In the beginning of this blog I mentioned the first time I ran across 3D printing in person in 1996, but this Youtube classic predates that.  It’s amazing how much has changed in 30 years, but also how much hasn’t.  Continue reading →

Perhaps you have been following the news of China’s recent landing on the dark side of the moon.  The complex Chang’e4 setup has a rover and uses relay satellites to send the information back to Earth.  This is just part of a series of missions, however, with subsequent Chang’e missions looking to do things such  as bring moon rocks back to Earth with the overall goal of establishing a base on the moon.  Perhaps most exciting to us is that the Chang’e8 is scheduled to have a 3D printer on board to look at 3D printing structures for a moon base. Continue reading →

Cosine Additive’s Twitter bio basically says it all:

Industrial grade open-platform additive manufacturing.

It’s 6 simple words, but in those brief words is a potential revolution. Continue reading →

Do you know the guy who has the room in his basement with enough baked beans and chili to last a decade?  Commonly referred to as “preppers”, there’s a group out there who actively prepares for emergencies causing disruption in our modern lifestyle.  I saw this great read from 3D Printer Chat about a 3D printer for your bomb shelter and it made me think that a 3D printer really should be in every bunker. Continue reading →

Commander Barry Wilmore holding his new 3D-printed wrench. (photo courtesy of NASA)

Our friends at Made In Space haven’t wasted any time putting the new ISS 3D printer to good use.  The crew at Made In Space heard that ISS Commander Wilmore really wanted a ratcheting socket wrench, so they went to work and designed one.  The group of files was then sent to NASA who transmitted them to the 3D printer aboard the ISS to make Commander Wilmore his early Christmas gift.  This marked the first time an object was designed on Earth and transmitted to space for 3D printing.  It’s so cool to see the printer being employed to make useful needed tools and not just novelty proof of concept work already in its very early days.  You can read all about it on the Made In Space blog.

Amazing animation showing how 3D printing can even be done in gold!  We’ve talked about crazy materials in the past from glass to rubber, but I think this takes the cake.  A collaboration of EOS and Cookson Precious Metals (CPM), you can read more about here.  The benefits here are immense from total freedom of design to making hollow elements to save on material.  This may bring a whole new element to designing an engagement ring!

We’ve talked before about PD&D Newswire and their love of 3D printing before and they’re back at it again covering a 3D printer called the WASP Delta 3D Printer that works in clay!  It’s awesome to to see people printing in local natural materials and for good like housing.  Sometimes it seems like 3D printing has more of a small object future, but then you see videos like this or an article about printing homes in one day in Japan and maybe there’s a big near future.