It’s rare to see a company that is so established yet as cutting-edge as Shapeways . The company, founded in 2007 as a spin-off of Royal Philips Electronics, began as a one-off 3D printing service that offered basic plastic items for sale online.
When you’re interested in investing in 3D printing, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of options at first glance. The publicly traded 3D printer manufacturers are few: Stratasys, 3D Systems and most recently, ExOne.
3D printing is all the rave in the tech world right now. Printers made by companies like Makerbot bring consumer’s ideas to life by crafting clothespins in a pinch, jewelery for a night out, or even an iPhone case.
Two makers on opposite ends of the globe, Ivan Owen in Bellingham, Washington and Richard Van As in South Africa, teamed up to build a custom robotic hand and publish it on Thingiverse . The best part
Over at Forbes, Dan Schawbel snagged an interview with Chris Anderson, editor in chief of Wired Magazine, and got his thoughts on 3D printing, collaboration and manufacturing. Anderson believes that in the last five years age-old models for manufacturing and distribution have been eroded by an overwhelming wave of technological currents centered around web-based collaboration and production
3D printing has been hailed as the future of manufacturing as everything from chocolate goodies to jawbones have been created with the newish technology. Add one more item to that list: Guns.
We all think of rapid prototyping as a remarkable and futuristic technology. Engineers and designers have long been familiar with 3D printing, but in the end, what makes it so valuable is its ability to leverage the creativity and ingenuity of “non-professionals” who, until recently, didn’t have the means to bring their dreams to life.
A recent webinar attendee mentioned using Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) tools in vacuum forming with “great success,” saying porosity helped a lot. This made me wonder how others are taking advantage of this FDM property. Do you turn porosity into an advantage in your shop

