News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
The Boxing Hand Grenade, the creation of a UK-based personal trainer and martial arts instructor, John Docherty, was developed after sustaining a cumulative injury to his hand and wrist. The handheld device has been ergonomically designed to fit the contours of the hand and to be worn under traditional boxing hand wraps inside boxing gloves.
Cults is a 3D model marketplace that connects designers to people wanting to make real-world objects through 3D printing. As not everyone has an artistic soul, or the ability to use CAO 3D software, Cults highlights the work of designers who wish to make 3D printing accessible to all. In addition to this, Cults is a social network that brings together fans of the 3D printer world – enabling them to interact with each other.
Milan Design Week takes place during the Salone del Mobile, the largest furniture fair in the world. It has become a place to see some of the latest advances in product design and 3D printing has been introduced as a development and a production process for some time. In fact, the 3dpbm team has been organizing events focusing on 3D printing during Milan Design Week since 2014. Now the use of 3D printing technology has become almost omnipresent, so much so that some 3D printed products are no longer presented as such. So it’s no longer a matter of finding the 3D printed products among traditionally manufactured ones, as much as finding some particularly interesting ones.
Campfire Audio, a high-quality, hand-crafted, earphone manufacturer has released its new range of Custom In-Ear Monitors, consisting of Equinox, Solstice, and Supermoon. Each pair is handmade, designed, and assembled in Portland, Oregon, USA. As close attention to detail is critical to delivering a superior musical experience, these in-ear monitors feature an acoustically optimized, 3D printed, interior model – as seen in Campfire Audio’s other in-ear monitors – that allows each driver to deliver the very best sound quality. When heard together, the drivers offer a seamless musical experience as a result of the process.
Desktop Metal has qualified 925 sterling silver for 3D printing on its Production System platform, including both the P-1 and P-50 – offering jewelry and luxury goods manufacturers one of the fastest ways to directly 3D print high-quality jewelry and accessories such as watches, belt buckles, decorative hardware for handbags, etc.
In 2014 Dr. James Novak 3D printed the world’s first full-size bicycle frame as a single piece. It went on to win the Dick Aubin Distinguished Paper award at RAPID 2015 and was exhibited around the world over several years, including the Red Dot Design Museum (Essen, Germany) and BOZAR Centre for Fine Arts (Brussels, Germany) with Materialise. The bicycle is now available as a NFT (non-fungible token), another world-first
The Phantom of the Opera is a musical based on the 1910 French novel of the same name by Gaston Leroux. First performed in 1986, it has become the longest-running show in musical history. Back in March 2022, the show was performed at the Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour, Australia. Only this time, with a slightly more contemporary touch – the Phantom of the Opera masks were 3D printed.
Remember the ‘SMART PASTA – 3D Shapes with a Purpose’ contest orchestrated by Barilla in 2015? The winners of this contest produced some really interestingly-designed pasta forms – for example, the ‘Water Lilly’, designed by Cornelius Comanns. Now, after several years of research & development, the first 15 designs of 3D printed pasta are commercially available on the BluRhapsody website’s shop and are already being used by chefs – especially in Italy to create high end custom dishes.
GRDXKN (pronounced GRIDSKIN) is a 4D printing solution offered by Bastian Müller, based in Munich, Germany. It is a functional textile printing technology that is lightweight and highly flexible. The integrated, volume-forming material is test-proven to be abrasion-resistant and shock-absorbent – creating a novel interplay between graphics and structure and a balance between design and function.
SILCA is further expanding its line of titanium 3D printed products with the Chisela – a sleek computer mount for Wahoo and Garmin bike computers. It leverages aerodynamic development, 3D printing, and state-of-the-art ceramic coating for the cleanest airflow possible, and is still lightweight and strong.