VertigoPolka has designed a giant 7 foot long 3D printed necklace of 185 interconnected Octahedrons.  The super cool image may catch your eye but the price will blow your mind.  But if 7 feet of 3D printed awesomeness is too much for you there is also the original 36 Inch Octahedralink Necklace and the mid length 55 Inch version.  Or get all three and strut your stuff with 175 inches (4.45 metres) of 3D printed jewelry around your neck.

The iPhone 5 Design Contest is now over and we are 3D Printing some of our favorites right now (HINT: you may have seen them exposed in the feed) but Apple have just released the specs for the iPad Mini so it is time to start designing for the next range of Apple Fanboy Accessories.

You can download the specifications for the Wifi Version and Cellular Version from the apple site (yes, they are ever so slightly different but you may be able to make a design to fit both).

SO, what shall we do to get you all designing some cool new accessories for the iPad Mini?  

What applications do you see for this device that the iPad is too big for and the iPhone too small?

What is the point of differentiation that Apple is aiming for and can you amplify that difference with your design?

Tag Your designs with Apple, Fanboy and Ipad Mini so we can find your designs and we will find a way to reward your creativity.

Thanks to Core 77 for pointing the way to the specs. 

Over the past few weeks we have seen a number of 3D printed items get a lot of attention on Reddit driving massive waves of traffic to some Shapeways product pages including Little Sad Keanu, Mario Mobius Strip and most recently the Green Lantern inspired ring by Lensman. Below is a chart of what it looks like when a design becomes popular on Reddit.

If you submit a link to your design on Reddit you have the chance of exposing your designs to thousands of people and increasing the sales in your Shapeways shop.  We know of one Shapeways user who made the daily average of their annual salary in one day of sales on Shapeways when their design was going viral on Reddit....

We look forward to seeing your designs on Reddit soon. 

Cheer up Sad Keanu, you have another 3D Printed meme to keep you company.

F U I'm an Anteater is the latest meme to make it's way out of the internets and into real life thanks to Shapeways 3D Printing you can own a little piece of the internet for only $10. Bargain....

What's it all about? Lets consult Know Your Meme

The original 'F U, I'm an Anteater' image first appeared online in spring of 2008, as a witty protest against the massive amounts of cute cat and dog pics circulating around internet humor sites, while many other species had largely been neglected.

Usage

An interesting phenomenon among anteater image macros is the discontinuation of LOLspeak. While most other animal-based macros employ lolspeak, 'I'm an Anteater' macros generally use correct spelling as means of protest against the widespread nature of other animal-based memes. Although the species is still less popular than its feline and canine counterparts, it remains a notable mutation of animal image macros, like the Bukkit Walrus.

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. 

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.

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.. 

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."

Want to design and 3D Print your own iPhone case, customized to EXACTLY meet your needs? Whether you need a credit card holder, a bicycle mount, an iPad connector, a dog collar, a spork attachement or your logo, come along to the class Design Your Own iPhone Cast to be 3D Printed with Shapeways in NYC to get exactly what you want.

The introductory class will quickly cover the materials and processes of 3D Printing then it will be heads down in Inventor Fusion to design your case.

It is important to bring your laptop, a mouse and power supply and download Autodesk's Inventor Fusion (free) so you can design your own iPhone case to 3D Print.

Sign up via Skillshare

If you do not have an iPhone but still want to learn some 3D modeling skills, check out the  Toy Rocket 3D-Printing Workshop for Beginners and Earring 3D-Printing Workshop for Beginners classes also via Skillshare. 

The Clip-it - iPhone travel dock is a simple an elegant way to turn your Euro iPhone charger into a wall mounted dock.

Clip-it for iPhone converts your Euro iPhone charger to a wall dock; making sure that you can easily charge your phone at every wall socket. Unfurnished rooms, hotels and conference rooms are no longer a problem.

 

Clip-it lets you wind the usb cable easily around your charger and is also usable as a small table dock during your journeys ore while at work.

 

Clip-it makes use of your existing Apple Dock Connector to USB Cable. Simply snap it in and lock the cable at the bottom. Clip-it is perfectly engineered to hold the latest two generations of original Apple charging cables.

 

Clip-it is designed for the latest two iPhone models: the iPhone 4 & iPhone 4S and the included Apple USB Power Adapter (European version only).

 

Now everybody PLEASE ask Remi to make a US, Australian, UK and Japanese version....

Designed by Eric Vergo for the PAW (Puzzle Around the World) project the Pentultimate puzzle is about to make it's way to twisty puzzle forum members around the world.

We will be sending a large Pentultimate around the world to other forum members to allow them to play with the puzzle, gather signatures for collector sticker sets, post pictures here, and tell the rest of the community about themselves. Eric Vergo graciously offered to design the puzzle and it has been built to survive minor mishaps. I had had a custom re-shippable box designed to hold the puzzle and the sticker sets too:

There are 23 participants that will receive the puzzle. Each person will be able to keep the puzzle for about 10 days. Members were selected based on a diverse set of criteria. We tried to strike a balance between designers, solvers, collectors, and other community contributors. 

It will take about 1 year for the puzzle to travel around the world. As each participant receives the puzzle they will have the opportunity to take pictures of it where they live (for example in front of a landmark) and post them here in the thread. They can tell where they live and what draws them to twisty puzzles. There are 23 sets of Pentultimate stickers that will travel with the Pentultimate. Each person will sign them and at the end of the project each participant will be given a set of signed stickers.

This is an amazing community project instigated by Brandon Enright that shows how a community can come together across continents over a shared passion, and a little bit of help thanks to 3D Printing. Good luck Twisty fans...

via twistypuzzles.com

Using 3D Printers housed in a shipping container, unmanned drones and GPS tracking system Project Blue Sky promises to freak the hell out of unsuspecting Burning Man participants. The project is run by a non-profit called ReAllocate.org, which curates teams of world class talent and pairs them with specific technical projects, humanitarian organizations (other non-profits, NGOs) and resources to solve global challenges. Right on.

Imagine that you are in Black Rock desert close to Center Camp. You step into a brightly decorated space surrounded by ancient statues. You are ushered into a shipping container that has been converted into a high-tech innovation lab. You and your fashionable friend strike a pose which is captured with 3D software and converted into a 3D model. You are given a GPS transponder and specific instructions for your mission. On the way out you catch a lecture on 'Scientific Exploration' and watch some aerial 3D footage of flying over Burning Man projected in a 3D imax dome.

 

After you leave, your image scan is 3D printed into a miniature statue and loaded into a capsule on a multi-copter. The copter navigates to your GPS location.

 

When your GPS transponder goes off, you look up as the multi-copter hovers above you. It gently lowers a padded capsule with your statue of you inside. You unwrap a 3D medallion of yourself.

 

Your only responsibility is to return the transponder and tell us your story for our documentary.

 

 File under freaky cool....

With this series of 3D Printed Soldering attachments for a BIC lighter you can be like MacGyver and repair your PCB's anywhere.  Sure, it may be a little more geeky than MacGyver, and perhaps without the brown leather jacket and frosted tips, but MacGyverish all the same....

Available in 11 variations 3D Printed in Stainless Steel from the Mechnology shop on Shapeways including the the 0.8mm round tip to the 2.4mm wide tip you are sure to find an ultra-portable soldering iron tip to meet your needs, AND impress your friends...