{"id":1861,"date":"2013-01-03T14:48:00","date_gmt":"2013-01-03T14:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/archives\/1861-the-top-3d-printed-stories-of-2012-on-shapeways-the-tip-of-the-3d-printed-iceberg.html"},"modified":"2014-07-03T17:25:19","modified_gmt":"2014-07-03T17:25:19","slug":"the-top-3d-printed-stories-of-2012-on-shapeways-the-tip-of-the-3d-printed-iceberg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/the-top-3d-printed-stories-of-2012-on-shapeways-the-tip-of-the-3d-printed-iceberg","title":{"rendered":"The Top 3D Printed Stories of 2012 on Shapeways: The Tip of the 3D Printed Iceberg"},"content":{"rendered":"

We have shared the most popular 3D printed products on Shapeways but we also want to have a look back at some of the most interesting stories from the Shapeways blog.  It has been a big year with some amazing projects from the Shapeways community using 3D printing to make their ideas for real. <\/p>\n

January.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Shapeways<\/a> <\/p>\n

We started off 2012 with an interesting project called MineWays by Eric Haines<\/a> that made it possible for anyone to export geometry from Minecraft to 3D print into real life.  This is the first time a game could be used to 3D model for 3D printing, we saw everything from game avatars to jewelry, amazing buildings including a scale model of an entire university campus. Time.com featured members of the Shapeways community’s Entrepreneurial Insights<\/a>, how they use Shapeways 3D printing to run their businesses.  We looked back at 2011<\/a> to see the number of items 3D printed, the growth of the community and how much Shapeways shop owners earned from their designs.  We shared a video of a 3D printed rubber like material<\/a> and made our 3D printed black nylon even blacker<\/a>. We finished off January with the first 3D printed record playing the theme from Portal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

February<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"3D<\/a><\/p>\n

In February we introduced the Material Status Page<\/a> so that we could keep you up to date on any delays we are experiencing with any of our 3D printed materials or post processing and we also added Black Gloss Ceramics<\/a> to our 3D printed material options<\/a>. We shared the magical mathematical formula<\/a> that explains why it is possible to (theoretically) 3D print any object then exhibited some of your amazing objects at Material Connexion<\/a> in New York City.  The Shapeways community was featured in USA Today<\/a> and we saw a beautiful pendant designed by a 5 year old girl, 3D printed in silver and given to her mother for her birthday<\/a>, sweet.  Finally we hosted contest to see what you thought Siri looked like and we 3D printed the winners.  The internet was ablaze with images of the winner, a Siri iPhone case by Saga Design<\/a>.<\/p>\n

March<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"3D<\/a> <\/p>\n

In March we saw the first Raspberry Pi cases<\/a> emerge from our 3D printers and shipped around the world.  We launched The Vibe, 3D printed customizable iPhone case<\/a> with Soundcloud at SXSW and made the cover of USA Today<\/a> wearing very cool 3D printed sunglasses. We gave you all a chance to meet the Superheroes of Customer Service<\/a> then we started shipping your 3D prints from New York City<\/a>. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

April<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"3D<\/a> <\/p>\n

In April we said a sad goodbye to our first 3D printed meme, the Nyan Cat<\/a> then hello to some bright new colors in our 3D printed Nylon range<\/a>. Over 1.7 million people watched the video of the 3D printed Twin Rail Mobius pendant<\/a> then more of Shapeways on the Brian Lehrer show<\/a>.  We launched a contest to test the much anticipated Elasto-Plastic<\/a> and launched Polished Alumide<\/a> to give you smooth, futuristic 3D prints. A mother’s idea was made real and 3D printed in sterling Silver by her son<\/a> and there was a romantic story of a Shapeways 3D printed wedding ring<\/a>. Shapeways was featured alongside Quirky as part of a special in the Economist on the Third Industrial Revolution<\/a> along with a video of their visit to Shapeways HQ<\/a>.  Shapeways also started helping people tp learn about 3D printing with the Shapeways School of 3D Printing via Skillshare<\/a>.<\/p>\n

May<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

We started May introducing Natalia as the Shapeways Community manager<\/a> then sent her to Makerfaire<\/a> to meet thousands of the maker community in person. At the same time we represented some of your designs at Model Citizens as part of New York Design Week<\/a> and Shapeways CEO Peter Weijmarshausen presented the future of digital at Mashable Connect<\/a>. We launched a whole ne palette of 3D printed glazed ceramic colors <\/a>AND experimented with a trial run of Black Elasto Plastic<\/a> that did not quite meet our standards in the end.  Shapeways 3D Printed the world’s smallest Rubix cube<\/a> and helped to make an amazing model of Atlas from Portal 2<\/a>.  We closed the month by 3D printing parts of a nuclear fusion reactor<\/a>, seriously.<\/p>\n

June<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Shapeways<\/p>\n

June started out with my personal story of the joys of 3D printing and fatherhood<\/a> and another father 3D printing his child’s plasticine sculpture using 123D Catch.<\/a>  We introduced some new automated wall thickness checks<\/a> on your uploads as well as Shapeways shop inventory management<\/a> then followed up with some experimental tools in Shapeways Labs<\/a>.  Shapeways was ranked as the world’s most popular 3D printing service<\/a> and we announced another round of investment with Lux Capital<\/a> joining Union Square Ventures and Index Ventures to help us grow.  We told the short history of a 3D printed product with Gyro the Cube<\/a> and saw Opresco’s Futuristic Sports & Physical Therapy SPRINGBALL (VIDEO)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

July<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Wow, half way through the year and so much has already happened but things are not slowing down.  We 3D printed plane parts<\/a> and architectural models<\/a> including this amazingly detailed miniature<\/a> then the first in a wave of 3D printed shoes<\/a>. The Rocket Espresso Cup went viral<\/a> thanks to Tumblr and every caffeine fueled blogger on the internet, we installed out first 3D printer in NYC<\/a>, gave the Shapeways website a much needed overhaul<\/a> and celebrated our 4th birthday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

August<\/strong><\/p>\n

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