3D Printing Community news and update MAY 2016

3D Printing Community news and update 

MAY 2016

Another community and 3D printing news and views update -

Video update for May - Or watch here in HD over on YouTube.

Hi Everyone, another update from the 3D Printing community, I hope you like it. Please leave me a comment - Thanks.

Here is what I'm discussing, and to make it easier to navigate, check these timecodes and jump to a point that interests you -

Start - Thank you for your Feedback
2:08 - Makerbot Going to China
2:48 - LulzBot Taz 6 Launch - (Not Going to China)'
4:32 - Kickstarting OLO
5:19 - Kickstarter - Two more Delta Printers
7:17 - Kickstarter - Polymaker Polysher & Polysmooth
9:21 - Kickstarter - Mr Beam II
10:30 - Kickstarter - FormBox
11:51 - Patreon - OctoPrint & Toms3DP
13:03 - Community  * Drama *
15:23 - Development & Innovation
17:15 - Materials - eSun Cleaning Filament
19:40 - Things I'm doing...

It's mostly all in the video above, but I have also included a few further notes below for anyone that wants to read. Also some images of what I have been doing with the E3D Titan extruder and a new design of a quick-fit carriage for the BigBox.

Firstly thank you for all your comments and feedback, it's really helpful for me. I have limited time to do 3D printing, and don't have adverts on my channel or blog for any sort of income. It's good to know what I post and share is worthwhile doing and still of interest to you.

Generally I had similar feedback and comments on Youtube, blogger and Google+

I have taken the general feedback to be - that you like my development projects, and want to see more - like in the early days of 3D Printing.

No one commented about facebook, so that's great - I'll continue to totally ignore that.



April turned out to be quite a turning point for some in the 3D printing community.

Pinshape

Image from the Pinshape blog.

We found out who saved Pinshape and that turned out to be Formlabs. Interesting as I really expected Shapeways or one of the other 3D Printing services to snap them up.

Time will tell what Formlabs brings to the model sharing community and what this means for designers using Pinshape. It looks like the original Pinshape founders are now out of the company, so maybe we will see some new direction being applied by Formlabs soon. Read more about the news on the Pinshape blog here.


Makerbot

Makerbot declared itself unable to manufacture in the US, and now plan to offshore manufacturing of desktop 3D printers to a Chinese company. They seem set on death by 1000 cuts. The wider 3D Printing community continues to ignore them. Makerbot blog post here. Enough said.


LulzBot

As an alternative and more positive view, Lulzbot announced the Taz 6 -

Lulzbot still manages to be the most open-source 3D printing company, anywhere.

Matterhackers have them on pre-order for $2.5K. More info should be available on the Taz 6 in a few weeks when the embargo is lifted.

I have not seen any recent comments from Printrbot, but I expect Brook is also still planning to do as much as possible with self-manufacturing and worldwide expansion. Looking forward to some updates from other global 3D Printing manufacturers in May.

I'm really interested in seeing how the US and European 3DP manufacturers navigate through the next 18 months. I have a feeling we are now in the productive phase of desktop 3DP, and even the temptation of ultra low-cost machines from China is starting to subside.

I just wish the RepRap Pro had managed to last out another 6 months, things seem to be turning as long as you are still innovating.

So many Kickstarters -

OLO

OLO got funded to the tune of $2.3M - over 3000 comments on Kickstarter and not a great deal of response from the creators. I actually think this could be the last big 'low cost 3D printer campaign' People are finally going to get smart that a 'very good, reliable and easy to operate' 3D printer is still some long way off, and you need to spend more than $99 to get something worthwhile even trying to use.

I wish them all the luck, but I'm also predicting this one is not going to go smoothly at all. We will check back before the September deadline to see...

Polygon Delta

Billy Zelsnack Polygon Delta 3D printer kit over on Kickstarter - $24K - all sold out - well done Billy, this has been one really interesting development to watch over the past 18 months.

Spatial One Delta

Andrew Wade - Spatial One - Delta Printer has just started over on Kickstarter. If you are looking for a rock solid Delta printer kit, than do investigate the Spatial One


Polymaker

Polymaker - Launched the Polysmooth and Polysher - over on Kickstarter. It's had a tremendous response and is currently at $320k - I have backed this project and look forward to seeing the end result.


Mr Beam 2 

Mr Beam 2 - just got funded, reaching almost 1M Euros over on Kickstarter. Well done!


FormBox

Formbox - $245K for a vacuum forming box - key selling point seems to be that by using your own vacume cleaner make this machine possible. Very disappointed this is planned to take yet another year to be shipped to any backers, you could literally design and make one in a single weekend. Maybe I'm missing something, but what's with the 12 month timescale?


OctoPrint

Gina managed to get a successful Patreon campaign up and running so she can try to support the open-source Octoprint a while longer. Gina is still looking for sponsorship, contract work and generally anything that can help keep her in work and food.

Tom's 3DP

Tom has also decided to go for 3D printing full time - well done and good luck with the adventure. Anything I can do to help, just let me know.

Tom has also just launched a Patreon funding page, check it out.

And subscribe to Tom's YouTube Channel

Community drama - This is the calm down and chill out section of the news.

E3D and the BigBox crew caused some fuss over on Reddit with a recent mascot competition. It looks like a poor choice of wording in the competition rules (about not having to give away the BigBox as a prize if they didn't have any suitable entries) made a few people leap to the idea that designers were being used to provide free services etc. Read as much as you wan over on Reddit.


Innovation and materials -

I visited E3D last week, they are in the middle of another big expansion. This time Unit 3 is being kitted out for a monster research and development lab. Packed full of tradesmen, fitting the rooms for science. Plenty of new developments, materials and projects.

And the EDGE filament will be coming soon...

I also checked to see if they really did have the worlds supply of Haribo :)

This was Nozzle world.

I didn't take the peanut scoop... Honest!

They handed me one of their new silicone boots, this wraps around the hot-end heater block and both helps stop material build-up on the nozzle and also insulates the heater so part cooling fans can be more aggressive while also keeping the

I tried out some dedicated hot-end cleaning materials - by Esun filament, You can buy it over on the E3D website or Printedsolid - Anyone else stocking it, let me know and I'll add a link.


Some of the stuff I'm doing -

Project snowflake is finished, look out for an update on that project, done with my daughter.

The steampunk octopus is also finished, another one done with my daughter. I requested an interview with her, but was 'far too busy' out playing to comment.

I seem to be in an ever state of testing out new materials at the moment. Really interesting but also quite time consuming.

Testing out some colour gradated filament - interesting, but inconsistent and not quite as exciting as first thought.

Lots more work on paste extrusion and bioprinting applications - more on that soon.

I'm also trying to clear out all the projects, posts and video's I have not had time to finish. I'll get them all done over the next month and then get onto even more new developments.

Titan is performing well - and so is the new E3D Edge filament.

 Decided to re-design everything on the X carriage, extruder mount and 360 Degree fan cooling duct.

I have made a new quick-fit extruder carriage for the BigBox. I wanted it to fit the Titan well and also allow easy switching of extruders.

I had to jiggle (technical term) the heated bed forwards and up by around 30mm to allow the now much lower Titan setup to reach the build platform.

And for ideas and inspiration, here is a short 60 second video on what to do with all those spare ends and samples of 3D Printing filament - It was my youngest daughter's idea. Great fun.

Yea, That was April!

May is already looking interesting, see you next time.

Rich.

Trying a different type of 3D Printing video update - need feedback

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to get some feedback on the way I do things - please help - thanks.

I thought I would try a slightly different type of 3D Printing update - I'm still trying to work out how I should continue with project updates / review's and advice about 3D Printers / materials and stuff.

Feel free to give me any feedback - good points / bad points and any ideas of what you would like to see from a 3D Printing YouTube Channel and/or blog etc.

I keep on going with the Blog because sometimes a video can be a great end result and a blog can be easier to follow and read. Blog posts do require many times more work than a quick update video, so I'm trying to find the balance - Do you read my Blog posts? of just watch my videos?

In the past many of my blog posts were considered too long (big developments / review's ) or TLDR.

I don't want to fall into the trap of doing great long video's (unless that's something people want) - under 15 minutes seems like a good level.

Maybe I should do more 5 minute ones? (Even this one below turned out longer than I expected, but is short 'news' actually useful?)

I'm currently updating YouTube, Blogger, Twitter and G+ and often that seems like too much.

I have no interest in posting to Facebook - is that wrong?

Anyway back to the point of this post - A roundup of things that are going on in the community, and projects / products, components and materials I'm looking at right now -

Or watch on YouTube in HD here - and please consider subscribing to my channel, thanks.

In this video I talk a little about the following and more - 

The E3D Titan extruder and EDGE filaments - http://e3d-online.com/Titan-Extruder

Also supporting Support Gina Häußge with Octoprint https://patreon.com/foosel

 

Tom's 3DP. http://toms3d.org/ 
Tom's Youtube channel - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb8R...

 

And congratulations Nils on the new baby Zelda :)

WIO Link - Kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...

The OLO 3DPrinter - Kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...

Discussing Core XY / XZ / YE - that needs much more discussion...




Please let me know what you think. I really appreciate it.

And remember to check out Gina's Patreon funding for ongoing Octoprint development -

Cheers,

Rich.

Predictions for the 3D Printing eco-system in 2015

2015 Predictions for the exciting home, consumer and business 3D printing eco-system.

Time to dust off the 3D printed crystal ball and make some predictions for 2015. Here is my view looking forward in the 3D printing industry. 

Tell me what you think? below in comments, over on G+ here or Twitter - @Richrap3D

- 3D Printing -

The Hype is dying down a little, users are moving into the useful phase of 3D printing. Both quality and speed is improving with software and processing tools lagging behind expectations. The 3D printer price war is still on, but to a lesser extent as users can see what you get for ~$200 is not what they really want or need.

New developments, designs and ideas for 3D printing continue to bloom from the open-source community. We may even start to see some early and innovative ways to reward designers and developers that share their work, collaborating with others and the wider maker community.

The gap between ‘professional’ and home / consumer 3D printers will continue to bridge, with users in both sectors and the manufacturers / suppliers.

High end 3D Printing manufacturers will slowly refine their technology reducing price points at the lower (entry level). The market will get more competitive before starting to shake down to a few clear market leaders.

- Materials –

This year we have seen so many more filament suppliers pop up, and many of them have had quite shocking and bad tolerance control (material swings from under 1.55mm to over 2mm, sometimes in less than 1M lengths).

2015 will be the year that users no longer tolerate poor quality – “If it’s crap – send it back”. Tolerances of +/- 0.1mm will be considered ‘standard’ and premium suppliers / manufacturers will be able to hold +/- 0.05mm for most material types. 'Demand good quality materials'

We will see many more materials and ‘value added’ unique formulas that help with the further expansion and creative process of 3D printing.

We should see some actual conductive materials appear (rather than just anti-static / high resistance currently available) that could make printing basic circuits for electronics possible for everyone.

Hopefully we will see a better understanding by the media and users – e.g. -  thermoplastic materials and resins are still just that even when filled with wood, ceramic or metal fibers. It’s still not magic or revolutionary, just evolution of a well established process.

A viable and universal support material will finally be developed (and it will be good and low cost).

- Machines –

We will see many smaller machines; things will get further miniaturised and become truly portable. Higher quality and faster results.

Bigger machines will also be popular, but will be focused more towards specific materials and uses.

Further excitement around printing metals, reality is that’s still incredibly complex, messy, dangerous and expensive.

We will start to see more 3D Printers designed for specific functions and less ‘general purpose’ printing, especially in Food and all sorts of Art & Sculpture applications.

I still don’t see multi-function machines being a success in the next 3-5 years. Machines that combine many functions (Print-Scan-Mill-Laser-Cut-Make-Toast-Walk-The-Dog) will continue to appear but users will be very disappointed with poor results and complexities.

Topical example -> FLUX All-in-one - Will it be any good? – I really wish them success and a good product. - $1.4Million as I type this – Keep an eye on the Kickstarter comments for this one, and as they say, time will tell…

Specific machines, getting more focused on an application is still the way to go, we are still in a very early eco-system for 'desktop manufacturing'.

We will see many more SLS/SLA/Laser/DLP/Resin printers. Along with advancements in Resin/powder based materials, they will be a very viable choice over FFF/FDM based machines in 2015.

At least twice as many home/pro-consumer 3D printers will be sold in 2015 compared to 2014.

- 3D scanning –

Still a long way to go, but improvements and further products like Fuel3D, will open up a more creative design flow for individual users and designers.

- Processing software –

Some early advanced slicing algorithms will start to make more robust and stable 3D Prints by form analysis and a deeper understanding of the materials being used. Giving the user more advice and less failures or unexpected results.

- Firmware / Electronics –

2015 will finally be the year of ARM based control systems (used in many more production machines), much more sophisticated control algorithms and emphasis on user machine interfaces that are actually intuitive. Setup will be easier to configure and printing machine profiles will start to have ‘dynamically controlled parameters’ for specific materials being used – more than simple Slicer and Gcode control.

- Model / Design –

We will see many more people wearing 3D printed designs / objects and Jewellery and other wearables.

We could see a backlash against the license / subscription ‘cloud-only based’ design/model offerings.

Free-flowing organic design will start to get easier and more accessible for users and designers – combined with improvements and cost reduction in new scanning technology.

Verification of model designs so they can be successfully 3D printed will improve along with better advice for designing for the 3D printing process – awareness and more appropriate use in designs / applications. Just because you can 3D print it…

A viable and usable CAD to 3D Print eco-system will start to emerge – probably driven by Autodesk (Spark etc.)

- Education –

More of a wish than a prediction – I hope we will see more companies and individuals supporting learning and education in schools. Not just by giving or discounting machines and materials, but actually helping with understanding, training and long-term support for teachers, students and the entire education system (all around the world). This goes for all and any technology and ‘making’, not just specifically 3D printing.

- Kickstarter and Crowdfunding –

I have supported more crowdfunding projects this year than previous. Unfortunately the quality and delivery is definitely getting worse, it’s having quite an impact on how people view crowdfunding and tech start-ups. I will personally be more cautious in 2015.

- Patents and Closed-Source Developments –

Well, they are not going to slow down anytime soon, but people the world over are starting to understand the power of cooperation and open-innovation so that’s making a more balanced and sharing eco-system for the future.

- Open-Source and Open Innovation –

Most of these things still need a strong force behind them, person or cause, mission or desire. And it’s getting stronger as more ideas are being shared instead of being trapped or never seeing the light of day. 'Share and Support'

- 3D Printing Shows / Events / Conferences –

It’s going to be ‘war of the shows’ in 2015, things will hot up for global presence, visitors and sponsorship. It’s getting serious business, as interest grows in 3D Printing and all aspects of the design & making process, we will see some collaboration but mostly strong competitive signals in the 2015 show calendar.

- Standards / Associations / Hubs and Resources –

More adopted standards will help growth of 3D printing and usability for many different industries. Global associations will continue to grow with members and support from manufacturers will strengthen the industry.

Community Hubs and file / design / idea sharing resources, will have some significant terms and conditions to work out with their users. The rapidly expanding use of 3D printing has already started to overtake the ability to control what people do with it. And how appropriate or safe it is for a task or application, either implied or assumed. *A very complex and legal issue indeed *

2015 3D Printing predictions are my own and could well be incorrect, see you next year to see how many of these will ring true.

And if you are sat around with nothing to do or want an idea for a business, pick one from the above and make it happen.

Rich.