Backtrack to the early days of 3D printing as Chuck Hull was presented with his own lab, and famously woke his wife out of bed late one night to see his first rudimentary 3D print in the form of a rapid prototype. Fast forward, and such a scenario could now be taking place anywhere in the world. Software, hardware, and materials are more accessible and affordable than ever, leaving the world ripe for change. The initial goal of bringing 3D printers forth into the world was to encourage creativity via stereolithography; however, SLA 3D printing was almost solely emphasized as a rapid prototyping tool for engineers in the beginning.

The secret was too big to keep

Patented in 1986, SLA 3D printing was soon followed by selective laser sintering (SLS) and then fused deposition modeling (FDM). 3D printing technology—and all the opportunity behind it—was quickly bursting at the seams as automotive companies, NASA, and other entities with deep pockets wanted to take a swift turn from the conventional world of subtractive manufacturing into the additive. A handful of inventive trailblazers in their own right most likely enjoyed 3D printing behind the scenes as long as possible, with the knowledge that such innovation would be impossible to hide forever.

It wasn’t long before interlocking and moving parts (along with the potential for integrating electronics) began to pave the way for a wide range of functional components in critical applications like aerospace, automotive, and medicine.

Critical industries began to invest

Progress was particularly impressive as industries embracing 3D printing were also heavily centered around the safety of human lives. No one wants to be responsible for a rocket engine failing, an automobile causing accidents due to a defect, or an implant being rejected or a device harming an individual seeking to get better with medical treatment. The fact that researchers and scientists invested so much faith in an alternative method of manufacturing quickly gained attention, with interest continuing to accelerate at rapid speed over the past decade.

The ability to prototype and create finished products—all from the 3D printer—has had a profound effect on manufacturing. Processes like selective laser sintering (SLS) can be performed at high speeds, producing strong and durable parts. Because supports are not required (due to unsintered powder bolstering parts during the printing process), design freedom is virtually boundless, thus releasing designers from the stress associated with adding supports, and removing them.

Post-processing takes on many forms, depending on the 3D printer and the materials involved, but finished parts may be left natural, polished, or even dyed. SLS 3D printing again, is a great example as 3D prints made with Nylon 12 [Versatile Plastic] can be processed for a smooth finish, or taken to a more refined level with a premium, scratch-resistant finish. A wide variety of hues are available too.

3D printing will continue to transform manufacturing

It’s obvious that business is booming within the billion-dollar 3D printing industry, offering a vast range of options for materials alone, to include thermoplastics, powders, metals, resins, and filaments. Factories are beginning to run on a whole new type of automation, to include technology propagating itself, from 3D printers made from 3D printed parts to 3D printed robots performing 3D printing activities (and let’s not forget, this could also be happening in space to build colonies and maintain and fix crucial parts).

Warehouse space may easily begin to dwindle as a requirement for many businesses, with on-demand production eliminating the need for inventory. Instead, high-performance, customized parts can be created on demand and completely to the preferences of the consumer. With 3D printing propelling consumer-driven personalized comfort, patient-specific treatment in medicine, and the potential for making intricately customized products—the drudgery of “one-size-fits-all” may disappear altogether, and quite soon.

Intense opportunity for customization is already stretching to a variety of applications, demonstrated through powerful case studies at Shapeways. Most of the incredibly talented and innovative customers have one thing in common: 3D printing began weaving its way into their manufacturing processes over the years and to this day is allowing them to improve with each model, part, or latest design generation. In some cases, other technologies are woven in with 3D printing too for maximum effect.

Shapeways customers have evolved in tandem with 3D printing  

In architecture, for example, the ability to offer a 3D printed model or mockup as well as a virtual tour has taken the experience between designer and consumer to an unprecedented level—allowing for better communication, quality—and in the end, satisfaction. The team at Verner Architects is able to make 3D printed prototypes on-site, test them, and then order customized parts on-demand.

“I’ve been aware of Shapeways since architecture school,” said architect David Swaim. “Once I graduated I worked at an architectural model shop where we would get little pieces of furniture that we could not build by hand printed and delivered to put in our models.”

Swaim’s previous positive experiences with 3D printing led him to introduce the technology into a recent high-end remodel in California. Ultimately, the project was much larger than the architects expected, and by the end also included a unique six-foot, 3D printed bathroom vanity inspired by the beauty of coral reefs. The results were outstanding, with the fixture meant to stand the test of time in terms of luxury and durability.

Additive manufacturing plays a role in many other unexpected areas too. Dutch design duo Hanno Groen and Joanna Boothman, Shapeways customers for years, relied on SLS 3D printing for their latest series of cuff bracelets. Many may be surprised to hear that industrial manufacturing plays such a large role in their work, but not only are the skilled designers able to create elegant, lightweight pieces of jewelry—their bracelets are durably, luxury items meant to be handed down over the years.

Each bracelet is “as unique as a fingerprint,” and the antithesis of mass-produced, disposable costume jewelry.

“3D printing gives us a chance to explore new avenues and get away from the mass production paradigm,” says Boothman.

Both designers also appreciate the way the Shapeways platform complements their artistic spirit—aside from aiding in the actual creation of jewelry—as they are able to work whenever the mood strikes and then upload their models quickly.

Boston-based industrial designer Evan Gant offers an artistic bend with his 3D printing also, designing a distinctive 3D printed pendant light that adjusts with a simple twist. Aptly named the Twist Light, Gant was using paper towel rolls for prototyping. Not only did he discover the wonders of using 3D printing to test parts—he also began manufacturing his lights with small-volume manufacturing through Shapeways.

“My favorite part of the design process is iterating and seeing the reaction to ideas,” explained Gant. “In a traditional process (like injection molding), a large portion of your time is spent optimizing from a mold, finding a vender that will make you parts, doing quality control, etc. You often need to make a lot of compromises to your design in the end.”

For the medical professionals, compromise is usually is not a luxury, with patients’ lives at stake. As the COVID-19 pandemic struck worldwide and supply chains began to show massive and unexpected vulnerability, Shapeways reached out to help the medical community by printing face shields for hospitals, using a modified version of the Prusa 3D design. The shields are manufactured via SLS technology and can be repeatedly disinfected after each use. As the need for face masks with good filtration, fit, and some modicum of smile became apparent too, Luxmea Studio stepped up to partner with Shapeways in creating bespoke face masks, ordered through a smart fitting process online.

The need for organization never ceases for medical processes and equipment either, especially as the coronavirus has raged on. Considering the needs of everyone involved—from medical equipment suppliers to nurses and doctors and patients—Voytek Medical worked with Shapeways to 3D print medical cable clasps printed in Nylon 12 [Versatile Plastic].

“Voytek Medical has been using Shapeways in every stage of production, from concept to prototype and end-user products,” said the Voytek team.

3D printing can transform your business too

As prototyping becomes more of a given, the industrial spotlight shines front and center on 3D printing for the manufacturing of finished products. Businesses of all sizes now rely on AM processes for innovating, designing, optimizing, and revolutionizing.

3D printing services from Shapeways such as SLS allow you to reap the rewards of high-performance, quality materials without having to invest all your business capital in the powerful hardware, software, and materials required for your build. Enjoy the benefits of Shapeways advanced technology and wide range of materials for printing your creations with accuracy, complex detail, and no minimum or limits in terms of mass customization or single part orders. Read about case studies, find out more about our solutions, and get instant quotes here.

The post Far Beyond Prototyping: The Additive Manufacturing Revolution Continues to Accelerate appeared first on Shapeways Blog.

To meet the growing need for businesses to quickly get to market, regardless of their industries, Shapeways has a wide variety of materials leveraging industrial 3D printing technology. Selective laser sintering (SLS) is one of many technologies that are perfect for prototyping.

What is SLS?

SLS is an additive manufacturing (AM) technology that uses a laser to sinter powdered plastic material into a solid structure based on a 3D model. SLS 3D printing has been a popular choice for engineers in product design for decades. It is both low cost and highly productive making it the ideal technology for rapid prototyping.

In the past, SLS rapid prototyping was limited to a small handful of large high-tech companies. Shapeways’ unique advances in machinery, materials, and software have revolutionized SLS making it now accessible to a wider range of businesses. This now enables a more diverse cross section of companies to access the many advantages industrial 3D printing has to offer!

Developing Product Concepts with Rapid Prototyping

Product changes occur frequently during the earlier phases of product design. In an ideal situation, designers can take their time designing and refining new product to meet their company’s needs while still hitting key metrics such as cost, consumer value and functionality.

It is not uncommon for time to be the most critical factor during the design phase. The need to have a functioning prototype in hand quickly (and affordably) often becomes the priority of the project.

For example, when pitching for new business the ability to quickly create 3D models of your proposed product concept can be the difference between a winning pitch and lost business. New client pitches often occur with little notice or prep time. That is exactly why having access to an industrial 3D printers to design and create a physical model is key.

Prototyping for Product Assembly and Functionality

The benefits of additive manufacturing is not at all limited to just the concept phase. SLS machines can produce parts that not only delivered quickly, but are also highly durable; making them ideal to review assembly and functionality.

As design and parts evolve, quickly creating iterative design changes to physically evaluate the assembly can reduce the time getting from concept to final product.

Whether you are working with simple moveable parts, or more advanced product like robotics and drones, 3D printing provides replicas of any single piece in a highly durable material. As you test out assembly, the ability to quickly produce durable 3D samples of newly modified parts gives companies a huge competitive advantage.

Rapid Prototyping Assists with Final Product Fit and Form

An additional benefit to rapid prototyping is the benefit it provides in terms of final fit and form. This can be seen across multiple industry disciplines such as medical diagnostic machines, drones, and robotics. Assuring a functional part fits within a medical diagnostic machine, such as a cooling fan, is critical to ensuring the machine works consistently. In addition, with drones and robotics, combining multiple parts into one by leveraging 3D printing can make the final product lighter in weight. However, if the complex geometry of the additive manufactured part doesn’t fit the final product, the issue of weight is irrelevant.

Additionally, rapid prototyping has other advantages for product fit. 3D models can be created to physically analyze final sizing without needing all internal components to be finalized. This is done by designing a hollowed out “shell” of the products exact form and size to verify fit. This size replica of your design is ideal for testing fit without creating a full model. The results are the same, but the speed and benefits are greatly improved.

Keeping Up with the Speed of Business

The ability to use 3D printing has revolutionized business.

The innovative SLS process to give any business the capabilities that were once limited to large high-tech firms. The advantages of additive manufacturing quickly allows companies to customize concepts, make changes for assembly, and ensure a perfect fit for final product assembly.

Shapeways can partner with you throughout the prototype phase to quickly get your concept to a final product. Understanding the different material characteristics with various 3D printers is what our team takes pride in. To find out more, contact our 3D printing experts and have Shapeways help with your next prototype.

The post Leveraging Rapid Prototyping – from Concept to Final Product appeared first on Shapeways Blog.

SLA was an earlier form of the 3D printing process, and since its conception over 30 years ago, has undergone rapid and advanced development. Over this time frame, improvements to the 3D printing process have allowed manufacturers from a variety of industries to design and make products faster, improve the efficiency of product design, fabricate parts on demand, and improve how tools are made. In this article, we will provide a brief overview of how the design of products has changed with AM.

Design and Redesign Freedom

3D printing, which is also known as additive manufacturing (AM) is the “process of joining materials to make objects from 3D model data, usually layer-upon-layer, as opposed to subtractive manufacturing methodologies, such as traditional machining” as defined by the ASTM International Committee F42 on Additive Manufacturing Technologies. Compared to traditional manufacturing processes (subtractive manufacturing (SM) and formative manufacturing) which can either involve material removal by machining, drilling, or grinding or by casting into molds, AM allows for a greater level of design freedom. The entire process incorporates a range of manufacturing techniques including powder bed fusion, directed energy deposition, material extrusion, binder jetting, curing, lamination and more. This variety has allowed a vast array of technologies to be developed that may be of interest to worldwide industries. AM has enabled complex geometries to be incorporated into the design of products which would otherwise not be possible with traditional manufacturing.

The redesign of parts has been made more efficient with AM. If a change in the design of a particular part is needed on a production line, the computer model used to print the part can be remodeled and redeployed for printing. The standard file used for 3D printing is a standard triangle language file (STL). This STL file usually contains a triangulated representation of a 3D computer-aided design (CAD) model for a given part. The modification of this design step in the production process for AM systems allows parts to be produced without the change in tooling or mold required, which would be costly and more time-consuming than with traditional manufacturing.

Speed of Production

In terms of large-scale manufacturing, companies and organizations working across a number of different industries have been able to use AM to speed up the time it takes to manufacture a product in order to get it to the market ahead of time. This can provide companies a competitive edge and help to satisfy consumer needs.

In a production line that is integrated with AM system processes, improvements to machinery, change in print speed and change in product design can be altered much more easily than with conventional manufacturing methods. A change to product design that could once have taken several months can be cut down to weeks or even days.

One example of the rapid movement of a product to market and its production on a larger scale can be seen in the design of medical equipment during the earlier stages of the year 2020. During the initial stage of the coronavirus pandemic, Texas A&M University and Houston Methodist Hospital entered into a partnership. Texas A&M created and provided 3D-printed spacer/diffusers for metered-dose inhalers (MDI) used by Houston’s medical staff. The MDIs were used to treat patients diagnosed with COVID-19 and those suspected of having the virus.

Material, Process, and Energy Cost Savings

By eliminating the need for material subtraction and additional tooling as required in conventional manufacturing, AM has been making the process of production more material-efficient. With regard to the low volume production of products, AM provides more substantial savings for manufacturers as the actual processing methods and metal powder production are quite high on energy-consumption.

In a review article centered on AM for the aircraft industry, one of the greatest benefits of AM has been the ability to manufacture more light-weight parts. The reduction in weight of parts incurs tangible savings on fuel across the full lifespan of an aircraft. A Bleed Air Leak Detect (BALD) bracket used in the hot side of the engine on Lockheed Martin’s Joint Strike was created using an AM technique known as electron beam melting. This process has been shown to reduce the buy-to-fly ratio to 1:1, instead of 33:1 attributed to traditional methods. This corresponds to a saving of 50% with regard to the titanium alloy used. The buy-to-fly ratio is a term used in the aerospace industry that refers to the weight ratio between a finished component and the original raw material.

Further cost savings have been made through the implementation of AM where multiple parts have been produced together within a single, complex piece. This is in contrast to traditional manufacturing, where it is customary for multiple parts for a specific product to be made individually. Other features required for assembly of the end product such as brazing or welding and fasteners have now been removed from the process with AM, further cutting production costs.

Product Customization

Looking to the medical sector, AM has been a revolutionary force in the construction of truly customized prostheses for patients suffering from a variety of maladies. MT Ortho, an Italian supplier and manufacturer of medical devices combined CT imaging and AM to create such innovative patient-centered devices.

The company began its exploration with AM in 2014, and have developed its range of products from customized prostheses for neurosurgical applications and oncological orthopedics, to maxillofacial surgery and more. One of the company’s most recent developments has been the manufacturing of cancer prosthetics for bone carcinomas or chondrosarcomas. Following demolition surgery where a tumor is removed, medical and design experts have been able to combine forces and completely reconstruct the bone anatomy of individual patients. CT scanning is an essential initial stage in the AM process which is able to capture the specific anatomical characters of the patient to build an accurate 3D model for their prosthesis.

AM has and continues to change the way products are designed and manufactured through continued research and development of the process. For some 3D printing technologies, the successful printing of a part relies on supports that maintain its structure and integrity. Without supports for the creation of certain structurally unstable parts, end products can fail due to deformation and collapse during the printing process. Despite the need for part supports, they require more time and cost to integrate into part designs, can cause damage to parts during post processing, and limit the geometric complexity of part design.

A recent development in AM technology known as support-free AM is a process that involves the removal, reduction or optimization of support structures to overcome such issues. This mode of manufacturing could enable a new wave of 3D printing that promotes successful part design and production as well as minimize challenges concerning the verification of part functionality in the future.

To find out more about how additive manufacturing can be beneficial for your project contact us today and we will help guide you on your journey.

The post How Additive Manufacturing Changed the Way Products are Designed appeared first on Shapeways Blog.

Want to learn more? Here are 10 ways rapid prototyping with 3D printing streamlines the design process:

1. Optimize The Design Using 3D Software

By creating the blueprints for the prototypes and final design in 3D software, any edits or improvements to that design are reflected accurately and promptly. The design can be visualized enough at this initial stage to reduce any errors of communication and to make early improvements that will save substantial time during the prototyping and production stages. If the product or part requires customization, this design can be revisited and expanded upon at any time.

2. Take Advantage of Form Freedom

3D design allows for the creation of complex geometries that might not be as attainable in other processes. This allows for expanded freedom in the design and the final shape of the product can only be limited by the designer’s imagination. This flexibility makes it possible to produce a professional proof of concept of innovative and original pieces without sacrificing additional time or costs in the development process.

3. Save Time in Prototype Production

In traditional prototyping, the product designer or engineer would use materials such as cardboard, styrofoam or wood to create initial prototypes, then move on to creating functional prototypes using manufacturing processes typically used for finished products. This is often a costly and time-consuming process, and often not a practical use of resources when the product is still in the developing stages. With 3D printing, a prototype at any stage of the design process can be printed quickly and provide the exact information needed in that stage whether it is a proof of concept or a functional prototype. When developing a part, being able to reiterate quickly and affordably is crucial, and 3D printing facilitates that need for all stages of prototyping.

4. Save on or Eliminate Tooling Costs

3D Printing acts as an all-in-one production method for low-volume production and for rapid prototyping. The technology eliminates the need to gather other manufacturing components or machines. Manufacturing methods like injection molding are much more costly to set up, especially for small quantities, and make creating custom prototypes very expensive and time consuming.

5. Create More Time for Designing and Customizing

Instead of having to wait weeks for a prototype to be constructed by hand or for a mold to be made, prototypes can be 3D printed in a matter of hours or days depending on its size. It allows for mistakes to be fixed more quickly and for the design to evolve at a much higher rate, leaving more time for further innovation, customization or moving on to the next design.

6. Save Time Communicating Ideas and Information

When a product or part is being developed, it is extremely important to be able to communicate without misinterpretation and to leave as little to the imagination as possible when discussing with a client or any other involved parties. 3D printed prototypes look more professional and can communicate details better than a 2D drawing. This enables more viable and specific feedback for revisions to be made quickly and efficiently. The better the level of information in prototyping stages, the better the final product.

7. Choose from a Wide Range of Materials Depending on Each Iteration’s Purpose

Different materials can be used based on different prototyping stages to illustrate or explore the integrity of the design. Early iterations can be printed in more affordable plastics such as our Versatile Plastic, while later, more refined versions can be printed in different materials to fit the specific needs or testing requirements of the product. Many of our materials are end-use ready, saving you the need to look for a manufacturer once the product is market ready.

8. Minimize Material Usage Where Possible

In initial stages of prototyping different printing methods can be used to save on materials. If a version of a prototype is meant to show the shape alone, for example, it can be scaled down and hollowed out. Lattice or honeycomb designs can be used for surfaces to cut down on materials and costs while still communicating key information about the part or product. The on-demand nature of 3D printing eliminates material waste during the prototyping stages.

9. Use 3D Printing Services for Prototyping

You can save a lot of money on equipment start-up costs by working with 3D printing services like Shapeways. By printing with a specialized service you do not need to own any printers or materials, your model will be reviewed by engineers before they are printed, eliminating trials and errors encountered when using your own machine. You are guaranteed a high level of quality control, the use of industrial-grade printers and should you need technical assistance, your inquiries will be answered by experts in the 3D printing space.

10. Use Realistic Prototypes for Marketing and Sales Needs

Once the final design has been revised and refined to satisfaction, realistic prototypes can be used to get a head start on marketing and sales promotions. A visual model of the product can be used before money is spent on manufacturing to test with potential customers, for use on a sales floor or to send your products to beta testers to help validate the design.

3D printing is a crucial tool for designers to facilitate a more efficient prototyping process. It saves time and money and also generates a higher level of design freedom, and improves communication with clients and prospective customers. By making the prototyping process faster and without sacrificing on quality, this helps design innovation maintain a competitive edge.

Ready to start prototyping your next idea, part or product with Shapeways? Upload your design now or get in touch with our team to discuss your unique innovation.

The post 10 Reasons Product Designers Prototype With 3D Printing appeared first on Shapeways Blog.

“The reason I recently started making jewelry is actually the freedom it gives. Because the sole purpose of a piece of jewelry is that it must be beautiful and inspiring.”

We’ve noticed that product designers in particular thrive on a few things: artistic freedom, an efficient means of moving from concept to object, and finished products of the best quality. 3D printing has given Stockholm-based designer and product developer Gustav Rosén all three — along with the flexibility to branch out and find new ways to express his love of his craft. But his process begins, of course, with inspiration.

“I am a fan of Eileen Gray. She was a pioneer of the Modernism movement in architecture and also designed a lot of beautiful objects. Danish furniture brand Woud recently launched a hook that I designed and named after her as an homage. And I actually first 3D printed the hook at Shapeways,” Rosén told us.

Eileen Hooks for Woud

Though he’s best known as a furniture and lighting designer for brands like Woud, Maze, and K-FAB, 3D printing has allowed Rosén to have a second life as a jewelry designer. His eponymous line, available exclusively at Shapeways, was born from past explorations. He had a “library of shapes left over” from furniture designs, until, “I realized that I could try to make jewelry of them, with the help of Shapeways.” Shapeways might have been the way to get there, but he told us, “the reason I recently started making jewelry is actually the freedom it gives. Because the sole purpose of a piece of jewelry is that it must be beautiful and inspiring.”

The Ringmärkt

While his work as a furniture designer was inspired by Eileen Gray, he’s approached jewelry design a little differently. When it comes to this new creative expression, “I would probably say that I was influenced by everything, except maybe other jewelry,” he remembers. After printing some of his beautiful, minimalist rings and pendants as gifts for his wife (stylist and photographer Ida Rosén), her reaction to the designs convinced Rosén to open a shop.

The Zig Zag pendant

Beyond his fully 3D printed jewelry, Rosén’s lighting and furniture is generally produced using traditional manufacturing. But 3D printing is a vital part of the design process. “It’s a great tool both for showing the essence, shape, and overall impression of a concept, but also to test technically complex components in a cost-effective way,” he finds.

Rosén has created 3D printed models of almost every product that’s been put into production, usually on a small scale. The designer recommends choosing a single scale and sticking to it — for practical and fun reasons: “I almost always use the same scale of 1:6 for furniture items that I scale down. It’s fun to have a small set of items of the same scale next to each other, like in a dollhouse.”

The Muskö lighting series for K-FAB

Not all of his furniture designs are printed in tiny dollhouse scale, though. “Many times, I also make full-scale prototypes, because at Shapeways you can print really big geometries,” Rosén said. These strong 3D printed prototypes help him get to a final product much faster than traditionally made versions: “I’ve used 3D prints to quickly and at low cost test features and geometries of different versions of components. Once the component has been verified via the 3D model, you can safely order using conventional methods.”

“3D printing has been a powerful tool on many levels in my works as a designer and engineer. A printed model is a great way to see if an idea is as beautiful and functional in reality. And of course, it is a great way to convey the vision of a product to clients,” he added. You can see the results of this process in his Pythagorus Bracket System, designed for Maze Interior:

We always want to understand why designers use Shapeways 3D printing vs. other companies or methods. For Rosén, it’s all about quality prints — and materials: “I have tested other 3D printing companies and also printed in my studio. But for me quality is crucial. I know the results will be good because Shapeways specializes in this area and always delivers good products. In addition, it saves a lot of time to hand over the printing process, rather than doing it at home. And at Shapeways a lot of different materials are available.”

The Lyktstolpe table lamp for K-FAB

We’re always finding new ways in which 3D printing can support the design process. What will it help you create?

3D print your work

The post The Second Life of Product Designer Gustav Rosén appeared first on Shapeways Blog.

Keep reading for a rundown of how you can join the fun at Dutch Design Week.

Visitors to Shapeways’ Eindhoven factory during Dutch Design Week 2015

Shapeways EXPO | Shapeways Factory | Oct. 22-30

Every day, we’ll be inviting visitors into our factory to explore how our community of independent designers is using Shapeways to break new ground in product design. We’ll also be offering:

• A 3D scanning booth to bring more fans into the world of 3D Selfies. (11 a.m. – 4 p.m. daily)

• Community Workshops and Presentations to connect visitors with Dutch designers and the products they’ve brought to life with Shapeways. (1 p.m. – 3 p.m. daily)

• Factory Tours that provide a rare glimpse into how files are turned into finished products. (10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. weekdays; registration required)

A winning design from our 2015 Helsinki Design Week CHIL-DISH Project

Shapeways Presents: CHIL-DISH Project | Yksi Expo | Oct. 22-23

After our successful event with CHIL-DISH at Helsinki Design Week, we’re partnering up again to unleash kids’ creativity at DDW. At the CHIL-DISH Project:

• Kids will be invited to reimagine everyday objects using paper and crayons.

• We’ll then choose 10 designs to be 3D modeled by CHIL-DISH designers, turning the kids’ drawings into 3D printed porcelain objects. (11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m., Oct. 22-23)

Wired Life Tiger by Shapeways Designer Dot San, on display in our Eindhoven factory

Shapeways Presents: Community & Materials Exhibit | Yksi Expo | Oct. 24-28

• Come explore some of the materials we use and check out how our designers are exploring these unique and versatile media. (Oct. 24-28, 11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.)

A group of 3D Selfies

Shapeways Presents: 3D Scanning | Yksi Expo | Oct. 29-30

• Don’t miss your chance to get scanned for a 3D Selfie.

• We’ll take a scan of your head and shoulders using Occipital’s Structure Sensor and an iPad. Then, you can easily order your mini likeness through Shapeways. (Oct. 29-30, 11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.)

If you make it to Dutch Design Week, be sure to come to one of our events and say hello! And if you can’t make it, keep an eye on the the blog, where we’ll be highlighting talented Dutch Shapeways Designers throughout the week.

The post Shapeways at Dutch Design Week 2016 appeared first on Shapeways Blog.

I have been 3D modeling, uploading files and printing through Shapeways for around six months now and wanted to share my journey of how and why I got into 3D modeling. I work in the Finance industry, but studied industrial design for one semester straight out of school. So the interest in design has been ticking away in the back of my mind for some time now.

I reached a point where I was seeking a new challenge, but with a mortgage and a baby I didn’t feel I could make a bold leave-my-job-pursue-crazy-idea type move without being completely irresponsible. I had a few product ideas and looked at Kickstarter to fund one – however when I reached the point of actually launching a campaign I realized my heart wasn’t in the product. And if I couldn’t get excited about it, how could I expect anyone else to?

So looking to products that I could get excited about, I decided to attempt to make coffee cups. I worked on designs and tried (rather unsuccessfully) to model some cups out of clay as prototypes. I had planned to use the clay cups to make molds and cast coffee cups in resin – however none of the commercially available resins were food safe, which I felt was a necessity for something containing hot coffee! I briefly looked into using an overseas supplier to make my cups for me, so I could just design and sell. The barrier was the requirement to order a minimum amount of each design – even stocking only a few designs would be very expensive and take up precious space in my house!

Some attempts at clay cups – not very successful!

Around this time I started thinking about 3D printing, of which I had very limited knowledge. A few Google searches gave me some names and I discovered Shapeways!

Initially I was designing different coffee cups, but before I could get an order ceramic production ceased. I like to look for the silver lining and in this case it encouraged me to look at different materials and the different ways I could use them.

Shapeways render of one of my early cups in red. Will soon get this printed in porcelain!

There have been a few highlights in my Shapeways journey so far:

• Uploading my first model and seeing the renders make it look oh so nice onscreen.
• Receiving my first shipment in a Shapeways box.
• Setting up my shop Madasu Designs in January this year and receiving my first sale.

Right now I am working on building out my product range, growing my social media presence and trying to get some more sales. It is interesting to reflect on the journey that brought me to Shapeways, particularly that in hindsight Shapeways would be useful in the different steps I took:

• Prototyping to prepare for a crowdfunding campaign and making a working model.
• Prototyping for mold creation for materials not available through 3D printing like silicone and resins.
• Product development and iteration before committing to order through a mass-manufacturer.

That said, I am very happy with utilizing Shapeways 3D printing to build my business at this stage. It allows me to focus primarily on the design side, which is what I really enjoy, while Shapeways takes care of production and shipping.

The post From finance professional to 3D designer: How I got started with Shapeways appeared first on Shapeways Blog.

Lucas Goossens of LucasPlus Designs

To further investigate the process of product design, we’ve teamed up with our friends at Quirky for an evening of networking and sharing ideas and inspiration with other designers, inventors and makers. Join us on Tuesday, August 19 from 6:30 to 8:30 pm at Quirky’s New York City headquarters. You can find more information and RSVP on our meetup page.

Susan Taing of bhold

The evening will feature a panel discussion highlighting how designers conceptualize products and their process of moving from idea to prototype. Shapeways shopowners Lucas Goossens, of LucasPlus designs, and Susan Taing, founder of bhold, and Quirky inventors “You Can Call Me Phil” and “Vector.” Following the panel discussion, participants can enjoy a demonstration of 3D printing a product prototype and practice their product pitch with others in interactive breakout groups. Light refreshments will be served.

We look forward to seeing you there!

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