How 3D Printing Changed The Way Artist Tim Belliveau Teaches His Students

In the art world, the debate around handmade and machine-made products is certainly a heated one. But after an extensive research project focusing on the different perspectives in glass making, artist and educator Tim Belliveau knew how efficient and beneficial 3D printing was to his art form.

“I wanted to see my training in glass from a different perspective and make some understanding of the 3D printers that I started to see popping up in glass studios around 2014,” Belliveau told Shapeways. “I was also inspired to use 3D printing in my research because I was traveling a lot and it was becoming difficult to store and travel with material things. It caused me to kind of ‘compress’ my practice down to the basic ideas and images I wanted and find ways for even glassblowing to be represented in 3D software as small, portable files and small tools rather than big, heavy materials and equipment.”

His first attempt at 3D printing

Prior to his teaching career, Belliveau received his Masters of Fine Arts at Concordia University in Montreal in Fibers and Material Practices. With the help of Shapeways’ EDU discount, he was able to explore an avenue of 3D printing that he’d never experienced before.

“I wanted to use 3D printed metal for my mold at a scale that was big enough to fit blown glass and thin enough to stay on budget. I also wanted to test out how an ancient craft like glass can interact with newer 3D printing tools. I teach with it as a skill-building tool, but also to instigate thinking around skill, technology, and art,” he said. “The EDU discount made my project possible and without it, I would likely have had to do the more common method of casting positives and negatives and hiring a foundry to produce what I needed.”

Tim Belliveau's glass-blowing mold in 3D renderings and 3D printed bronze

Tim Belliveau’s two-part mold for glass blowing, made from 3D printed bronze

Belliveau never expected to love 3D printing as much as he now does. After completing his research project and launching his teaching career, he began to incorporate 3D printing into every one of his classes.

“This project tested the skills and thinking needed to get from 3D modeling to glass forms. I use 3D printing for teaching almost every class now. Once students get through the interfaces of various software and can intuitively sketch with it, the possibilities really expand but at the beginning, its more about learning through accidents and working with mistakes rather than getting perfection. This project sent me on a path of asking more questions about this process and trying to find less deterministic ways to use technologies like this.”

Overcoming the obstacles of being a beginner 3D designer

Like Belliveau explained, learning how to use 3D printing comes with its fair share of challenges and obstacles. Overcoming these difficulties, however, is what taught him a great deal about the craft.

“It was challenging at first to blow into this 3D printed mold in part because the opening is narrow. A very hot bubble of glass has to be stretched through the neck of the mold and inflated perfectly into the chamber. That took a lot of practice. I spent a lot of time shaping and thinning the model in my software to guess at what the minimum thickness could be,” Belliveau said.

The final outcomes have been extraordinary

Among the many products he’s made using 3D printing, one of his favorites has to be the “monuments” he constructed during his residency at the European Ceramics Work Centre last year.

Original plaster horse and 3D scanned and printed version

Deconstructing 3D print processes: using the plaster horse (left), Tim Belliveau 3D scanned and printed a new one (right)

“I’ve been kind of deconstructing 3D print processes, using more labour and trying to make it harder. During my residency at The European Ceramics Work Centre last year, I modeled a polygon and used software to unfold that shape into faces, projected it onto cardboard, cut that out, traced it into clay panels and assembled those together making the original polygon form again. The finished artworks, called ‘Monuments,’ have a trace of computer design but mostly, hand-marks and textures that come from forming it. You might not guess it came from computer modeling by looking at it and they were very challenging to make but also very rewarding.”

Reflecting on his journey with 3D printing, now utilizing it in every class he teaches, Belliveau said, “I wish I knew how to do 3D printing sooner! As with most skills, it’s not as intimidating as it might seem as long as you’re interested enough to spend the time and learn. It’s very accessible and, in some cases, very cheap to do.”

Start my 3D Journey button

Are you a student or a teacher?

You may be eligible for a 15% discount through our EDU program. Learn more.

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3D Printing Mythbusting with Braille Skateboarding

A Generatively Designed Skateboard from Fusion 360 and Shapeways

Industrial Designer Paul Sohi is obsessed with 3D printing. He’s made it his life’s work to make it accessible to more people – a mission we share. His earlier efforts include developing the world’s first fully additively manufactured prosthetic used at the Paralympic Games. More recently, he has been evangelizing for Fusion 360 at Autodesk.

A skateboard was ideal for Paul’s latest project. He wanted to design a fun, common item to debunk many 3D printing myths still common today by proving that 3D-printed products are end-use ready, durable and not just for prototyping. Just as important, Paul wanted to prove that you don’t have to buy a 3D printer. He explains, “The number one misperception I hear from designers is that they have to buy a 3D printer. I want to show that Shapeways’ services are part of the Fusion 360 workflow.”

Paul used Fusion 360 Generative Design to make the skateboard trucks (the metal T-shaped pieces that mount onto the underside of the skateboard) durable while also minimizing materials to cut costs. He sent the files to Shapeways, and we delivered the trucks in two materials: titanium and aluminum, both manufactured using additive manufacturing. Paul constructed the entire skateboard from board to wheels to trucks, and headed to California.

Braille Skateboarding was founded by Aaron Kyro and creates videos to help spread the joy of skateboarding. They joined the project to see if Paul’s skateboard trucks could enhance Braille’s tricks. We wanted to show the skate trucks’ functionality all while capturing some great runs on a board made possible with 3D printing and generative design. More than just a 3D printing stunt, our team wanted to focus on making  skateboarding an even better experience with increased durability and mobility. We succeeded – Paul estimates the trucks are 35% lighter and twice as durable versus comparable skateboard trucks.

We captured videos of Braille’s tricks and details on how the skate trucks were made. Special thank-you to Paul, Braille, and Autodesk for making this so much fun. Shapeways loved helping to bring this idea to life.

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Is your 3D model a mess? Make it printable!

What do you do when your 3D model is broken? I mean really broken, like “can’t even upload it” broken, or “half of my triangles are disappearing” broken? In this post we’ll talk about what to do when your usual mesh-repairing strategies fail and you need to bring out the big guns.

Let’s do this by example. So that we can follow exactly what’s going wrong, we’ll create a bad mesh by modifying an existing 3D model, my Deltoidal Hexecontahedron Catalan Bracelet:

We’re going to turn this into a tealight ring and add some solid faces to the wireframe to create a partially-enclosed look. The screenshot below shows what it looked like when I did this in TopMod; I added the closed triangle faces, and everything seems fine:

Nice! But when we try to upload to Shapeways, we get this error message:

First line of defense: Meshmixer

Meshmixer is a great first tool for modifying 3D meshes; for an in-depth example see our previous article Tutorial Tuesday 50: Using Meshmixer to Make 3D Models Thick Enough to 3D Print. But, in this case, when we open our broken file in Meshmixer to see what’s going wrong, the faces don’t load in. Although Meshmixer knows something is wrong here, its Inspector cannot repair it:

Second line of defense: MeshLab

Another great mesh-manipulation tool is MeshLab; for a primer on making simple mesh fixes with MeshLab, check out our previous article Tutorial Tuesday 5: Quick Fixes With MeshLab. It’s more complicated than Meshmixer, but can often take care of bad geometry like reversed normals and non-manifold faces. However, when we try to open our broken file in MeshLab we get this error:

After opening the file and looking through some of the Cleaning & Repairing filters, we see that there are some non-manifold faces:

The problem lies with where the new faces intersect. When we added those new triangles, we created some bad geometry where the pairs of coincident faces meet.  Alas, although MeshLab can identify these problems, it’s not able to actually fix them; usual MeshLab repair menu options such as “Remove Faces from Nonmanifold Edges” and “Remove T-Vertices by Edge Flip” are unsuccessful here.

The big guns: MakePrintable

If you have a Windows machine, you can try using the professional software Netfabb to repair this model. Netfabb is free for students, but for the rest of us it costs $30, per month. For professionals in industry this is probably reasonable, but for smaller businesses and hobbyists it’s pretty steep.

Luckily, with any platform and for no money at all you can have access to the extremely powerful mesh-repair services at MakePrintable. MakePrintable’s free cloud-based repair service lets you upload models to repair on their servers, and then download up to three repaired models per month. If you need more repairs than that, then for just $10 per month you can upgrade to their Pro service to get access to more features and unlimited downloads. Since Meshmixer and MeshLab can handle lots of simple mesh problems, the three-a-month restriction is not so bad. But does it work? The answer is YES, and in fact in my experience I have NEVER had a model that MakePrintable couldn’t repair. That includes successfully repairing my Tentacle Bowl, which was made from thousands of recursively-generated overlapping spheres that resulted in very broken internal geometry.

Let’s see what MakePrintable can do with our model. MakePrintable is a cloud-based service that works entirely in your browser, so to get started you just go to makeprintable.com:

Opening and repairing models is free in MakePrintable; it’s only the final download that counts against your monthly total. This means that we can upload our file and see if MakePrintable will fix our file without risking anything. When we upload our model, MakePrintable immediately recognizes its 20 non-manifold edges. Along the right sidebar are a number of fancy options for the Pro/Paid version, but for our purposes we can just use the default free settings.

So, can MakePrintable fix this bad geometry? Yes! Note in the image below that the right-hand model has no non-manifold edges anymore, so we should be in the clear. To download the repaired mesh, choose Save/Export, then 3D Model, then your filetype, then save the file to your computer. This action will reduce your three-a-month download count, so be sure you are happy with the repair before downloading.

In this case our initial broken mesh was very simple, and MakePrintable’s repaired mesh was much finer, with many more triangles. We could have controlled that if we were using the Pro/Paid version, but in this case we can reduce the mesh in Meshmixer and then run through mesh styling TopMod to get exactly the blocky-smooth style we want, which looks like this:

Fixed and ready for Shapeways

Our repaired and remeshed model now uploads to Shapeways, and we can order 3D prints of fancy Deltoidal Hexecontahedron Tealight Rings. Here’s what they look like after printing and photographing for our geekhaus store:

This was just a simple example with a handful of faces and edges causing bad geometry; it can of course get much, much worse. Do you have a broken model? Give these tools a try then upload your model again. Let us know how it goes!

Upload My Model button

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EDU Program Spotlight: Maria Carrion and Núria Diago

With the help of Shapeways, student designers Maria Carrion and Núria Diago were able to take their project, Be (in the) Water, to the next level.

“Thanks to the EDU grant [from Shapeways] and the versatility of additive manufacturing, we found a way to explore within different materials to find the best option in the quickest and cheapest way,” the Barcelona-based 3D designers said.

As Carrion and Diago finish up their six-year studies at Eslisava University, Barcelona’s School of Design and Engineering, they’ve begun to transform their idea of upgraded nose swimming clips into a reality.

A deep dive into 3D printing

Be (in the) Water nose clip

“Be (in the) Water started as a goal to redesign and upgrade the current nose swimming clips for synchronized swimming that one can find in the market and that is used by every person that practices this sport, being a beginner or an elite athlete. It is a nose swimming clip based on a generative design structure which has been specifically adapted to the nose surface of each user, regulating the relationship between the body and its surroundings playing the role of a second skin.”

3D design and printing are at the heart of Be (in the) Water. For starters, Carrion and Diago use 3D design software to scan each user’s nose, creating a personalized product. From there, once the clip has been designed virtually, 3D printing is used to make it into a fully functional product.

Be (in the) Water 3D modeling process

Nose scanning combined with 3D printing allows each piece to be custom designed

“We see [3D printing as] a tool that will change the way designers understand design as well as upgrading the products that one can find in the market. 3D printing is something that came so fast and it is changing every day, that is why we have had to discover and get into it by ourselves, reading, going to conferences, events, meeting people who are involved in the topic and finding our own way in this ever bigger new field. The piece couldn’t have been developed with traditional manufacturing processes as none of them could ever get such a delicate, precise and tricky structure,” they told Shapeways.

Searching for the perfect materials

Through Shapeways, Carrion and Diago were presented with a large array of materials to choose from. And while this was certainly an advantage when it came designing, it also presented some challenges for the young creators.

“Our main challenge has been to find the right material as there are lots of constraints for a piece that has to be in contact with chlorinated water and at the same time has to allow skin contact. It also needs a specific stiffness, but also some flexibility. But sincerely, the large amount of options we found thanks to the Shapeways material library and their clear explanation of every one of them helped a lot.”

With the many material options provided through Shapeways, Carrion and Diago have been able to continuously try out new versions of their product, aiding in the already tricky trial-and-error process.

Be (in the) Water product workflow

Be (in the) Water product workflow

“For the material selection, we used different materials aiming to see their strengths and weaknesses, like elastomer plastic,” they said. “That’s why we used flexible materials although we knew that it was not adequate in terms of structure for a nose clip, but using them we got inspired to find other possibilities like combinations of more than one materials. We also tested metallic and plastic materials available in Shapeways with which the nose clip becomes totally functional with a professional finishing. Now we are testing the materials on the context and polyamide is so far the material that better fulfills the technical requirements such as a good relationship between flexibility and rigidity, skin adherence, impact resistance and recyclability.”

Looking ahead

And now, as Carrion and Diago prepare to graduate next year and enter the workforce, the success of their student project has given them the confidence needed to blaze forward. When asked about whether they envision turning Be (in the) Water into a business, they said, “We believe in the future of the project, and after some market studies we know that there is a gap which can be filled with this functional and aesthetic nose clip. It would be a dream come true to see Be (in the) Water available for all synchronized swimmers who appreciate our product.”

They added, “Trust in the possibilities of 3D printing because it can be a source of inspiration by itself.”

Are you a student or a teacher?

You may be eligible for a 15% discount through our EDU program. Learn more.

The post EDU Program Spotlight: Maria Carrion and Núria Diago appeared first on Shapeways Magazine.

Tatsuo Ishibashi’s Vibrant Designs are Game-Changing Assistive Tools for People with Muscle Weakness

What began as a sign of aging quickly transformed into a revolutionary idea for designer Tatsuo Ishibashi.

“I had slightly felt muscle stiffness of my fingers because of aging,” Ishibashi told Shapeways. “By chance, I had seen a TV program featuring self-help input devices for arthritis. Then I thought that I could make a cool device for the elderly by using the 3D printer.”

And make a cool device he certainly did.

Tapping into his 3D design knowledge, as well as utilizing Shapeways’ services, Ishibashi began prototyping and developing assistive devices to help those with muscle weakness, whether because of issues like arthritis or advanced age. After his trial period was complete and multiple devices had been constructed in a span of about three years, Ishibashi’s creative and colorful designs became a standout in today’s 3D market. His products, which can be found at Mizulabo, are not only simple and functional, but also lightweight, low cost, and easy to handle.

Iterations of Tatsuo Ishibashi's assistive tool for the elderly

Iterations of Tatsuo Ishibashi’s assistive tool

“I make so many prototypes by my desktop 3D printer because I need them in order to get what satisfies both design and functional requirements,” he said. “3D printers are quite good tools for us because we can evaluate immediately whether our designs are functionary or not. I print out the final version of my products through Shapeways.”

From molecular engineering to 3D design

Although Ishibashi is well-versed in 3D design now, his original career path led him to molecular engineering. “I specialized in molecular engineering in graduate school. I learned programming and engineering there. And I experienced research and product development including design in a manufacturing company.” With that experience under his tool belt, he was able to take that knowledge and apply it to the complex world of 3D design.

Like any designer, however, Ishibashi has faced his fair share of obstacles. Because he’s self-taught, he struggled to find a test process that could measure both functionality and mechanical strength. Ishibashi then discovered the Fusion360 software and UPPlus2 printer which allowed him to measure both qualities, each vital to the design’s success. Once he had constructed solid models of his idea, he turned to his mentors for inspiration. “I learned from lecturers of specialized seminars and from visitors of exhibitions to which I submitted,” Ishibashi told Shapeways.

Tatsuo Ishibashi's touch assist holder device

The “Touch assist holder” is a device for operating smartphone or tablet screens.

The future of assistive tools

Soon enough, Ishibashi was on his way to releasing his designs to the public, assisting the elderly and those with muscle weakness in a completely new way. His assistive tools were incredibly well received and in the future, he hopes to “upgrade the cutlery holder and change the design of the writing assist holder. I hope that a category of the self-help devices will grow steadily. Now I plan to conduct a verification test in some care homes in Japan.”

He adds, “Some of the visitors in the exhibition held in July [2018] had keen interests in my products, and had an idea of conducting a demonstration test in their facilities. I plan to offer the tests [in the near future]. My future image is that many 3D designers will participate in the assistive device field and communicate at the same platform with users.”

be a game changer

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How to Turn a 2D design into a 3D print in three simple steps

Here at Shapeways, we believe everyone has the potential to create something amazing; all you need are the right tools and support to bring your ideas to life. That’s why we’re so passionate about making 3D printing more accessible with easy-to-use 3D modeling tools and apps. One of our favorites is our 2D-to-3D app, which converts images and drawings into fully fledged, printer-ready 3D models. So if you’re new to 3D modeling or simply want to mock up a new design quickly, keep reading for our expert guide on how to go from 2D to 3D with ease!

Upload buttonStep one: Upload Your Image
After opening the 2D-to-3D creator, the first step is to upload your design. You can upload anything from found illustrations to patterns and shapes. Tip #1: If you are making a drawing, black and white works best where the black is the outline of your design and the white represents the empty space. We also recommend using thick lines so your product can be printed in a greater variety of materials (minimum wall thickness for materials vary from 0.3 mm to 3.0 mm). Tip #2: If you are printing a word or a phrase, make sure the edges of the letters and characters are touching, so you can print in one piece instead of multiple ones. 

Customize button
Step two: Customize Your Design
Now that your design is in the creator, it’s time to adjust its size to your taste and needs. On the app, there are sliding scales and backing options that allow you to play with the design’s customizations. You can set your object to be as small as 5 millimeters or go all the way up to 100 millimeters. We suggest working with a ruler on hand in order to help you tangibly visualize sizes. You can also add one of two loop designs to make this a keychain, or choose “none” if you prefer to keep the design as is.

Print button
Step three: Print Your Original Design
Once you’re happy with your creation, it’s time to send it to our printers. Simply hit “Create My Keychain” to convert this into a 3D modeling file, then click on “View Model” to proceed to the next page where your model will be automatically checked to ensure printability in a range of materials suitable for your model size. If this is one of your first 3D printed products, we suggest using our Versatile Plastic, which is great for prototyping. Once you’ve selected your desired material and finish, follow the checkout page to complete the process. It’s really that easy!

Now it’s time for you to take what you’ve learned and actually create something. Test out your new skills by uploading a 2D design into our custom creator. Happy making!

 

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Exciting Updates are Coming Soon to Shapeways

Hi everyone,

We are making exciting and important updates to our user experience on Shapeways.com! We’ve been working for months and can’t wait to share it with you.

We had two major objectives:

  1. Remove friction from the experience to make our service easier to use
  2. Set a context for our services now and those rapidly coming that will enable the end-to-end experience surrounding 3D manufacturing to design, make, and sell

Here are some of the changes that will be rolling out in the upcoming weeks and months:

New Homepage

We will be launching a new Shapeways.com. We optimized it for what people use the most (including: make a product, materials pages, contact forms). For shop owners, FYI the marketplace is still on the homepage. Notably, a large percentage of shoppers bypass the homepage and go straight to product pages from search rankings (so the homepage placement is less important than you might think.)

New Logo and Design

As part of this, we redesigned our logo and brand colors, imagery, and typography. We wanted to bring the best of Shapeways forward: our name, our appreciation of design, and our respect and accessibility for audiences who might not otherwise have access to advanced 3D printing technology. And we also wanted to signal a change! A backdrop to increasingly showcase our customers’ brands, not Shapeways’ first; a differentiated look and feel for the industry; and a jumping off point to build out our platform story of design + make + sell. We started with the website and will be updating our old branding over the next few months.

New Creator Flow

To a small audience, we have been testing a new “creator flow” that moves the file upload time to 20 seconds instead what had previously been 20 minutes on average! It meant fundamentally rethinking all of the file optimization and more that were happening during that wait time. We had to reduce complexity on the backend, not just the front end. We also used this as an opportunity to simplify and clean up our overall experience to make it more intuitive. We are testing and learning now and will be rolling it out to more people as we keep improving it.

To achieve these ambitions, we are having to make some pretty significant changes. Net-net they make our experience better, but even change itself can be annoying when you are used to using something. Especially our most loyal customers who have been with us for years. We thank you for your patience as you learn through the change. We hope you are happy with the updates, but also appreciate your feedback here.

Greg Kress

CEO of Shapeways

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What Does BASF’s Investment in Materialise Mean for the 3D Printing Industry?

Earlier on today BASF invested $25 million into Materialise. We speculated that perhaps BASF wanted to conquer the eyewear market because the potential of this market is so vast. We won’t sure what this investment means for both firms for many years. What is sure is that this partnership will have far-reaching consequences for 3D Printing. Every board of every large chemicals company now has to plot a counter move or face headwinds at a later date.

Even though global chemical company BASF has been pretty deeply involved with 3D printing for a few years now, this commitment really ramped up one year ago, when it announced a newly increased focus on the 3D printing industry, along with a new, AM-dedicated business – BASF 3D Printing Solutions GmbH. From the onset, BASF said its new business, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BASF New Business GmbH, would be focusing on 3D printing materials, services, components, and system solutions.

While the company works hard to keep introducing new materials on its own, as it has an extensive portfolio of materials ready to be developed for 3D printing, BASF also knows that it can’t go it alone. Partnerships and collaborations with other 3D printing mainstays are an important aspect of gaining knowledge and time in this ever-evolving and expanding the industry. So BASF has continued to acquire and strategically team up with other companies over the past year. The company is now working on 3D printed innovations as human skin and tissue, a super-strong prosthetic socket, the Ultrafuse series of filaments  and now, quite possibly, customized eyewear.

A mai, these online German classes are cheap.

This latest comes after today’s bombshell announcement that BASF has invested $25 million in 3D printing leader Materialise, which has been in the industry for nearly three decades. So if we weren’t sure before, we are now – BASF is wholly committed to becoming an industry leader in its own right.

“Our two companies’ business areas complement each other very well and our cooperation will put us in an even better position to find and develop new business opportunities,” Volker Hammes, Managing Director of BASF 3D Printing Solutions, said about the investment. “With its 3D printer facilities in Leuven and innovative software solutions, Materialise has an outstanding infrastructure. Together, we can exploit our strengths even better to advance the 3D printing sector through the development of new products and technologies together with our partners and our customers.”

Materialise and BASF will work together through an open business model to improve upon 3D printing software – the speciality of Materialise – and materials, which is obviously what BASF brings to the table. In addition, this will enable BASF to further optimize its materials in tandem with Materialise. The day before the investment was made public, Materialise announced a proposed public offering of 3.0 million of its American Depositary Shares.

So. What does this big news mean for the rest of the industry? Should we be preparing for a flood of other 3D printing polymer companies to merge with, or even acquire or be acquired by, other businesses in the industry? Maybe.

Photo-Resin X004M is suitable for break-resistant parts, like post-colored electric circuit connectors.

Polymer companies that have long focused solely on their materials offerings will likely take a cue from their counterparts who have also been including applications work in their portfolios, else they risk being left behind in the dust.

It could also mean an increase in high-quality 3D printing materials for industries and applications that Materialise already has its proverbial fingers in, such as aerospace, automotive, healthcare, and even art and entertainment. What will the reaction of and in our broader industry be?

It seems that on the whole, this investment will be a net benefit to the industry. A lone mouse does not exist, neither does a lone polymer company. Subsequently, we can expect renewed investment from polymer companies. They should see a dwindling supply of established M&A candidates for them to peruse. Good news, thanks to the nice people from Ludwigshafen everyone just got a higher valuation. Service bureaus have now discovered a new business model. Rather than making parts which is a complex undertaking and requires hard work you can partner with a polymer giant to make money. The marginal cost of working more closely with one than the other is very low in some cases. For established 3D Printing materials vendors such as Arkema and Evonik, the costs of doing business just went up. Rather than sell materials at fat margins a competitor is now paying other people to use their material. A situation a bit like if one taxi driver were paid to use Exxon gas while the others paid Shell dearly. We’re all being taken for a ride but some of us more so than others.

Perhaps companies across 3D printing will now realise that our greatest potential in the future may be to change how everything is made; but for now, changing how one thing is made or how one business unit hits its revenue targets is enough. BASF engulfs our industry, its revenue sextupling ours. Will this mean that a string of service bureaus will be bought by polymer companies? Bycatch in the nets of billion-dollar trawlers. It would give them much needed parts expertise and the idea of moving towards parts and solutions, not just commodity chemistries must be exciting for them. Even if they don’t, it will be a quick way for them to learn. What about OEMs? While some jump ahead, others leap backwards. These 3D printer builders could be a tempting alternative also, “Look, boss, its like Nespresso for plastic.” 3D printing software companies are thin on the ground but may be amenable to an exit at the right price. Would it make sense for a polymer company to acquire a 3D modelling or CAD firm? Skip everyone, own the customer as she designs the thing then facilitate the manufacturing of that thing. If a staid molecule farmer did that it would make the MCExcel slaves heads spin. Would it be smart? It would be bold, that’s for sure. But, are we but plankton for the polymer wales or are there more that see us as prey?

What of the car and aviation companies. Could they also jockey for position by investing or partnering? They probably benefit more from growth and competition in the ecosystem but in some cases may feel the need to press the trigger. What of the limited availability of viable long fiber carbon fibre or another composite with Impossible Objects and MarkForged way ahead with no one following? In a private space race our industry seems a bit of a rounding error. It may make sense for a space company to acquire both a service firm and an OEM. Or the fact that there are perhaps only 15 viable metal printing companies and around a dozen high-temperature material 3D printing firms in general? Who does that effect? We’re small but we can’t count on everyone being as aggressive as that staid ship of the line from the Rhine. One firm with an evacuation plan that consists of a map of central Europe could swallow us all. Now for a short time before the age of the nanobot and nanotube, we’re like Helen of Troy. From “chips to ships” we have a role to play, We may find ourselves not captains of our destinies but rather prey.

Joris Peels contributed to this piece.

What If You Could Design Your Dream Jewelry?

WHAT IF YOU COULD DESIGN YOUR DREAM JEWELRY?

With Shapeways’ new 3D printed jewelry brand Spring & Wonder you can do just that.  Spring & Wonder offers three collections (Signature, Celestial, & Geometric) all able to be customized to your choice of message, shape, size, material, and any combination in between. Every item is a go-to piece, easily worn at every part of your day (yes, we are talking in the shower and to sleep and on a date and to the beach).



 

Signature Collection

The Signature Collection allows you to make your statement. Each piece within this collection enables you to tell your story.

The Signature Necklace

The nameplate necklace you’ve been dreaming of with a statement all yours. Make it completely custom and give yourself (okay…or your best friend) the perfect gift. No matter what phrase or which material you choose, this is one piece that’ll get everyone talking. Offered in 14k gold, 14k rose gold, silver, brass, and bronze.

Signature Necklace in Brass

The Signature Signet Ring

Shimmering, delicate rings with your personal engraved message. Design the signet rings of your dreams. Add a letter, two, or three, encode your ring with a secret.

Signature Signet Ring in Brass and Bronze

The Signature Studs

Make your mark with these delicate cursive studs. Sport a different phrase in each ear, rock your own monogram, or wear your #hashtag  – whatever you want. Speak your mind without uttering a single word.

Signature Stud Earrings in Silver and Brass

Celestial Collection

The stars have aligned. Take your look out of this world with the endlessly customizable Celestial Collection. Inscribe moons and stars with your favorite lyrics, loved ones’ initials, or zodiac signs and turn the cosmos into your personal calling card.

Celestial Charms

Write your name in the stars. These stackable charms are universal enough to pair with any look while still shining with your personal touch. Add your initials and create your own stellar set.

Celestial Charms in Brass

Zodiac Signet Ring

Shimmering, delicate rings that help you harness some star power. Let your zodiac symbol sparkle or engrave a secret message to the celestial bodies above. Design the signet rings of your dreams.

Zodiac Signet Rings in Bronze and Silver

Celestial  & Zodiac Necklaces

Can’t tell Andromeda from an airplane? Don’t worry about it – these ethereal necklaces will have everyone stargazing in no time. Bedeck your neck with customizable designs from your zodiac sign to a special inscription. Wear one or create your own message.

Full Moon Celestial Necklace in Silver

 

Celestial Studs

These stunning studs will leave you feeling like the center of the universe. To ensure you always have the perfect look to accompany any phase of the moon, these earrings are meant for mixing and matching. Build your own collection out of our range of four cosmic designs.

Celestial Stud Earrings in 14k Gold, Silver, and Brass

Geometric Collection

It’s hip to be square. (And circle, and triangle, and rhombus…)

Watch your wardrobe take a whole new shape with these one-of-a-kind minimalist pieces. Create your own collection of all octagon everything or mix-and-match styles for an artful effect. Stack multiple pieces or keep it simple with a single standout. The choice – and the design – is all yours.

Minimal Geometric Necklace 

Looking for something simple and chic? This is the necklace for you. Select your preferred number of sides and slip into a shape that fits you perfectly. These delicate pendants look great dangling off long chains or worn short and close to the heart. Stack it or wear it by itself, these definitely play well with others.

Three Stacked Minimal Geometric Necklaces

Geometric Hoop Earrings 

Everyone deserves a perfect pair of hoops. How do you ensure your hoops are perfect? By designing them yourself. Use our slide bar to select your own hoop shape. Create teeny delicate hexagons, bold every day circle hoops, or any shape in between.

Large & Thin Geometric Hoops in Brass

 

Small & Bold Geometric Hoops in Brass

Geometric Studs

These flawless studs are your everyday staple pieces. Perfect for bringing some unexpected glamour to your second or third piercing. (Or inspiring you to get a second or third piercing.) Shape what speaks to you by using our customizing slider.

Geometric Stud Earrings in All Materials

 

Choose from any of our base designs to customize and create for your very own. Follow Spring & Wonder for continued inspiration on Instagram and Facebook.

TAKE ME TO SPRING & WONDER

The post What If You Could Design Your Dream Jewelry? appeared first on Shapeways Magazine.

Creating Customized Gifts

Weddings are filled with gifts, and not just the ones you receive. The mother of the bride, the bridesmaids, the groomsmen, they all get gifts from the bride and groom. I wanted to give my groomsmen gifts they couldn’t get anywhere else, and that meant designing them myself.

lightbulb cufflink for groomsmen

If you’re haven’t been following along, I’m Dan, and this month I’m sharing how I used 3D printing to personalize my wedding. For my groomsmen, I wanted something uniform they could wear at the wedding, but also something that was unique to each of them, so I made them cufflinks. Like the engagement and wedding rings I designed and 3D printed, I got much more for my money than I would have if it I’d bought cufflinks retail, and the gifts were meaningful and truly personal.

Dream Up the Design

This was the hardest part: deciding what to make for each of them. Some ideas came more fully formed and I started with those. Others I needed to play with for a bit, sketching out various ideas until I landed on the one that felt right.

3D model of lightbulb cufflink

3D model of lightbulb cufflink

Model the Designs

I used OnShape, learning hands-on as I went. I started with the designs I knew I could model while researching the features to make the other shapes. At one point I discovered I couldn’t make as intricate a design as I wanted, so had to rework my idea until it came out right.

… or Alter an Existing Model

For the airplane cufflinks I made for one of my groomsmen who loves to travel, the perfect 3D printed plane already existed on Thingiverse. The copyright was open to use, and I confirmed with the artist that he was okay with my altering his design, so I simply replaced the base he had for the airplane with a cufflink stem.

plane cufflink for groomsmen

Airplane Jet Cufflink

Add a Monogram

To personalize these even more, my groomsmen’s initials were engraved into the base of each cufflink. I designed this in CAD as I couldn’t mirror the text for the left and right cufflink but needed to mirror them separately, then change the orientation and add it into my OnShape model of the design.

Prototype the Design

I printed the cufflinks in Versatile Plastic to test out the designs on one of my shirts. I discovered I needed to thicken the stem as well as tweak a few of the designs to make them all approximately the same size. Then I printed the final versions in Silver.

Globe cufflink before and after processing

Before and after using silver polish

Give it a Handmade Touch

I’d seen that you could polish silver, adding a chemical patina to it that gave the design more depth and detail. I tested this out on a sample and then polished each cufflink with Liver of Sulpher to give it more of a multi-dimensional, handmade feel.

GIFT AWAY!?

The gift wasn’t a total surprise since I’d told my groomsmen they didn’t need to get cufflinks for their tuxedo shirts, but that I’d designed each cufflink for them complete with monogram blew them away. They were excited by this and had fun showing them off at the wedding and explaining the meaning of their wearing a plane, a globe, a lightbulb, a guitar and a wedge of cheese.

custom made cufflinks for groomsmen

The whole process took about two months, designing the cufflinks on a rolling basis, with about a week or two to conceive and model a design and two weeks to print it. You can always use Design with Shapeways to help you create your ideal gift.

And no, I did not design cufflinks for myself. I found the perfect pair in one of our community members’ shops instead!

What would you design for your wedding party or to wear at your wedding?

MAKE IT YOUR OWN

 

 

**Updated by Kendall Fately on 6/21/18

The post Creating Customized Gifts appeared first on Shapeways Magazine.