The slugs were shot from a Mossberg 590 12-gauge shotgun. The first two slugs both hit their intended targets that were set around 30 feet away, and while the slugs’ lightweight form don’t carry as much force as a heavier actual shotgun slug, the 3D-printed slug penetrated completely through a dart board, as well as a water jug sitting behind it. The slug was also able to blast through a 2×12 piece of pine wood.

The slugs used in the video are the larger variants that gun enthusiast Jeff Heeszel has designed, saying that they take about an hour each to print using a Solidoodle 3 3D printer (which costs around $800) using ABS thermoplastic. Heeszel used a non-printed slug as a template to create the 3D files for the printed versions.

Heeszel got the idea from the recently-printed Liberator handgun, but he didn’t like the idea of a plastic gun shooting real bullets, and instead wanted to shoot plastic bullets with a real gun. Heeszel says that the slugs weigh about 0.4 ounces, but only after adding a lead point to add a bit of weight to it. Otherwise, the slug would only weigh a mere 0.1 ounces.

Apparently it took Heeszel hours to set up the 3D printer in order for it to print the slug in the right shape. He also had issues with the printer’s heated bed, which caused the slugs to warp as new layers were added. To remedy that, Heeszel had to paint a slurry mix to the printer’s bed to prevent warping. This alone took around 30 to 40 hours just to come up with the right paint mix.

VIA: Wired

Rather than building up layers, as per traditional 3D printers, the MATAERIAL system can produce 3D curves. That allows the designer to take into account stress lines, developers Petr Novikov and Saša Jokić from Barcelona’s Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia say, among other things, without any temporary structural support or other load-bearing bracketing required.

Although MATAERIAL’s video shows the 3D printer – mounted, dramatically, on a big industrial robotic arm – producing only a single color, in actual fact there’s support for full color, even changing mid-flow. MATAERIAL can inject CMYK dyes into the path of the building material to adjust the eventual hue without the need for post-printing painting.

Details on the exact material used are scant, but according to Dezeen the rods are made up of thermosetting polymers, a chemical reaction between which causes them to quickly solidify. Regular 3D printers more commonly use thermoplastics.

“The desired shape is created by user in CAD software and then transformed into 3d curves describing the shape which are then converted into movement paths for the robotic arm. The thickness of the printed curve can be scaled down to less than a millimeter and can be adjusted during the printing process, by changing the speed of the movement. Colors can be injected in the nozzle in CMYK mode that allows changing of the curve color throughout the printing process” MATAERIAL

It’s not quite the speedy process as shown in the video in real life; apparently, the footage was sped up by as much as 3x in post-processing. However, roughly one meter of printing takes three minutes, it’s said.

The whole thing is reminiscent of Kickstarter success 3Doodler, which raised over $2.3m for its “3D printer pen” that can be used to sketch out drawings in plastic “ink”. MATAERIAL envisages its system being used for furniture and architectural printing, among other things, though there’s no telling how close to commercialization it all is.

VIA: Core77

The surprising part is that the gun was made on a cheaper 3D printer than what the original Liberator was made on. The “Lulz Liberator,” as its known, was made on a $1,725 Lulzbot A0-101 consumer-grade 3D printer, which is cheaper than most of MakerBot’s own consumer-grade 3D printers. The gun was eventually loaded with .380 rounds and fired off nine times over the course of an evening.

The first Liberator that we saw earlier this month was printed on an industrial-sized $8,000 Stratasys Dimension SST 3D printer, and the barrel had to be replaced after every shot was fired off. The new Lulz Liberator was able to withstand eight shots before the barrel was replaced in order to get a ninth shot off.

However, “Joe” says that he could’ve shot more with the gun, and the only reason he stopped was because the sun went down. So what’s the difference between the Lulz Liberator and the original model? Joe says he used generic Polylac PA-747 ABS plastic, which is actually stronger than the more expensive ABS plastic used in a Stratasys printer that the first Liberator was equipped with.

Both models still have bits of metal inside in order to actually fire a bullet, including a metal firing pin as well as a small chunk of steel in order for the gun to be detected by metal detectors and to comply with the Undetectable Firearms act. Of course, though 3D-printed guns have a long way to go before they’re actually useful, as they’re not as reliable as an actual gun, so those who are worried about the controversy over such weapons, it’ll still be a few more years before you need to actually be concerned. For the time being, 3D-printed guns still aren’t all that great to use as a reliable weapon.

SOURCE: Forbes

The Cube is available now on Staples.com, and will eventually be available in a select number of Staples store by the end of June. The Cube costs $1,300, which is quite a bit less than MakerBot’s offerings, which usually start at around $2,000. The printer is able to print objects that are up to 5.5-inches wide and tall.

The Cube features WiFi and is compatible with both Mac and Windows. Plus, the printer comes with 25 free 3D templates to get you off to a quick start, with more templates available online. Staples is also selling ABS and PLA plastic cartridge refills, CubeSticks, and replacement Cube Print Pads. We heard late last year that Staples would be starting its own 3D-printing service, so perhaps this is the first baby step into that realm.

The 3D-printing community hasn’t gone quite mainstream yet, as it’s still very much a niche hobby at this point, but with the beginning of selling 3D printers in major retail chains, the awareness for 3D printing may go up, encouraging more people to get into the hobby and create an even larger community around it.

The Kickstarter project for the 3Doodler has now ended and has been funded. The project raised $2,344,134. That is an incredible amount of money raised via Kickstarter and places the project as one of the top 25 projects of all time. It’s hard to believe that the team behind the 3Doodler had only hoped to raise $30,000 to begin with.

Funding for the project ended on March 25 and the company is now working on producing its product to ship to customers. The 3Doodler pen was priced at $99 during the Kickstarter campaign and the first examples purchased via backers on Kickstarter will begin delivery in September of 2013. The team behind the project have offered up some interesting statistics.

As I mentioned, within hours of launch the team had passed its target of $30,000. Within the first day the 3Doodler racked up $500,000 in funding. With the final amount being over $2.3 million, the project raised 7781% more than its initial funding goal. The team also says that almost half of the people who backed the project were women, which is significantly higher than the estimated 7% share women hold of the 3-D printing market. If you missed out on the Kickstarter project, you can still pre-order the 3Doodler for yourself on the company’s web store. However, orders placed via the web store won’t be delivered until after all Kickstarter orders are shipped.

[via Kickstarter]

One of the best parts about the 3Doodler is that the device is so inexpensive with a pledge of $75 giving you the pen and a couple bags of mixed plastic. The downside to pre-ordering this device is that the ship time at this point isn’t expected to happen until February of 2014. That means you’re looking at almost a year before you’ll have the device in your hand.

Last time we talked about the 3Doodler was on February 20 when the device had raised over $456,000 within only a few hours. At the time of writing, the 3Doodler has raised over $2,057,000 and still has 19 days to go. Over 23,000 people have backed the project making it one of the most popular on Kickstarter right now.

If you missed our other reports on this device, it uses ABS strands of plastic allowing you to draw in the air making 3-D sculptures of just about any sort. It’s rather unclear where you can get replacement plastic at this point after you run out of the bag or two that the pen comes with. Funding for the project is set in the March 25, 2013.

[via Kickstarter]

Nokia has branded this event as the “world’s first live social 3D printing experience” – so fancy you’ll barely be able to handle it! Attendees as well as users at home were able to win customized cases for the 820, and even though there was no large news blast inside the main Nokia keynote, the demonstration was swamped almost non-stop. The hands-on video you’ll see here shows one of the very rare times when the 3 MakerBot Replicator 2 machines weren’t surrounded by a sea of bodies.

You’ll find the scaly example of a case shown above and below to be made of two separate pieces as you’ll be wanting to create when you’re busting out your own design. The reason for this is the relative rigidity of the material you’re creating with. With a second piece pushing out from the inside, you’ve got a bendable set of bits that function as buttons, as they should.

And that affords you the ability to have more than one color, too. You’ll be busting out a black case with yellow buttons – perhaps a case with your school’s colors? The outer bits and back of your Nokia Lumia 820 (or 520 in the very near future) are yours to create. Check the back of the case in the gallery below to see some key-carrying action as well!

Also be sure to check the rest of our Mobile World Congress 2013 coverage in the MWC 2013 tag portal right this minute. Keep your eyes to the Nokia tag for our reviews of the new 720 and 520 in the very near future too – hot stuff!

In fact, early Kickstarter backers will be able to get the 3Doodler from $50, though that award tier is already nearly halfway claimed at time of writing. Next is the $75 bracket, which should stick around a little longer, with the eventual Kickstarter goal being $30,000.

Unlike traditional printers, which require programming, the 3Doodler takes a more abstract approach. You can freeform draw sketches, or alternatively trace out patterns that have been printed, and then peel the set plastic off; 3Doodler suggests possibilities include jewelry, 3D models, artwork, and more.

It’s not going to be the way you print your next coffee cup or car wheel, as we’ve seen promised from regular 3D printers, but the plug-and-play approach has plenty of appeal nonetheless. The Kickstarter runs for the next month, with first deliveries expected in the fall of 2013 assuming it’s funded.

The spaceship is a replica of a Hellcat from the classic 90s video game Wing Commander. the ship took around 50 seconds to print and it measures 125 micrometers long x 81 micrometers wide x 26.8 micrometers tall. The printer used two-photon polymerization in order to craft the spaceship. This process uses short laser pulses, which activate photo-sensitive liquid polymer.

Of course, this thing can’t actually fly, but it goes to show just how tiny you can actually 3D-print things. Of course, the printer can print other things besides nifty spaceships. Other products that include tiny proportions are biological scaffolds and ultralight metamaterials.

The video above shows the entire 50-second process of building the spaceship from start to finish. You can see the laser pulses travel from the bottom to the top and witness the spaceship being built right before your eyes. While it doesn’t look like much at first glance, knowing that the object is the width of a human hair is simply incredible.

[via DVICE]

The structures themselves would first be inflated using a type of fabric to create a dome-shaped building. Then, the modified soil would be laid on top of the dome to make the building more structurally sound. Plus, that added layer would protect inhabitants from meteorites, gamma rays, and extreme temperatures.

The ESA has already created a 1.5-ton block of simulated lunar soil using 3D printing methods, and it’s made from a mixture of terrestrial basaltic rock, magnesium oxide, and a “binding salt.” Of course, the extreme temperatures and the zero-gravity state on the Moon could affect the chemical reactions with the modified soil, but testing out the printer in a vacuum proved that the concept could easily work.

Proposed locations for where lunar bases would be built are on either poles of the Moon, where temperatures are more accurate to Earth’s climate. It’s not exactly set on when the bases on the Moon will begin construction, but numerous companies are already lining up to help out with the massive undertaking, and Deep Space Industries (DSI) is already planning to have a capable 3D printer built by 2020.

[via PhysOrg]

According to the BBC, the building will cost between $4 million and $5 million Euros, and is designed as a continuous loop. Although the building will need to be reinforced with concrete, the architect is quoted as saying that 3D printing is “amazing,” and has facilitated his continuous loop design. Both private and commercial interest has been expressed in the building.

Dubbed the Landscape House, the goal is to build one in each country, with the first one slated for completion next year. According to Ruijssenaars, a private individual in Brazil has expressed interest in acquiring one to use as a museum for native artifacts. Unlike normal buildings constructed from wood and other materials, the 3D-printed house isn’t a “waste of energy.”

The image above is a render of what the final building is expected to look like. Says the architect: “For me as an architect it’s been a nice way to construct this specific design – it has no beginning and no end and with the 3D printer we can make it look like that. In traditional construction you have to make a mold of wood and you fill it with concrete and then you take out the wood – it’s a waste of time and energy.”

[via CNET]

The two printing heads allow for printing more complex objects, and whereas the Replicator 2 uses PLA filament, the 2X uses ABS filaments. However, the 2X is supposed to run more smoothly, and print in multiple colors, as well as even multiple materials. The 2X will also be able to print at a 100-micron resolution.

The Replicator has a slightly redesigned chassis, and among the updated features of the new design are an aluminum build platform and print area that’s enclosed by plastic windows. The benefit is that the build area retains heat better than the open chassis of past models from the company, allowing for faster and more reliable printing.

MakerBot will begin taking pre-orders for the Replicator 2X on January 11, and the company says it will begin shipping the printer to customers by mid-March. As for the price, you’re looking at something close to what a high-end MacBook Pro would cost — $2,799 to be exact.

Staples Easy 3D will be something the average consumer will find easy to utilize. The service works by having a customer upload a model file to Staples Office Center, at which point it will be printed. Once finished, depending on the customer’s preference, the model will either be shipped or can be picked up at the nearest Staples store.

President of Staples Printing Systems Division in Europe Wouter Van Dijk offered this statement. “Given our market leadership in commercial print, why would we ever stop at two dimensions? Customised parts, prototypes, art objects, architectural models, medical models and 3D maps are items customers need today, in a more affordable and more accessible manner. Mcor will help us to keep prices low, quality high and colour brilliant as we meet the demand.”

The service will launch in the first quarter of next year, and will be available soon after that in other countries. This is an excellent step in bringing the reality of 3D printing to the general public, and will provide an accessible way for consumers to create 3D models at a time when 3D printers aren’t an easily obtainable commodity. There’s no word on how much it’ll cost to use the service.

The filmmakers didn’t want to destroy an original Aston Martin DB5 (for obvious reasons), so they relied on a company called Voxeljet who used a massive VX4000 3D printer with 283 cubic feet of space to create three 1:3 scale models of the Aston Martin DB5, one of which saw its immediate death from an explosion in the movie.

In order to actually operate different parts of the car like the hood, doors, and the trunk, the makers constructed the replicas from 18 different components. After all the parts were made, they were sent off to Propshop Modelmakers in London to be assembled, finished, lacquered, and chromed to make them look exactly like the original.

It’s not said how much it cost to make one of these 3D-printed replicas, but one of the models that wasn’t destroyed in the movie was auctioned off for $100,000. Voxeljet says that this opportunity has opened up another door for the company, and says that more filmmakers may be using 3D-printed objects instead of 3D graphics in the future for better realistic scenes.

[via Gizmodo]

Wilson created a promotional video surrounding the creation of the weapon they’re aiming for – a partially 3D printed AR-15 assault rifle being one example they’ve got, shown above. The video notes that “The Defense Distributed goal isn’t really personal armament.” Though arguments have been made against the group in that the final goal of the end-users of the printed objects may not fit in with their original creator’s goals, DD goes on.

“It’s more the liberation of information. It’s about living in a world where you can just download the file for the thing you want to make in this life. As the printing press revolutionized literacy, 3-D printing is in its moment.” – Wilson

The group representing the creators of the 3D printer that Wilson had on-hand up until very recently when Stratasys Inc. sent a note to the man noting that his lease would be cancelled due to their policy to “not knowingly allow its printers to be used for illegal purposes.” Though Wilson argued against their claim that he needed a federal license to manufacture firearms with a point on how he never intended to sell the arms, Stratasys was not suitably impressed, and seized the printer.

Defense Distributed has raised $20,000 online all in a bid to create a design and develop the “world’s first entirely 3D printed gun”. This weapon they call the Wiki Weapon, and it’s on it’s way.

[via Slate]

The Replicator 2 has a 100-micron layer resolution, which the manufacturer says is a new standard in professional looking models and accurate, lifelike replicas. The printer is also capable of making large objects up to 410 cubic inches in volume. That works means items as large as 11.2-inches long by 6-inches wide by 6.1-inches high can be made.

The new 3-D printer also ships with updated software enabling faster and more consistent printing. The printer is optimized to work with MakerBot PLA filament. This filament is a renewable bioplastic that is the most popular build material used in 3-D printing. The material is popular thanks to its strength and the ability to make large products without the material cracking or warping.

One interesting feature of the Replicator 2 is that you can make multiple models at one time thanks the large build volume. The slicing engine is also up to 20 times faster than previous technology to allow for quicker printing. The Replicator 2 Desktop Printer sells for $2199.