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Printers capable of producing three-dimensional objects have been available for years. However, at the Vienna University of Technology, a printing device has now been developed that’s smaller, lighter and cheaper than ordinary 3D printers. With this kind of printer, everyone could produce small, tailor-made 3D objects at home, using building plans from the Internet – and this could save money for expensive custom-built spare parts. [via]
Smallest 3D Printer in the World – [Link]
Researchers at the Vienna University of Technology have developed a really small 3D printer. From PhysOrg: [via]
The basic principle of the 3D-printer is quite simple: The desired object is printed in a small tub filled with synthetic resin. The resin has a very special property: It hardens precisely where it is illuminated with intense beams of light. Layer for layer, the synthetic resin is irradiated at exactly the right spots. When one layer hardens, the next layer can be attached to it, until the object is completed. This method is called “additive manufacturing technology”. “This way, we can even produce complicated geometrical objects with an intricate inner structure, which could never be made using casting techniques”, Klaus Stadlmann explains. He developed the prototype together with Markus Hatzenbichler.
This method is not designed for large-scale production of bulk articles – for that, there are cheaper alternatives. The great advantage of additive manufacturing is the fact that is offers the possibility to produce taylor-made, individually adjusted items. The prototype of the printer is no bigger than a carton of milk, it weighs 1.5 kilograms, and at just 1200 Euros, it was remarkably cheap. “We will continue to reduce the size of the printer, and the price will definitely decrease too, if it is produced in large quantities”, Klaus Stadlmann believes.
The World’s Smallest 3D Printer – [Link]
If you’d like to try your hand at turning on a lathe, but don’t want to shell out for a machine, how about printing your own EZLathe? Paul writes: [via]
So I’ve built a complete mini lathe system I’m calling the EZLathe… Fully 3D Printable except a small motor, and a couple pieces of cheap electronics. And able to do small wood turning jobs, or small pieces of pretty much anything.
He designed it in Sketchup and printed it on his Up! 3D printer. The design is still in process, but he’s released the files on his site and intends to create additional documentation soon.
3D-Printed Lathe – [Link]
dangerousprototypes.com writes:
We recently ran across another 3D printable PCB accessory on Thingiverse. This time it is a stand-off that slips on the edge of a PCB and the edge of a piece of plywood. This is a quick way to mount your PCB on the side of a project or into a project enclosure.
3D printable PCB stand-offs – [Link]
blog.makezine.com writes: [via]
We’ve previously posted about Junior Veloso’s liquid resin 3D printer, which uses a DLP projector beneath a bath of resin to cure an object into its appropriate shape. Junior is reporting a huge gain in resolution from multiple improvements in the design.
Homebrew Liquid Resin 3D Printer Gets Resolution Boost – [Link]
dangerousprototypes.com writes:
There is a new teaser site for an upcoming web-based CAD tool aimed at artists and makers. This looks like it may be a nice entry level tool to get even more people into 3D modeling. It is currently unknown how this will be released and what it will cost, but we look forward to more details as they become available.
TinkerCAD web-based 3D CAD – [Link]
From IEEE Spectrum: [via]
Mobile phones where the batteries run down in a few hours are really annoying but I think dropped calls from bad reception runs a close second in my annoyance scale.
I may not have to wait that long if research at the University of Illinois in making a 3D antenna for mobile phones can successfully make it commercially available cell phones.
The research, which was initially published in the Wiley journal Advanced Materials, employed an ink jet printing method that used silver nanoparticles and were sprayed on the inside or the ourside of a small hemispherical dome.
3D Printing Cellphone Antennae – [Link]
At Interaction 2011, a research group from Osaka University exhibited a fog display that enables multi-viewpoint observation. [via]
“Ordinary fog displays use a single projector with fog on a flat surface, but this display uses three projectors, each showing a different picture. So when the observer moves around the fog, they get a three-dimensional view.”
3D Volumetric Fog Display – [Link]
smartie_on_computer writes: [via]
For the past two years, I’ve been planning to build myself a 3D printer from some old Inkjet printers I had collected over the years. But not until two weeks ago had I actually started to work on it.
The 3D printer I want to made uses a ink jets to print a chemical onto a building platform. The building platform has a goes down as a new layer of power is spread onto it and the chemical sprayed from the print head will cause powder to bind.
Emulating ink cartridges – [Link]
This project is a 3-dimensional ultrasonic computer mouse known as Magic Mouse which can be worn as a ring on one finger. [via]
Ring-Designed 3D Air-Mouse – [Link]
