Shapeways Blog - Inspiration

Creating hinges and moving parts

nospam@example.com (Bart) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 09:20:28 +0000

There were some questions on the forum lately about printing working hinges and what kind of tolerances you need to make them work. Some test objects were uploaded by pzich and we're currently printing those to see how they work.

While we're waiting for them, we thought we'd share a few insights that we gleaned from some test objects that we already have on our tables here

1. Flexible hinges
Instead of making a mechanical hinge, you can use White Strong & Flexible to make flexible hinges. Here are two example: one using a 'harmonica' structure. In this case the material is about 0.5 mm thick:

Another approach is to make a long, flat piece of plastic which can bend. The material here is about 0.5 mm thick as well:

2. Moving parts

This 'GearCard' was printed as a single model in White Strong & Flexible. You can make moving parts by modeling air gaps between the gear and the axis. Although our minimum tolerance is about 0.1mm, we do suggest that you keep gaps above 0.25mm to be safe (these measures apply to White Strong & Flexible only).

We'll get back to you once the new testparts are in!

How to make money with free software...

nospam@example.com (Bart) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 10:12:25 +0000

Dutch designer Stani Michiels won a contest by the Dutch Ministry of Finance, the goal of which was to design the new 5 euro commemorative coin with the theme 'Netherlands and Architecture'. He explains both the creative and technical process in great detail on his website. An interesting detail: he used only open source software for this project: Python, the Gimp, Inkscape and Phatch (a photo batch processor).

Oh, and before you ask: no, we don't print money

Free easy to use 3d software: CB Model Pro

nospam@example.com (Bart) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 11:32:45 +0000

CB Model Pro is an entry level surface modeler that's published by Dassault Systèmes, the creators of SolidWorks. You can use it to create all kinds of objects just by pushing and prodding objects in 3d space - much like working with virtual clay. You'll be using a basic tool set containing tools like Point Pull, Flatten, Bend, Neck, Scale and Poke. You can also draw in 2D on your models and then use these shapes for extruding or bending. Finally you can also 'paint' on your models using colors and decals.

It's a great tool for anyone who wants to get his feet wet in 3d design and it's great fun to play with. Having said that, it's unclear why the product is called 'PRO' because it's certainly lacking a number of pro-features (like having more control over your model and it's dimensions).

Download

CB Model Pro is available for both Windows and Mac OS X, and it's completely free (although after 15 days you'll have to register for a free key to continue using it).

Download page
Documentation (884kb, PDF)

Uploading to Shapeways

Due to the nature of this modeler, it's hard to create non-manifold objects, and it contains an STL exporter - the basic ingredients for having your model printed are both in place.

The exported STL files need a bit of cleaning up though - they trigger a 'non manifold' error after uploading to Shapeways (even though they're not!). This is easily solved though by downloading the open source package MeshLab, opening your STL with it and saving it as STL again. The default objects (cube, sphere etc) have a dimension of 1, so you should use 'inches' as the STL unit when uploading.

Tutorials

The website CB Model Pro Fans has published a number of nice video-tutorials and demonstrations that should get you started:

Walking House

nospam@example.com (Bart) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 10:32:36 +0000

Who says a house has to remain in the same place all the time? The Danish art collective N55, together with engineers from the MIT have designed a house that can simply walk away if you fancy a better spot (say, if a flood is coming or you simply don't like your neighbours anymore). It has all the basic necessities for living on board - a living room, kitchen, toilet, bed and a wood stove.

Painting your 3D printed models

nospam@example.com (Joris Peels) — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 16:33:11 +0000

Bart and I had some fun painting some of our models with arcylic paint. You can use arcylics to paint White, Strong & Flexible and we wanted to show you guys that. For the both of us the last painting training & practice we ever did before making this video was in kindergarten. But, we can not wait to see what you guys will do with paint & Shapeways

3D printed cars

nospam@example.com (Joris Peels) — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 10:23:06 +0000

Wouter Scheublin was one of the designers on the Virtual Making stand at Dutch Design Week. He became interested in the mechanical possibilities that 3D printed models provide. He used the Selective Laser Sintering process and the Nylon 12 material(aka SLS, or White, Strong & Flexible as we call it at Shapeways) to print small working 3D printed cars. I do not want to be decieving here, these things are tiny, about 10cm by 10cm by 5cm. And they are not the get in and drive variety of car or the internal combustion engine type of car. But, I did not want to call them model or toy cars because this is clearly an experiment in design that goes much further than this.

You can see the working gears and the spring clearly. These mechanisms as well as the axles work as soon as the support material is removed. The mechanism is intentionally exposed so that people can see what you can design and build with 3D printing. The entire car comes out of the machine in one piece. The only exception is the rubber for the wheels which is made up of standard O rings.

When you pull the car back over the ground the wheels wind the gears that in turn wind the spring and once you let go the car zooms over the floor. You like?

a wineglass doorbell

nospam@example.com (Joris Peels) — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 10:02:56 +0000

Peter van der Jagt made a wineglass doorbell for Droog Design at Dutch Design Week you could see the result on the more developmen t stand. I'm pretty sure that it is actually supposed to hang upside down but I love the idea.

Shapeways member interviews: Whystler

nospam@example.com (Joris Peels) — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 15:02:05 +0000

Whystler aka Shawn Johnson is one of the nicest and most helpful Shapeways members out there. Besides this he, makes his living selling virtual goods and is a dreamer, a designer, a potter, a musician, a festival organiser, a connaisseur of virtual worlds and a virtual architect and fashion designer. You can check out his work on IMVU here or check out his website, "the land of Whyst."

What software do you use to design?

I use mostly 3D Studio Max, and Flux Studio 2.0, but occasionally I will also use Wings3D, Milkshape, and Sketchup. Most of my designing has been in virtual worlds, such as Activeworlds where I started, Adobe's now defunct Atmosphere, SecondLife, IMVU, Blink3D, and I'm just starting to design for Vivaty, which use's a version of Flux Studio as a builder.

How long have you been designing?

I've been designing all my life. I remember, as a child, looking forward to vacations from school because I would have the time to make things from books I had taken out from the library ... popsicle stick cabins, pom pom creatures, bases for my star wars figures and micronaughts, houses for my plastic animals, puppets, go-carts, tree-houses, you name it

In terms of virtual design, I have been doing this since about 1990 when I discovered muds (or multi-user dungeons), which were entirely text based environments. Using the code of various muds, I designed rooms and places, and even scripted objects that did cool things

3D digital art came into play as a medium around 1998/89 when I found Activeworlds and started making virtual worlds. This was a big change for me. I learned how to make 3D objects through writing rwx out by hand in notepad, specifying vertices and polygons in text. And soon after, I started using 3D programs to make these objects, buildings, and places. Soon after, Adobe launched their Atmosphere program, and I joined a vibrant community and was eventually hired to make content. When Atmosphere faded and eventually lost support from Adobe, I had a great time designing in SecondLife back in the early days and also much later discovered IMVU, where I have focussed for a long time.

Since 1998 I have been a clay artist and potter. Everything I make is hand-built (meaning I don't use a potters wheel), so even functional items are very sculptural.

Continue reading "Shapeways member interviews: Whystler"

Rapid Prototyping from BMW: high speed with high technology

nospam@example.com (Bart) — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 10:48:27 +0000

This video shows how BMW uses rapid prototyping in their design process for consumer cars and F1 racing cars. It includes different techniques such as Selective Laser Sintering (our 'White, Strong & Flexible') but also Beam Melting (metal printing) and Stereolithography. Interesting stuff.

club table, beautiful brailler and growing furniture

nospam@example.com (Joris Peels) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 14:22:07 +0000

I must admit to not knowing what a brailler was before reading the Dexigner article. A brailler is a device that blind people can use to type in braille. An iconic and ancient one has recently be redesigned and I think it looks very robust and usuble. It also looks very friendly. It still amazes me how people can design a functional object that looks friendly.

A decidedly unfriendly object is James McAdam's Safe Bedside Table, a small table that doubles as a club and shield to defend yourself.

Some people say that 3D printing is like 'growing' objects. I would dispute this, Tokujin Yushioka, he grows things. He grew a chair consisting of crystals. The production process seems to be a bit slow for Shapeways but we should consider it.

How to photograph 3D printed objects

nospam@example.com (Bart) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 14:58:35 +0000

So you've received your Shapeways model and you want to share it with the world? You may find that it's not always easy to take a good photograph that nicely shows all the fine details of your work. Unless you take great care in setting everything up properly, the details can easily 'wash out'. We gathered a few tutorials on product photography that will help you:

Intro to Product Photography
"These particular tips are intended for shooting small to medium sized projects that can be maneuvered relatively easily, and put in a studio environment. But even if your particular project doesn't fit these criteria, many of the tips I'll be giving are universal, and can be applied to any photographic documentation".

How to Photograph a White Object on White Background
A short but useful list of tips.

How to Photograph Dark Colored Objects (interesting for detail photography)
"When photographing dark colored clothing, do like the pros do! Take a 'normal' photo then zoom in on the texture. The trick to is all is to create shadows where you want and need them. That will give your dark item the depth you are looking for!"

DIY Light box for product photography
"Building a light box is pretty easy stuff. A light box is particularly useful for product photography where you need a nice white background. Many people find that their products will actually sell faster with a more professional looking photo. Here you'll find a step by step on how to build your own DIY light box"

Do YOU have any tips or links that really helped you improve your photography? Leave them in a comment and we'll add them to the list!

(Image: Madebydan Platter)

Our biggest 3d print yet!

nospam@example.com (Bart) — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 07:27:00 +0000

What do you do with a container of printing material whose expiry date has passed? You print a giant monkey! Our printer guys had a blast with this one.

They wrote:

Cornelius has grown to massive proportions (+/- 20cm!!!) and we poured his feet in pedestal of concrete to prevent him from running away Specs: Objet Eden 500V/VeroBlue/HQ

(VeroBlue is one of the new materials that we're considering - we still need your vote on which one to choose!)

Here's another pic of Cornelius on the shoulder of Aart to get a good feeling for it's size - also check out the "The Statue Of Liberty" en "The Empire State Building" prints in the background!

This sucker is heavy - they didn't even try to save on material by hollowing it out... Remember: do not try this at home. It'll blast a serious hole in your pocketmoney

TopMod3D - Give it a Try, Win a $50 Print

nospam@example.com (Bart) — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 09:34:28 +0000

A few weeks ago I wrote about TopMod3D, a 'topological mesh modeling' tool that allows you to create really far-out and intricate models. I gave it a try and quickly came up with a simple design that I had printed. It's a crazy little thing, but if you put it on the table during a meeting, everyone will be playing with it all the time

To give you an idea, the model only cost $26 to print because it's just a wireframe and doesn't contain a lot of material.

As my skills with this tool are obviously limited, I was wondering what someone with a bit more time and expertise would come up with.

So: I challenge you to come up with a fun and intriguing design using TopMod3D. I'll hand out a $50 coupon to the designer of the best entry to have it printed.

To participate, place the object in your Shapeways account and leave link in a comment below this post. We'll select the winner on Wednesday the 18th of June at 9am CEST (Amsterdam time). The winner will be announced later that day.

If you don't have an account yet, register as a beta user and enter 'TopMod3D' in the 'How did you hear about us?' field. We'll keep a close eye on the entries and invite you as soon as we can. Be sure to read 'How Does Shapeways Work' after logging in for the first time.

Have fun!

Bart

Re-think Design: BMW's Shape-Shifting GINA

nospam@example.com (Bart) — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 10:13:01 +0000

Every now and then you see a new idea that you just KNOW is going to change things. Here's one by BMW Design: a shape-shifting car covered with fabric. The shape of the car (the GINA - 'Geometry and functions In 'N' Adaptions') can be changed by a system of electric and hydraulic actuators, allowing the driver to, say, the size of the spoiler or the fenders.

By stepping away from the existing design restrictions, BMW could suddenly achieve amazing new possibilities like the changing shape, but also the use of transparent material for the taillights. Similarly, when using 3D printing techniques you'll also find that you can cast off your existing design restrictions (and gain a few new ones!), and design things that you couldn't produce otherwise. We're entering uncharted territory and I love it.

Read the full article on Wired.

Video

Creating Chocolate Monkeys

nospam@example.com (Bart) — Fri, 30 May 2008 12:46:50 +0000

3D Printing in Chocolate? No, not really, but if you're inventive enough, that shouldn't stop you..

Last week I met Chris Want of the University of Alberta, Canada. Chris has access to a 3d printer on his job at the university and he combined it with his great hobby: making chocolates.

Using the 3d printer and silicon he created a mold that he then used to pour chocolate monkeys. The process forced him to think carefully about the shapes of the chocolates: they couldn't have an undercut as that would make it impossible to pull them from the mold without breaking them. The entire thing (dripping super glue on the models to cure them, pouring the silicon and working with the chocolate) must have made a tremendous mess of his kitchen, but unfortunately he doesn't show that

If you want to make your own: Chris explains the entire process in detail on his website, including the gotchas he ran in to. Have fun, and don't forget to send us a couple of chocolates when you're done!