible with our 3D Printed Sterling Silver Shapeways community member SG Designs latest Silver Skull Bead looks menacingly awesome.  The Silver Skull Bead joins the Vampire Skull Ring and Cheshire Cat Ring in SG Designs Shapeways shop of 3D Printed jewelry. Check out the video below to see the design from every angle.