3D printing provides you access to make almost anything you want. The reason for the almost is that current 3d printing filaments cannot bend while not breaking like many plastic objects out there.

To fix the problem a German filament maker, Orbi-Tech, made a new filament called BendLay. The developer of BendLay is none other than Kai Parthy.

Continuing to Lay Down the Filament

Parthy also invented Laybrick filament as well as the artificial wood-like, Laywoo-D3. With BendLay, a user can make a flexible piece unlike what ABS can make yet strong enough to hold its shape which cannot be said for another well-used filament, PLA.

By the looks of it, you could make your own plastic bottles

It’s fairly hard to make an entire new filament so Orbi-Tech modified the existing ABS filament. BendLay is a clear plastic and since it comes from ABS, it can safely be used in food-packaging and medical devices. It also does not leave the white stress marks you often get by bending plastics too far.

Right now the price of a spool of 1.75mm BendLay with 110 meter length costs 39.9 euros and a 3mm spool costs 32.80 euros. You can find at Orbi-Tech’s web store.

Space explorers have brought the idea of additive manufacturing helping mine asteroids around earth for their elements. This could spark a billion dollar industry. So far it will take years to even begin the first stage of the process.

3D Printers in Space Stations

Now NASA, with the help from Made In Space, wants to speed up the process of 3D printing in space by sending up a printer to the International Space Station (ISS).

It’s much bigger in person

It is reported that the time table for the event will occur sometime next August. The printer could sufficiently help the space station as a 3D printer could produce roughly 30% of the current parts on the ISS.

The goal of such an endeavor is to help solve the question we had since man-kind: What is out there? Additive manufacturing technology might be one of the few reasonable ways we can expand space exploration.

NASA has also researched the possibility of creating food for astronauts. The research has already received a $125,000 grant. Being able to make food in space could help lead to longer trips and possibly food that could taste fresh.

If there was one program that could use 3D printing to increase its industry, it would be NASA as space has plenty of room to grow.

3D printing has expanded beyond anyone’s imagination in the past few years. Something so small and unheard of created a name for itself in the world.

People have now talked about how close we are to making our own products like clothes and electronics at home with a simple click. One man does not agree with it though.

Amazon CEO Rejects Potential 3D Printing Impact on Products

Last Thursday Amazon and its shareholders held a meeting at their Seattle Center to talk about the business strategy for this year.

Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, discussed the new investment plans for Amazon pertaining to their Prime subscription service and Amazon devices like the Kindle. He also mentioned the $775 million purchase of Kiva Systems last year.

At the meeting the company allows shareholders to ask whatever questions they desire. With the growth of 3D printing, a person wanted Bezos’ opinion of its potential to change the distribution of products.

A great man at Amazon

“I think the answer to that is, not anytime soon,” Bezos responded. “That’s far, far in the future.” It might not be as far as he thinks as recent companies such as Shapeways have begun to allow people to sell designs of products similar to how Amazon and eBay work.

Amazon’s CEO defends his position by saying that “Even incredibly simple objects, like a toaster, have dozens of materials”.

Is he right or could Amazon become something of the past and have to do everything to try to become big again? They could turn out to be another Blackberry: obsolete compared to the competition.

Weapons have been a major concern at the White House. The thought of printing a firearm with no trace to any person has caused a great scare among many. Good thing we are a long way from that happening, or so we thought.

Fully Operational 3D Printed Gun

About a month ago Defense Distributed, founded by Cody Wilson, received their license to buy and sell firearms. What’s special about this company is that it deals with printing the weapons.

Last week Cody posted the blueprints for the “Liberator” online for downloading. The “Liberator” is the first successful gun to be printed with 3D technology.

Doesn’t look like your traditional gun

The State Department was not too keen on the gun blueprints and told Mr. Wilson to take them down within days after posting. Kind of ironic for something called the Liberator.

Cody complied with the demands but not before hundreds of thousands of people downloaded the designs.

Future Limitations

Now the government has tried to go into action in preventing others from doing the same or using printers for ill-thoughts. Several Democratic politicians lead the charge.

Rep. Steve Israel (NY) and Sen. Chuck Schumer (NY) have been pushing for the renewal of the Undetectable Firearms Act and to add a clause to ban plastic weapons made from 3D printers. Sen. Leland Yee (CA) went one step further by proposing the regulation of the machines behind the weapons, 3D printers.

Right now the idea remains unclear but it could involve background checks before purchasing a printer, serial numbers on all printers, and it could involve registering the printer with the government.

So similar to firearms, you could end up in trouble by owning an unregistered 3D printer. Within time you may not be able to conceal it either.

All jokes aside, the government only wants to maintain the safety of the people. They may want to really consider any new laws or regulations before they receive plenty of backlashes from the same people they want to shelter.

Very few gaming consoles will allow you to open and tamper with the hardware, let alone make it yourself, but you can take any screwdriver and open up an OUYA gaming console. That’s their philosophy, openness that ranges from the game developers all the way to the console. Now that philosophy expands further.

Making it yourself

On Wednesday OUYA announced a new partnership with MakerBot. The two will give the designs and specs away in a 3D Printing Development  Kit on Thingiverse so you can make your own gaming system with a 3d printer. MakerBot has worked hard to create the 3D files that are optimized for their Replicator 2.

Game on!

With the 3D designs, you can modify it any way you like. You can change the color, size, etc. They have no restrictions set. They want everything to be possible.

Looking Towards the Future

This is the first time a company released the 3D hardware templates for a gaming console. As a device that currently is competing against many other gaming systems like the Xbox 360 or the PS3, OUYA needs to be innovative.

Julie Uhrman, CEO of OUYA, stated that “It was a natural progression to extend our openness by partnering with MakerBot. What better way to bring OUYA’s console to life than letting anyone print and modify it.” They couldn’t have made a better choice.

Join us at Inside 3D Printing Conference & Expo and explore the cutting-edge world of 3D printing. The event, April 22-23 in New York City, has attracted top speakers from companies including Shapeways, Solid Concepts Inc, Autodesk, 3D Systems, Estee Lauder, Stratasys, Authentise, MGX by Materialise, and T. Rowe Price Associates.

You’ll be able to choose from four tutorial sessions and 16 conference sessions which will tackle the impact of 3D printing on all fields— engineering, design, medical, architecture, fashion, culinary, firearms, technology, and more.

Hope to see you there!

Don’t miss this exciting opportunity to hear from experts like Andy Christensen, President of Medical Modeling Inc, Jeffrey Lipton, CTO of Seraph Robotics, Inc., Avi Reichental, President & CEO of 3D Systems, and Gonzalo Martinez, Director of Strategic Research at Autodesk. View the full speaker list here.

Perk:

As a 3D Printer Hub reader, you’ll get 15% off your conference pass when you enter our code: PH15. Early bird prices end this week. Register here before March 14 and save.

For exhibiting and sponsorship information, please contact Marilyn Reed at 3dprinting.sponsors@mediabistro.com or 518-793-8167.

You need to consider many aspects before pushing the print button. What type of printer should you use and what material will best suit my print are common questions you should ask yourself. Also you need to figure out if any voids will need to me made. In which case, the support material will be just as important as the printing material.

HIPS Finds a New Purpose

HIPS or High Impact Polystyrene may be one of the most used polymers in the world. It remains safe for humans and animals so packaging companies often use it for food products. A recent discovery may help find another process it can be used for, support material for 3d printing.

Even elaborate pieces have no printing trouble!

In a blog by 3DPPVD, the HIPS filament was shown to be a perfect substance for pieces that needed to have a soft layer printed to fill the gaps. The soluble filament allows the user to make parts with overhangs.

The polymer requires a heated temperature of about 115C and works well with ABS material. Using HIPS means the printer has to have a second extruder because switching materials in a print will be chaotic. Also by using the mixture that dissolves HIPS, Limonene, the final project will have a citrusy smell to it. It shouldn’t be a deal breaker.

So those of you out there that have a really cool idea but feel that it can’t be done, then you may have your solution. This is just one of the latest breakthroughs for 3D printing technology.

Join us at Inside 3D Printing, a two-day conference and expo dedicated exclusively to the 3D printing industry, its applications, and services. The conference, being held April 22-23 in New York City, will be chaired by renowned expert Dr. Hod Lipson of Cornell University.

Renowned additive manufacturing and 3D printing consultant Terry Wohlers, Principal Consultant and President, Wohlers Associates, Inc. will be the event’s keynote speaker. In 2007, more than 1,000 industry professionals from around the world selected Wohlers as the No. 1 most influential person in rapid product development and additive manufacturing. Additional speakers include Andre Wegner, Co-founder and CEO, Authentise and Zack Schildhorn, Vice President and Director of Operations, Lux Capital.

Hope to see you there!

Sessions include Transforming Education Through 3D Printing, End-to-End Platforms, 3D Printing: A Blueprint for Greener Living?, Digital Materials, How 3D Printing Can Enable Remote Manufacture and Avoid a New Media War, Spotlight on Fashion, and How Professional Investors are Playing the 3D Printing Boom. View the full program here.

Recently stumbled upon a very well-composed article called  “The Achilles Heel of 3D Printing” written by Peter Friedman on The Innovation Investment Journal.

It gave me some perspective on the current limitations on 3D printing innovation.

So judging from the topic, one might presume that Mr. Friedman has some concerns on the viability of 3D printing.

Don’t we all? For example, all of my friends who have no interest in recent breakthrough technology unless it’s the hot new smart phone or tablet have never heard of 3D printing. I get all excited because I get to explain to them how half the people in the world will be laid off from their jobs and that not only will we all own airplanes, we’re going to design them. If at the end of a twenty-minute presentation they somehow digested half of what I just said to them, they all ask the same thing, “if this is so great (& if you’re not lying), why is this the first time I’m hearing about it?”

“Uh…”

In the article Mr. Friedman gives us the groundwork. 3D Printers make complex objects cheaper to print than less complex objects. So, the more complex an object is, the cheaper it becomes to manufacture. The reasoning here is that since additive manufacturing produces objects layer-by-layer, it doesn’t matter that there are empty spaces (called voids by industrial designers) within the object; it just means the printer uses less “ink” or material.

Take that Conventional Manufacturing!

That’s all gravy Mr. Friedman says, but it doesn’t change the fact that 3D printing has a painfully slow turnaround. It’s just not fast enough to replace conventional manufacturing, or assembly lines. So the Achilles Heel of 3D printing is its slow manufacturing speed.

The advantage or “sword” mind you, of additive manufacturing lies in its current and initial purpose of pumping out a tangible customized design of a prototype or model. It is a perfect tool for industrial designers who need to hold a real-life version of a CAD model relatively quick.

He concludes with an optimistic view on 3D printing having a niche use for designers and inventors but still sides with conventional manufacturing in the long run.

So unavoidably, I think the question our 3D printing pioneers need to ask themselves for a New Years Resolution is “Who’s going to build the world a printer without an Achilles Heel first?” Better move that foot fast before the arrow strikes.