We’ve got so much happening here at Adafruit that it’s not always easy to keep up! Don’t fret, we’ve got you covered. Each week we’ll be posting a handy round-up of what we’ve been up to, ranging from learn guides to blog articles, videos, and more.
Adafruit is currently offering a one-time use discount code of 20% off
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Some restrictions apply, including product-level restrictions (a handful of products, including most Raspberry Pi boards, will not be eligible for discount). The discount does not apply to subscriptions or gift certificates either. The code is active from now until Thanksgiving (11/26/2020) — so get shopping!
The Adafruit MagTag combines the new ESP32-S2 wireless module and a 2.9″ grayscale E-Ink display to make a low-power IoT display that can show data on its screen even when power is removed! The ESP32-S2 is great because it builds on the years of code and support for the ESP32 and also adds native USB support so you can use this board with Arduino or CircuitPython!
Companies, organizations and individuals continue to attempt to lend support to the COVID-19 pandemic supply effort. We will be providing regular updates about these initiatives where necessary in an attempt to ensure that the 3D printing community is aware of what is being done, what can be done and what shouldn’t be done to provide coronavirus aid.
Dutch chemical company DSM has launched a platform for connecting healthcare providers and businesses for the supply of personal protection equipment (PPE) and other items. UNITE4COVID acts as a hub in which manufacturers and certifications labs can be linked to medical professionals in order to provide PPE and safety equipment.
Fortify is 3D printing tooling for injection molding meant to produce an adapter that converts a snorkel into a face mask. By making the tooling with its own 3D printing technology, the company believes that it could reduce the lead time for mold production by 75 percent, cutting a 14-day lead time to three days and potentially reducing costs from $2,000 to $300.
Origin has begun shipping its nasopharyngeal swabs, which are now FDA-registered, Class I, 510K medical products. Bulk orders of the swabs can be ordered on the company’s website.
A thirteen-year-old Tennessee student is using his own desktop 3D printer to produce ear savers, meant to reduce chafing caused by facial masks. Printing at a rate of eight ear savers in three-and-a-half hours, Sam Walker is running his printer 17 hours a day, giving them to local doctors, nurses, pharmacists and retirement home employees.
Also making ear savers is a collective of companies including Ultimaker, HP and other businesses, such as ImageNet Consulting, which has made over 10,000 such devices. While we have covered many of HP’s initiatives so far, Ultimaker’s involvement is made up of a two-part endeavor in which hospitals with pre-approved designs and material specifications are connected to 3D printing companies like 3D Hubs and ImageNet, a substantial U.S. reseller of IT technology and 3D printers, to produce the equipment.
Members of Amazon’s Prime Air mechanical design and hardware teams have joined a Washington State initiative that is producing face shields for healthcare workers. Based on feedback from medical professionals, the Amazon team claims to have improved the initiative’s existing face shield design, including material quality, so that they can be reusable and keep the shield in place more effectively. The new design also reduced sharp edges and pressure to the forehead, as well as improved print time. The Prime Air team subsequently made the U.S National Institutes of Health-approved design available for 3D printing and injection molding.
So far, Amazon has donated about 10,000 face shields and aims to deliver 20,000 more, using systems typically used to cut fiber materials for drone manufacturing to cut the face shield screens. Soon, the retail behemoth aims to mass produce face shields, suggesting it will be able to make hundreds of thousands over the next few weeks and have them available through the Amazon website. A recent blog post on the topic states:
“Because of the design innovations and the capabilities of our supply chain, we are confident we will be able to list them at a significantly lower price—almost a third of the cost—than all other reusable face shields currently available to frontline workers. We are looking to prioritize frontline workers and then eventually open up to all Amazon customers.”
During the pandemic, Amazon has faced harsh criticism from employees, including at Amazon warehouses and Whole Foods, who striking for better conditions as they continue to work amid the health crisis. While warehouse workers in multiple cities are demanding that Amazon shut down facilities where employees have been tested positive for COVID-19, CEO Jeff Bezos has grown his wealth by $25 billion since January 1, which the Institute for Policy Studies has described as “unprecedented in modern financial history.”
A leaked memo indicated that, after firing a worker who played a role in organizing a strike at a Staten Island distribution warehouse, company executives would discredit the worker and the larger movement to unionize Amazon workers. The employee was described as “not smart or articulate.”
According to VICE, who received the leaked documents, the company has attempted to cover its labor record in the midst of the pandemic with public relations efforts. Included in those efforts is the possibility of making free masks, with Amazon General Counsel David Zapolsky saying that the corporation should come up with “different and bold” ways for giving away surplus masks.
3D-printed medical supplies have obviously generated a lot of positive PR for companies involved in producing them. What this recent news could indicate is that the move by Amazon to participate in making 3D-printed face shields is part of a larger campaign to generate good publicity in the face of its labor disputes. Because we have seen multiple other companies laying off workers also participate in the production and delivery of medical supplies, such as GE and Boeing, it might not be unreasonable to think that similar campaigns are under way by other entities.
As the pandemic continues to grip the world, we will continue to provide regular updates about what the 3D printing community is doing in response. As always, it is important to keep safety in mind, remain critical about the potential marketing and financial interests behind seemingly good humanitarian efforts from businesses, and to do no harm.
The month of July saw a plethora of partnerships and announcements from the Farnborough International Airshow as well as an abundance of funding for 3D printing startups in New Zealand. Furthermore, the 3D printing industry welcomed a new range of filaments from Amazon, while observing the legal battle between Cody Wilson’s open-source 3D printed firearm […]
Recently, leading online marketplace Amazon sparked the 3D printing rumor-mill with the launch of its own brand Basics FFF/FDM filament. To investigate the new materials range ourselves, 3D Printing Industry ordered two spools of the filament. In this review the print quality of Amazon Basics Black PLA and Red PETG are examined using standard parameters […]
We’re talking about business, cool products, and events in today’s 3D Printing News Briefs, followed by a how-to video on smoothing your 3D prints and a student competition project. Nano Dimension has sold two of its DragonFly Pro 3D printers to separate branches of the US military, while AIO Robotics has introduced its new silicone drawing mat for 3D printing pens. A 3D printing and design company offered a sneak peek of a new 3D printed golf product, and Rize plans to demonstrate its technology at the upcoming IMTS show. A YouTube video explains how to smooth your 3D prints using automotive primer, and Ogle Models helped a university team complete its prototype for the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Challenge.
Nano Dimension Sells Two More DragonFly Pro 3D Printers
Israeli additive electronics provider Nano Dimension announced this week that it sold two of its industrial DragonFly 2020 Pro PCB 3D printers to two different branches of the United States Armed Forces. The 3D printer sales were closed by Fathom and TriMech Solutions, two of the company’s top US value added-resellers. This news comes just two months after the company became a certified vendor for the DoD with its Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code, which means it can pursue and conduct business directly with the US Federal Government and its agencies.
“Nano Dimension continues to strengthen its position in the U.S. market, particularly in the U.S. defense sector. These sales to tier one customers demonstrate the attractiveness of our additive manufacturing solution,” said Simon Fried, President of Nano Dimension USA. “The ability to create functional circuit prototypes quickly and securely in-house is a key factor in the increasing adoption of our solution in the multi-billion-dollar U.S. defense sector. Nano Dimension’s DragonFly Pro 3D Printer makes it possible to 3D print radically new designs and improve workflows by leveraging the agility of additive manufacturing. The defense sector is highly motivated to enable additive manufacturing in the field by bypassing traditional manufacturing processes.”
AIO Robotics Introduces Silicone Drawing Mat
High-tech startup AIO Robotics, creator of the ZEUS All-In-One 3D Printer, is introducing its latest innovation – a silicone mat perfect for drawing on with your favorite 3D printing pen. The mat, made out of premium, heat-resistant silicone material, is available on Amazon for just $12.99, though you can save 10% on the mat when you also purchase one AIO Pen or an AIO Pen Filament.
The Silicone Mat for 3D Pen Drawing is perfect for many materials, including PLA, ABS, and PETG, and can be used for simplified but high-precision 3D drawing of grids, circles, and rectangular shapes. When you purchase the mat, you will also receive two free silicone finger protectors, which allow you to safely and easily remove filament from a hot 3D pen tip.
— Two Bros. 3D Printing Solutions (@2Bros3D) August 26, 2018
3D printing and design company Two Brothers 3D Printing Solutions, based in Massachusetts, offers consulting, 3D printing, and CAD services, and also works hard to, as its website states, “showcase the incredible and affordable technology that is 3D printing.”
“Over the past 4 years, brothers Ryan and Tyler Stacy have spent countless hours learning the ins and outs of 3D printing. Over that time, the two have been able to use 3D printing to create solutions for many different areas; from power tools to prosthetics, replacement parts, birthday gifts, and quite literally, anything in between.”
Earlier this week, the company posted its latest unique 3D printed solution on Twitter – a moveable contraption, called a TeeMate, used to pick up golf balls so golfers do not have to bend down to do it themselves. Fore!
Rize to Showcase Its Technology at IMTS
At the upcoming IMTS 2018 show, 3D printing company Rize will be showcasing its technology at the booth belonging to Fuji Machine America Corporation. Rize makes industrial 3D printing safe and easy with its Rize One hybrid 3D printer, and can produce parts that have best-in-class strength in all axes. Additionally, thanks to its unique ink marking capability, the company also provides what it calls “the industry’s only Digitally Augmented Part capability for traceability and compliance.”
At IMTS 2018, representatives from Rize and its authorized reseller, Dynamic Machine, will demonstrate the technology’s quick and clean support removal, and explain how the company’s industrial 3D printing can be combined with Fuji’s comprehensive automated manufacturing solutions in order to provide significant cost and time advantages. Come see the Rize One for yourself, and get all your questions answered, at Fuji’s booth #339059 at the IMTS 2018 show, September 10-15 at McCormick Place in Chicago.
Smooth 3D Prints with Automotive Primer
We’ve seen people smooth their 3D prints with epoxy and with acetone, but this is a new one – automotive primer. Youtuber gordontarpley recently published a video about how well it works to smooth your 3D prints with 2k automotive primer, saying that it’s been his “main method for the last few months.”
“I get asked all the time, ‘How do you clean up your 3D prints?’ and the method always varies. So I’ve been trying to figure out the best way to make a video about that,” Tarpley said.
“Most of the time I go straight from a 3D print…and I will just start with primer. Primer paint and then I’ll paint a layer, sand it, paint, sand, over and over until it looks smooth.”
Tarpley said that’s he learned some valuable information about the primers in this way. To learn more about smoothing your 3D prints with automotive primer, check out the video below:
3D Printed Prototype for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Challenge
The student team had to design, manufacture, and operate an unmanned aircraft that could complete several tasks simulating a humanitarian mission. The team ran into some issues – in order to endure wind tunnel testing, their prototype would need pressure taps in order to sample air distribution across it. So they called on Ogle for assistance, which recommended SLA 3D printing for the job so they could lower costs by building the taps within the model.
“The accuracy of industrial SLA ensured that the complex geometry of the scaled-down aerodynamic surfaces was replicated with precision. For clarity reasons, the team chose ClearVue resin, which allowed the pressure tapping pathways to be seen on the finished model,” explained Matt White, Senior Sales Engineer at Ogle.
“UCL is regarded as one of the best institutions in the country when it comes to training tomorrow’s mechanical engineers and we were only too happy to help when the team approached us.”
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3D printing is an investment. Even after you’ve bought your 3D printer, the costs don’t end there – filament needs to consistently be replenished, particularly if you 3D print often, and there are things like post-processing tools and bed adhesives that add up as well. At 3DPrint.com, we understand that 3D printing can get expensive, so we do our best to help out our readers whenever we get a chance. That’s why we’re once again giving away $100 worth of Amazon gift cards in our latest giveaway.
Amazon has gone from being an online bookseller to an online repository of just about everything, and that includes 3D printers and 3D printing supplies. We’re giving away three gift cards – one for $50, one for $30 and one for $20 – and there are plenty of ways that you can enter to win. All you have to do is any of the following:
It’s easy to enter, and you can enter multiple times for a better chance at winning. If you win, it’s up to you what you want to use your gift card for – you can stock up on your favorite filament, or try a new experimental type of filament that you’ve always been interested in but never wanted to spend the money to try before. If you’ve been saving up for a new 3D printer, then a gift card can give you the extra funding boost that you need. Of course, you don’t have to spend it on 3D printing at all – you can buy a new paper shredder if you like! Exciting, yes? (That was the last thing I looked at on Amazon, because I need one.) Or you can be old-fashioned and buy some books, Kindle or otherwise. Whatever you decide to do with them, gift cards are nice to have, and you have just under three weeks to enter. So get clicking! And as always, remember that you can link directly to Amazon through our online shop.
Discuss this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts below.
Leading eCommerce platform Amazon has launched its own brand of 3D printer filaments available for global sale and delivery. While current wait time for the products is listed as 1 – 3 months, the move is interesting as the filaments are available in the AmazonBasics range – putting them in line with common household essentials such […]
