The IRS can help buy you a 3D printer

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Image courtesy of Arvind Balaraman / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of Arvind Balaraman / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Are you familiar with the section 179 deduction?  Essentially you can subtract the cost of capital equipment like a 3D printer/scanner from your profit and reduce your tax bill.  If you’re taxed at a 36% rate it’s like getting your new printer/scanner at a 36% discount.  Now the limit has been reduced from $500,000 in 2013 to only $25,000 in 2014, but that’s still more than enough to add a new toy to your business or start a new business.  Balboa Capital put together a great YouTube video explaining the process.

Ready to Trade Keywords for Keyshapes?

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freeimage-50242182.jpg

3D Industri.es (3DI) has created a new portal and search engine based directly on shapes.  This allows you to find industrial parts quickly and easily based upon their shape alone.  This removes any language barrier, any need for a part number or need to search supplier by supplier.  We can see this being big with old and obsolete machinery, perhaps with out of business manufactures, allowing users to locate parts or compatible parts that are close enough.

Newswire Covers GM Reverse-Engineering Rival Cars with 3D Scanning

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I love the video news series called Engineering Newswire by Product Design & Development. Think of it as a “Daily Show” for engineering with a great mix of real news and satire. Recently they had a piece on how GM reverse engineers rival cars using 3D scanning of interiors and exteriors. See it at the 1:50 mark above!  They also do a related “Kickstarter of the Week” series and here’s another link where they talk about a Kickstarter with mind reading EEG headwear that uses 3D printing to produce the helmet!

History Repeating Itself as Big Companies Entering 3D Printing?

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Courtesy of Epson.com

Is Epson the only traditional printing company with grand 3D visions? (Courtesy of Epson.com)

I was reading a great article about how traditional printer maker Epson is entering the 3D space.  It makes me wonder if history is repeating itself like the dawn of the internet commerce revolution.  During that time the market was flooded with new stores selling everything from vitamins to pet products.  In a lot of ways the traditional brick and mortar companies were late to the party, but if you look at the internet today they essentially dominate.  There was one major new player in Amazon.com, but most of the new guys either went away, were acquired or were relegated to a niche.  Today we see a flood of new printers hitting the market and it makes me wonder how many will have staying power and which large company currently sitting on the sideline might come in and dominate.   Continue reading →

3D Laser Scanning and Hyper-Realistic Video Game Racing

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From my NASCAR ride-a-long day at Atlanta Motor Speedway

This Christmas we have the release of two new video game consoles with stunning visuals and realism along with the raw graphics power that continue to be seen in PC gaming.  Gamers are demanding more realism and the industry is delivering.  One of the places this is most evident is in sports games and the very competitive racing sector.  Unlike football or basketball, where 1-2 companies have a contractual monopoly to make games, in racing there is tons of competition and companies look for an edge. Continue reading →

A 3D Printer Deal for Black Friday? Our First Poll!

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Black Friday

Image courtesy of Iamnee at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

So today is “Cyber Monday” and last Friday was “Black Friday” (or really Thanksgiving Thursday, but that’s a different post for a different type of blog).  This year we have seen 3D printing become more mainstream being offered at places like Best Buy, Amazon.com, Staples, etc.  It got me thinking, when will we see the first Black Friday or Cyber Monday advertised deal by a major retailer?  Please answer our poll below.

Would you Like Fries with that 3D Print? Remembering My Childhood Zoo Day.

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Mold-A-Rama of JFK's bust in honor of today's 50th anniversary (used with permission).

Mold-A-Rama of JFK’s bust in honor of today’s 50th anniversary (used with permission).

I saw an article where McDonald’s is considering using in store 3D printers to make happy meal toys.  This could have lots of cool benefits from being having “perfect inventory” with no shortages/leftovers or being sure a customer gets just the toy they’re missing to complete a set.  Of course this brought back to mind the originator of this concept, Mold-a-Rama.   Continue reading →

We Have a Winner of the 3D Football!

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Grant and his prize

Grant and his prize

Congrats to Grant of Made In Space (great company working to bring 3D printing to space exploration) who won our first annual NFL Survivor tournament!  He’s the proud recipient of the “gear” 3D printed football trophy made for us by GearUp3D.  Grant had the following comment on his win, “2013 was a year of destiny – I was determined to have that 3D printed football trophy. Continue reading →

3D Printing Stocks the Secret for your Retirement?

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Some rights reserved by Tulane Public Relations

Some rights reserved by Tulane Public Relations

Looking to save for retirement?  Maybe investing part of your portfolio in 3D printing could be the way to go.  3D printing is growing by 13.5% annually and expected to reach $3.5 billion in 2017.  at that rate you’ll double your money in a little over 5 years.  13.5% is a pretty good growth rate and rate of return on investment, but it’s a question of picking the winning stocks. Continue reading →