Star Trek Meets 3D Printing: Has the Replicator Revolution Started?

Cubify.com announced January 9th that they are partnering with StarTrek.com to offer the ability to print your face on the body of several 3D characters from Star Trek.  According to Scott Harmon, Vice President, Corporate Development, at 3D Systems,  “We will add be adding additional crew characters from more recent series, like The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine. And there are other things we hope to do over time, like the customization of accessories, and maybe even ship customization.”

More on this story at StarTrek.com

Can't wait for your replicator to make you chocolate?  Me either!  LifeHacker.com featured an article about an Instructables user who created his own chocolate bar molds using a 3D printer.  The Roland Versa UV was his weapon of choice allowing him to create a custom 3D print to form his own silicone mold. Tasty!

The folks over at the Daily Telegraph featured a story about 2013 Tech Predictions.  You guessed it, one of the predictions is related to 3D printing.  The article claims that 3D printing will kill manufacturing and "will cause turmoil for manufacturers as 3D printing will start to dominate the market." according to Technology editor Claire Porter.  She quotes a Dr. Frey who say it won't be long before we can start to print our own food.  Romulan Ale anyone?

The Afinia H-Series 3D Printer

Just ran across another company that is making a 3D printer for home use.  The Afina H-Series is another 3D extrusion ABS printer with a build box of 5x5x5 inches and with an accuracy of .2 mm (8 thousandths). The printer weighs only 11 pounds making it fairly portable and can print in natural, black, red, blue, yellow and green (one color at a time).  For a basic 3D printer the Afinia H-Series seems a little expensive at $1,499.  However, this printer won the Make Magazine Best Overall Experience, Easiest Setup, and tied in the Easiest To Use category out of 15 other 3D printers.

More 3D Printing News: Cubify Capture

CES has been a hotbed of announcements related to 3D printing. A number of vendors have been showing off new hardware and software solutions to make the world of 3D printing more accessible to everyone. Could this be the year that 3D printing goes mainstream? We will have to see. Check out the press release below from 3D Systems:

+3D Systems .  Announces Beta Release of Cubify Capture

3dsystems.com Jan 9th 2013
3D Systems (NYSE:DDD) announced today that Cubify Capture, a new portal service that allows users to upload photos and videos from their digital, smartphone or tablet camera to its Cubify.com destination and automatically transform the images into 3D models, will be demoed at CES, January 8th – January 11th, 2013, in the Las Vegas Convention Center in the Main Hall, booth 15447.

The company plans to expand the services of its Cubify Capture portal to include a full suite of thematic scan-to-print web and mobile apps. Users can capture on the go and upload pictures or video to Cubify.com where a 3D model is generated automatically and saved in the user’s Cubify account. These 3D models can be used for further modeling, customizing or fusing with other elements and readied for printing at home or through Cubify cloud printing, in monochrome, durable plastic or full color.

The company plans to develop a series of Cubify Capture apps starting with Cubify Capture: Faces, designed specifically to capture facial features and seamlessly turn them into customized 3D printable memorabilia. Cubify Capture: Faces for mobile will also be demoed at CES.

“We’re thrilled to invite users and educators to explore and experiment with the beta release of Cubify Capture, the first true real-world-to-print capture tool,” said Cathy Lewis, CMO, 3D Systems. “We are excited to see what our growing +Cubify community will capture and print.”

Be the first to experience Cubify Capture at CES.

About 3D Systems Corporation
3D Systems is a leading global provider of 3D content-to-print solutions including 3D printers, print materials and on-demand custom parts services for professionals and consumers alike. The company also provides CAD modeling, reverse engineering and inspection software tools and consumer 3D printers, apps and services. Its expertly integrated solutions replace and complement traditional methods and reduce the time and cost of designing and manufacturing new products. 3D Systems products and services are used to rapidly design, communicate, prototype or produce real functional parts, empowering customers to create and make with confidence.

More information on the company is available at www.3DSystems.com

3D Systems Releases a New Generation Cube 3D Printer

3D Systems has announced a new generation of it's Cube printer.  The new printer offers 1.5 times faster printing times while being much quieter that the previous generation. Additionally, the new Cube offers the ability to print PLA and ABS plastics.  You can now print up to 16 different colors.  The new printer starts at $1,299.

It's looking more and more like 2013 may be the year that 3D printing start to become mainstream.

3D Printing News

MakerBot received a couple new updates yesterday:

MakerBot Firmware was upgraded to version 7.0 which "includes greatly improved acceleration, using contributions from our rockstar community members, Jetty and dnewman, to allow for smoother movements, better quality on high-detail prints, and a quieter machine."  This update also appears to enable the MakerBot to print from a SD card as well as a new file format.

MakerWare 1.1 received the following updates:

• Major print quality improvements in MakerBot Slicer (formerly known as “Miracle Grue”) make it significantly faster and more accurate in slicing and printing detailed models on the Low and Medium settings. 
• Slicing profiles for Skeinforge and MakerBot Slicer are now fully editable! Customizing slicing profiles is recommended for advanced users only, but if you’re ready to take the plunge, see our Advanced Settings documentation to get started.
• Automatically arrange a cluttered build plate using the Auto Layout option – choose Edit -> Auto Layout All or press Ctrl-L.
• Many other small improvements and bug fixes!

So far community comments seem positive.

From Crayon Sketch to 3D Model

Check out this cool new website call Crayon Creatures.  You can send them an image of something your child (or you) have drawn and they will make you a 3D print from it.  This takes the modeling part of 3D printing to a much more basic level.  Think of how thrilled kids will be when the see their creation in 3D and in color.

Here are a couple examples from their website:

Pretty cool!  Hopefully service this will be available in the US soon.  Still a bit pricey in my opinion at 69 Euros ($90 US).  But if the price doesn't bother you, get the crayons out.

3D Printer on Craigslist!

If nothing else proves that 3D printing is becoming mainstream then this will.  I just spotted a 3D printer on Craigslist.  That's right!  Someone near Denver is selling their gently used Makerbot 3D Printer and laptop for $800.

Go 3D Print Yourself!

Mixee Me is a company started in 2012 that lets you create a miniature version of yourself (or another person).  It reminds me a little of the Mii Channel on the Nintendo Wii.  The design interface is easy to use and I managed to make the "Me' shown below in just few minutes.  Once your "Me" is finished you can order a 3D print for $25 (plus $6.50 shipping and handling) which will be printed by the good folks over at Shapeways and then sent to you by mail.  According to the Mixee Me website "We believe that creation should be fun, quick, and simple. We believe that 3D Printing should be accessible to everybody regardless of expertise."  Go try to create one for yourself at the Mixee Me website.!

3D Printing News: The Largest 3D Printer Ever!

Objet has created the world largest 3D printer, the Objet1000 with a build envelope of 1000 x 800 x 500mm (39.3 x 31.4 x 19.6 inch). This whopper is built on the Connex multi-material 3D printing technology that "offers a choice of over 100 materials, simulating both standard and ABS-grade engineering plastics. In addition, you can print up to 14 materials in a single model to achieve the precise qualities of your intended end product." according to the Objet1000 brochure. This behemoth can print up to 16 micron in high quality mode, weighs a hefty 4,300 pounds and measures a 110.3 x 70.9 x 70.9 inches. Wow! I saw no statement of the price, but I will assume one will not be showing up at my door soon.