3D printer headed for the ISS

This Saturday, on September 20 at 2:14 am the first 3D printer intended for in-space use will depart aboard a rocket from Cape Canaveral, Fla., headed for the International Space Station (ISS).

This "machine shop for space" will mark the first time that a 3D printer will be utilized off-world to create parts, tools and emergency solutions.

3d printed electric guitars for $2500

London-based company Customuse plans to launch a platform for everyday electric guitar players to build custom 3D printed guitars to their exact specifications.

New printer makes large scale ceramic 3D prints

 Dutch artist Olivier van Herpt has spent the last two years working on 3D printer and 3D printing process that could make large and medium scale functional 3D printed ceramics.

van Herpt's interest in 3D printing ceramics was guided by the possibilities and limitations of the technology. The desktop 3D printers allow people to make products that they'd otherwise be unable to make using traditional manufacturing methods. The technology is precise, repeatable and quick. But for van Herpt, these advantages could sometimes mean "cold, clinical, without feeling, an absence of humanity to some extent." In addition, van Herpt found that the size of desktop 3D printers often limits you to create large and medium scale functional design objects such as bowls, plates & decorative objects.

Minnesota man prints 3D castle in concrete

Minnesota man, named Andrey Rudenko has been working on a 3D printer capable of printing in concrete.

Rudenko had a goal of 3D printing his full sized house sometime this summer, and although that still appears to be possible, he is a bit behind in the process. “Had to deal with a lot of different small problems,” Rudenko told us last month. “Now just started printing the small castle.”

The ability to print a smaller building would be able to provide him with enough confidence to advance onto the 3D printing of his house.  He hopes that he will learn from and make improvement upon the entire process, while 3D printing his small castle.

Swedish company launches fume free 3D printer

The new ZYYX 3D printer features an enclosed build chamber with an active carbon filter system. The enclosure not only maintains temperature stability and helps improving final print quality, it also creates a slight pressure difference with the help of a low speed fan. The filter system removes gases emission from ABS and polyamide (nylon) processing.

One problem with current 3D printers is the poor adhesion of the first layer of the print, resulting in frequent print failures. The ZYYX 3D Printer has an auto-leveling probe on the printhead, which allows the printer to measure the build plate, calculate its flatness and orientation in space, and compensate for any tilt in real time. The key to this active build plate calibration system is a reliable, simple probe design with only a single moving part. This probe is calibrated individually on every printer before delivery.

3D printed bionic prosthetic hand

This revolutionary design is based on material deformation  through geometric control of the structure. 

Italian startup Youbionic has recently unveiled their latest project, a 3D-printed bionic prosthetic hand. "The goal is to create a hand at a cost much lower than those commerical products today, which cost about 20 thousand Euro." says their designer, Federico Ciccarese.

The whole hand is 3D printed in nylon using selective laser sintering, but Ciccarese said the team is now working on creating the hand using FDM 3D printers.

NASA 3D prints Eta Carinae Nebula

Researchers at NASA have not only successfully map the entire Eta Carinae Homunculus Nebula for the first time, but also developed a 3D model of the expanding cloud produced by it during its 19th century outburst.

"Now anyone with access to a 3-D printer can produce their own version of this incredible object," said Goddard astrophysicist Theodore Gull. "While 3-D-printed models will make a terrific visualization tool for anyone interested in astronomy, I see them as particularly valuable for the blind, who now will be able to compare embossed astronomical images with a scientifically accurate representation of the real thing."