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.... 

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.... 

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.

Beauty the Bald Eagle was shot in the face, destroying her upper beak. Birds of Prey Northwest nursed her back to health but without an upper beak she could not properly care for herself and was set to be euthanized until raptor specialist Jane Cantwell and mechanical engineer Nate Calvin got together to design and 3D Print a new beak...  

Anna Farmery's The Engaging Brand featured Shapeways in it's recent podcast Emerging Technology and Emerging Markets, looking at the business potential of online 3D Printing, mass customization and on demand manufacturing. Listen to Anna and Duann Scott (that's me) discuss how 3D Printing enables people to make anything they want, sell their designs and revolutionize the business of design. 

Shapeways shop owners are already realizing this reality where they can sell their designs on demand with no investment, in inventory, receiving a passive income from their designs.  If you are designer you can open a Shapeways Shop and start selling your 3D Printed designs.

Take a listen as the caffeine slowly kicks in and the discussion covers Shapeways 3D Printing, innovation and business.

Thanks to Anna for inviting us to talk, it was a pleasure. 

Can't decide whether to 3D Print Stairway to Heaven or the Star Wars Theme for you Fisher Price turntable? No Problem, you can simply order the Double Sided Disc hot from the Shapeways 3D Printer.

You do not need to settle for this double disc of 70's nostalgia when you can design your own thanks to an Instructables by our latest hero Fred Murphy aka Fred27 aka Fred27.

"Attached you'll find the new version of my Fisher Price music editing software. It's included as an executable and (if you don't trust randomly downloaded software from the internet) the C# source code is there too. Feel free to take a nose around in the source code and compile it with the free version of Visual C# 2010 Express.

You'll also need a copy of OpenSCAD. This amazing software allows the scripting of 3D CAD objects and is what turns the idea of what you want into the STL file that a 3D printer accepts.

Wow - all this software and no need to pay a penny for any of it.

If this all sounds like too much trouble, then you can just open one of the pre-generated STL files. Your jukebox comprises of Stairway to Heaven, the Star Wars theme and You are my Sunshine. If none of those float your boat then don't complain... get editing. I'd love to hear what you can do."

By now you may have seen the latest video we have released, Shapeways 3D Printing & the Culture of Creativity showcasing a tiny fraction of the Shapeways community.  We have uploaded a series of stills from the movie to Flickr showing some of the people and products featured in the video.

Here are just a few.