Distributed manufacturing network 3D Hubs is certainly growing, both in size and importance. As the international community of 3D printer owners grows to over 15,000, the start-up has continued to integrate itself into every nook and cranny of the 3D printing world, including, most recently, a partnership with 3D model sharing site Sketchfab. With a big announcement, today, however, not only can Sketchfab users 3D print models directly from 3D Hubs, but Thingiverse users can, too. Specific Thingiverse can now feature a 3D print button that will enable users to have Thingiverse designs 3D printed on the 3D printer closest to them, via the 3D Hubs network.
Thingiverse is beginning the new feature with eight select designers, who will now have the 3D print button displayed on their design pages. Similar to the recent tipping feature added to MyMiniFactory, users now also have the ability to tip these designers, with the money heading right back to the designers themselves. The complete list of designers that will be initiating the program are, in no particular order:
- Arian Croft (aka Dutchmogel): the prolific Thingiverse user behind the 3D printable Pocket-Tactics tabletop game platform.
- Nervous System: the famous design studio behind the first dress 3D printed as a single piece, as well as numerous other awesome pieces of jewelry and artwork.
- Laura Taalman (aka mathgrrl): the math genius/professor who has filled Thingiverse with countless math-inspired designs.
- Bold Machines: Bre Pettis’s Innovation Workshop, which seeks out innovative artists to use Stratasys’ 3D printing to execute their designs.
- Simplus Design : the 3D printing houseware designers, Sebastian Misiurek and Arianna Lebed, behind the modular wall just displayed at 3D Print Week.
- Quincy Robinson of 3D Kit Bash – : the man behind the Boneheads 2 Kickstarter launched just last week, and a variety of 3D printing toy kits.
- Isaac Budmen: 3D printing designer and artist, with keen eye for architecture.
- Walter Hsiao: a man who has turned Thingiverse into a virtual hardware/homegoods store for elegant, but practical tools for everyday living.
MakerBot sees this partnership as an evolution of their community, with Chief Experience Officer Joey Neal saying, “Working with 3D Hubs is a natural next step as we continue to grow our MakerBot 3D Ecosystem. At MakerBot, we are continuing to look for ways to get 3D printing into the hands of more people. 3D Hubs has built an incredible network to fulfill 3D prints locally, which we see as a natural fit for integration into the Thingiverse community.”
Bram de Zwart, CEO and co-founder of 3D Hubs, adds, “This collaboration marks an important step in striving to make 3D printing universally accessible. By connecting our global 3D printer network to the world’s largest 3D print design community, we enable people to 3D print almost anything, anywhere in the world. This is truly about bringing together creativity and production power.”
The move for 3D Hubs is an important one. As one of the most prominent 3D printables libraries on the web, Thingiverse will bring 3D Hubs into view of the site’s long list of users. And, with 3D Hubs integrating into more and more pieces of software and 3D modeling communities, it’s possible that more users will choose the distributed manufacturing model, printing objects locally rather than having objects made at a centralized factory. Now, we just have to wait for the global 3D printer network to fully establish itself so that we can really live in a world of locally produced goods. If you’d like to contribute to such a world by placing a 3D print button next to your Thingiverse designs, you can sign up by visiting 3D Hubs at this page.
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