Digital fabrication tools have revolutionized the way designers, engineers, and artisans express their creativity. With the right resources, you can learn to use these powerful instruments in no time! Whether it’s 3D printing or laser cutting that interests you, these articles will provide useful tutorials and inspiration for makers of all levels. Discover how digital fabrication can open up new possibilities so that your craftsmanship is truly extraordinary!
This past summer when we were putting together our Ultimate Guide to 3D Printing we sought to test a representative sample of available consumer-class 3D printers. Given the dynamic nature of the market, we were sure many new printers would start popping up. And that’s definitely what’s happening. So it’s cool to see Endgadget has come out with its own 3D printer buyer’s guide: The Shape of Things to Come.
How to make your own desktop wire bender.
Two thousand and twelve was 3D printing’s breakout year. While still the realm of early adopters, the 3D printing genie is clearly out of the bottle. I checked in with several consumer-class 3D printer companies to see how 2012 went down and to get their thoughts on 2013 and beyond. Everyone I spoke with was extremely bullish about the future of 3D printing and some were already rolling out new models.
I got to play around with Chris Connors’ Mendocino Motor at Maker Faire New York last year. It consists of magnetically levitating pencils turned into motors with magnets, magnet wire, and 3D-printed joists. The Mendocino Motor floats in its own magnetic field and converts light into electricity and magnetism, which are then converted into the […]
Toronto’s 3D-printed jewelry company Hot Pop Factory received a client request to come up with a fun 3D-printed holiday gift for each of their employees, and I think they knocked it out of the ballpark with what they came up with: 3D scanned and printed Pez dispenser head toppers!
Providence-based artist and designer Wayne Losey makes these amazing 3D-printed modular action figures known as ModiBot, inspired by projects Wayne worked on in a previous life as a toymaker. Writing for Wired Design, Joseph Flaherty looks into the inspiration and realization of ModiBot.
ShopBot, creator of a line of popular CNC router tools, have collaborated with CAD powerhouse Autodesk to create a program that aims to bring digital fabrication tools into more schools around the country. Fifty ShopBot Desktops were set aside for teachers and educators in the US to claim through the promotion, “Digital Fab Tools for Schools,” and vouchers of $2,500 are available based on a first come, first served basis from 100kSchools.org.
