3D Printing Actually Boosts Manufacturing, 3D Printing Leather (steak coming soon?), Is 3D printing Just a Gimmick?, More News on NASA and 3D Printing, 3D Printing is Green, a New LulzBot and Oakland Gets a 3D Printing Store...

News	3D Printing

3D printing a big boost to mainstream manufacturing Channel News Asia Whether for personal-use, prototyping or production, 3D printing is becoming part of mainstream manufacturing, and demand for the technology is growing in ... See all stories on this topic »	Channel News Asia
Surprise: 3D Printing Won't Be Closing Any Factories Down ReadWrite 3D printing is capturing the attention of a lot of people these days, with promises to disrupt the manufacturing process. Devices that can produce finished objects ... See all stories on this topic »	ReadWrite
Faux Leather 3D Printing: Leather without Cruelty? Feelgood Style Andras Forgacs developed a method of 3D printing that could produce human body parts and organs for medical purposes. Now he's working to use that same ... See all stories on this topic »
Cloud & 3D Printing – Next-Generation Manufacturing Set Up CloudTweaks News How does 3D printing do that? Here is a simple example: just draw a design on your computer, add data, and drive the machine that spreads very thin sheets of ... See all stories on this topic »	CloudTweaks News
Pop Science: 3D Printing: Glam or Gimmick? Muse The premise of 3D printing is very enticing. Download a product model, or, if you're savvy and creative, use computer-aided drafting (CAD) to make one yourself, ... See all stories on this topic »	Muse
3D printing to really take off - NASA New Europe MOFFETT FIELD, California (AP) — NASA is preparing to launch a 3D printer into space next year, a toaster-sized game changer that greatly reduces the need ... See all stories on this topic »	New Europe
Can 3D printing rebuild manufacturing in Australia? The Conversation It's not easy being a small business in the current manufacturing environment. The face of manufacturing is changing, and businesses are eager for ... See all stories on this topic »
3D Printing is Greener ENGINEERING.com According to his findings Pearce says 3D printing requires between 41 and 68 percent less energy than making these items in a factory. "The bottom line is, we ... See all stories on this topic »
Review: LulzBot TAZ 3D printer Gizmag The TAZ 1.0 is LulzBot's fourth generation printer, and it uses the company's sixth generation hot-end (the nozzle and extrusion mechanism for 3D printing). See all stories on this topic »
HoneyBee3D printing store opens in Oakland with rapid prototyping ... Engadget Given how costly the tech can be, this is a boon for folks who'd love to dip into the 3D printing pool but can't quite justify the sizable investment required. It's only ... See all stories on this topic »

Need a Free CAD Software to Make Your 3D Prints From? Check Out The Free 3D CAD Software List Below...

Free 3D CAD Software

The average 3D printing enthusiast rarely has the budget for a high end CAD system to build their designs. You could always download models created by someone else or shop any of the top 3D printing shops on the internet.  For the rest of us, there are plenty of great modeling tools available for free.  I have included the list below which I am positive is not a comprehensive list.  Please feel free to post a comment if you have a favorite free 3D modeling software I missed on my list.

Free CAD - "FreeCAD is a general purpose feature-based, parametric 3D modeler for CAD, MCAD, CAx, CAE and PLM, aimed directly at mechanical engineering and product design but also fits a wider range of uses in engineering, such as architecture or other engineering specialties. It is 100% Open Source and extremely modular, allowing for very advanced extension and customization."

SketchUp Make - "Hobbyists, kids and backyard spaceship builders all agree that SketchUp Make is the easiest, most fun, entirely free 3D drawing tool in the world. We think you will, too."

LibreCAD - "LibreCAD is a free Open Source CAD application for Windows, Apple and Linux. Support and documentation is free from our large, dedicated community of users, contributors and developers. You, too, can also get involved!"

3D Crafter - "3DCrafter is a real-time 3D modeling and animation tool that incorporates an intuitive drag-and-drop approach to 3D modeling."

Blender - "Blender is 3D creation for everyone, free to use for any purpose. Free Software, great community, and 100% open."

Scupltris - "Sculptris provides an excellent gateway into the exciting world of 3D. It's features are easy to learn, even for someone with no experience in digital art, yet robust enough for creating base models that can then be refined in other applications, such as ZBrush."

Creo Elements/Direct Modeling Express - "Creo Elements/Direct Modeling Express 4.0 is a popular 3D CAD choice for leaders in product design who have short design cycles and frequent one-off designs. Its speed, flexibility and responsiveness to change also make it the ideal tool for short-series production runs."  This one I have actually tried.  It's a little hard to get used to compared to Creo Parametric.

What free 3D modeling software did I miss?

USA Today Says 3D Printing Is "Overhyped", Yet Another 3D Printed Gun, Using 3D Printing For Education, A Two Year Old Gets A "Hand Up", More About Additive Manufacturing...

3D Printing News

'3D Printing Is An Ecosystem, Not A Device': Jennifer Lawton ... Forbes Today I met an amazing woman entrepreneur: Jennifer Lawton, President of 3D printing leader Makerbot (now a subsidiary of Stratysys following the mid June ... See all stories on this topic »
3D Printing With Two Extruders? Why Not Four? EE Times Commercial filament 3D printers have been around for several years. One upgrade that people commonly desire is to increase the number of filament extruders ... See all stories on this topic »
Promise of 3D printing may be overhyped Tucson Citizen For an industry rife with chewy buzzwords such as "the Internet of things" and "augmented reality," it's refreshing to come across a concept as intuitive as "3D ... See all stories on this topic »
3D Printing Technology Offers a 'Hand Up' for Huntsville Tot Kate ... whnt.com HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) – Two-year-old Huntsville toddler Kate Berkholtz was born missing four finger on her left hand. Watch the tot play on any given day ... See all stories on this topic »
What Works And What Doesn't In 3D Printing: A Talk With Terry ... Forbes The hype around 3D Printing bothers Terry Wohlers, president of Wohlers Associates, a research consultancy focused on additive manufacturing and 3D ... See all stories on this topic »
3D printing: educational tool, artistic medium Kenyon Collegian 3D printing: educational tool, artistic medium. The Visual Resources Center's 3D printer will be available for student and faculty use alike. Published: Thursday ... See all stories on this topic »

President Gives Priority to 3D Printing and Now You Can 3D Print, Scan, Copy and Fax All In One Machine

3D Printing News

Obama Administration Prioritizing 3D Printing Wall Street Journal As cutting-edge technology company Quantum International Corp. (OTCBB: QUAN) becomes increasingly involved in the potentially lucrative 3D printing market ... See all stories on this topic »
Slideshow: 3D Print, Scan, Copy & Fax in 1 Machine Design News You can design products in a CAD program, or you can 3D scan an existing object to generate a CAD file for 3D printing. You can also upload an .STL file to ... See all stories on this topic »

Man Prints a Replacement Hand, China Hosts 3D Printing Fair, Cyber School Explore 3D Printing, Wired Article About 3D Printing, and More...

Robohand Uses 3D Printing to Replace Lost Digits ABC News Richard Van As, a South African carpenter, lost four fingers from his right hand to a circular saw two years ago. He was unable to afford the tens of thousands of ... See all stories on this topic »
Qingdao to host 3D printing fair next year China Daily According to the World 3D Printing Technology Industry Alliance, Qingdao has been selected to be the host city for the second 3D printing fair from May 7 to 8, ... See all stories on this topic »
Pennsylvania Cyber Students Explore 3D Printing at Hands-On ... T.H.E. Journal Students from Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School's GATE (Gifted and Talented Education) and School of Engineering programs were offered the opportunity to ... See all stories on this topic »
The Fine Print Wired STL file from almost any CAD program into the software, or you can do what I did and turn to one of the internet's various repositories for 3D printing enthusiasts. See all stories on this topic »	Wired