You are all now well aware of Noah Improbablecog Beasley's Open Source Jewelry project on Kickstarter, and you may know of Thingiverse, where Makerbot(ers) share there files to be extruded from hot gooey plastic, you may even know of Content Central, where Solidworks types (or just anyone) can upload/download 3D models of just about anything (mainly mechanical parts).

Shapeways has had the 3D Parts Database for a while, but now sharing your 3D files on Shapeways has just gotten a whole lot easier.

Not much information here other than with a 250mW laser, a kg of plastic powder and 50ml of thermo-gel, Replaser has managed to laser sinter some basic polymer forms in a kinda 2.5D printing (not quite 3D) that are really quite strong. 

Check out the pull test at 5:40 and the comparison of how brittle the material is with and without the thermo-gel. 

Not as poetic as the Inkjet Printer to 3D Printer Hack but still very impressive.

It is the final days of the the 2010 Shapeways & Despoke: 100% Design Contest so it is your last chance to submit your design(s).

We have already received many fantastic entries but the contest is still open until Wednesday the 1st of September 12:00 CET, finalists will have there model 3D printed by Shapeways, promoted on the Despoke & 100% Design websites while the winner will also receive a $100 Shapeways 3D printing coupon.

Shapeways will also be running a stall at the 100% Design fair in London so if you are in London come and see us at stall D27.  100% Design is the UK's leading design & architecture event.  Held September 23rd to 26th in Earls Court, London, 100% Design London features world-class interiors show 100% Design, architectural and interior materials exhibition 100% Materials and emerging talent showcase 100% Futures.

Ambitious project by Kidist, a third year PhD student at the University of Houston taking the FabLab idea into a closed loop 3D printing cycle.

Nice logo..

via YGAW

Realbot robot by MrAckoy looking very impressive for his very first 3D print with a photo so clean I would have thought it was a render.

Eve by Virtox is elegantly showing of the new Bronze Glossy material is available here: I want Eve!

Charging Dock for the iPhone 4 by Dizingof being a perfect example of combining two 3D printed materials to make a really aesthetically impressive design.

We have started to see some real spikes of heavy traffic on Shapeways Shops based around a handful of really successful designs.  The products do not have much in common in themselves other than being clean, simple designs, but the presentation of each is impeccable with great images and descriptions that are easily shared in articles and blogs.

Whenever we ask the Shapeways community what materials and processes they are interested in being made available we always get many requests for 3D printed silver.  In response to these requests Shapeways has been experimenting with a few silver processes, testing for quality, reliability, best pricing.  3D printing silver is quite difficult to perfect, so it has taken us some time to get the quality we would like for the Shapeways community and we are now very excited to share with you our first silver samples... 

Take a look at the images below and let us know what you think? 

The backers get a little something from Improbablecog, depending on their level of investment from a sticker to a custom designed piece of jewelry. 

Noah gets an influx of cash, gets his name out there for an innovative approach to the business of design and is freed up to produce more cool designs. 

Three of his most popular designs are set free, for everyone to modify, mash up, resell, print by the one or by the dozen, or insert into their game, movie, or art.

Shapeways can now 3D print three of  Improbablecog's designs for the cost of material only....

Of course you can still invest to support the cause and set the designs free(er)

Shapeways has a new development we are considering that would allow you to embed your shop (or part of it) using a HTML snippet into almost any page such as a on your own website, blog, forum post and possibly sites such as Facebook or MySpace.

This would work in much the same way as you can embed an Etsy Store, a YouTube video, a Kickstarter Project or a Facebook badge.

Before we go down the development path we would like some input form the Shapeways community.

Is this something you would be interested in using?

What features would you like to see implemented within it?

Where would you use the application and how?

Any suggestions what we should call it?

Any other suggestions you may have along these lines we would be very interested to hear from you..

Shapeways is currently involved in a few contests ending soon so it may be a good time for a quick recap to remind you of the prizes, deliverables and deadlines.

The 2010 Shapeways Despoke & 100% Design Contest closes 1st of September 12:00 CET. 

Finalists will get their design 3D printed by Shapeways along with invaluable exposure on the Despoke & 100% Design London websites while the winner will also receive 3D Printing coupons to the value of $100.

To enter, upload your design to Shapeways and add the tag '100percent' to it.

The theme is Contemporary Design through 3D Printing, finalists will be chosen by the Despoke Team.

Christmas Co-Creator Contest 2010 closes 30th of September 2010.

Top five finalists receive a free 3D print of their design and be included in our Christmas promotions, Winner to also receive a Shapeways Voucher for $100.

Submit your new Co-Creator with the tag 'Xmas2010' be uploaded to Shapeways, be public and a Co-Creator on the Christmas page

Zoybar, Shapeways & Blender Magazine: Design your own Electric Guitar Contest closes September 20th, 2010.

Win a Full Zoybar Guitar or Bass Hardware kit provided by Zoybar, plus 3D print of the winning design entry in the amount of $200 (USD) provided by Shapeways. Total Value: $870 (USD).

Design original hardware features that can be incorporated with the Zoybar instruments and enter a contest to win your creation. Design in Blender.

We also recently closed the Draw Your Own Earrings Contest and notified the winners via email.  If you entered the contest but have not heard from Shapeways please email duann(@)shapeways.com and I will resend you notification.

"Digital fabrication services have the potential to transform craft practice, both technically and commercially. But having used them, I am also struck by how this networked production changes the maker´s experience.....mail-order making certainly feels different to a more hands-on process."

Another week of fantastic finds in the It Arrived! forum made all the more harder to collate due to the number of high quality designs posted and the Show Your Collection thread started by Jettuh.

Road Trooper by Rbot, beautiful in it's raw, 3D printed state prior to hand finishing.

Starfish Pendant by Michaellla

Gumball's collection of Dice and rings purchased from Shapeways.

Ok Zbrush users, organic algorithm artists and character modelers, Shapeways have developed a workaround so that your models can now exceed the 500,000 polygon limit currently in place. 

It is not elegant, and takes some negotiating, but if we get enough demand we will try and automate the process to make it easier for everyone.  Let us know what you think, is this something you would like to see as standard? 

The tide is definitely turning when a design consultancy that specializes in product hacks gets invited to be a TED Global fellow....

So instead of making a small mark-up each time a piece of jewelry sells, Improbablecog will get an up-front payment ($1500) from 'investors' freeing him up with a cash influx to design more jewelry.  Very smart, how many pieces of jewelry would he need to sell, over what time to make that cash?