It’s rare to see a company that is so established yet so cutting edge as Shapeways. The company, founded in 2007 as a spin-off of Royal Philips Electronics, began as a one-off 3D printing service that offered basic plastic items for sale online. Over the years, however, the company has branched off into some amazing materials – steel, ceramic, and even sandstone – and they’ve already been able to… → Read More
3D printing company Shapeways had a banner 2012 — it locked up a $6.2 million Series B last year in a round led by Lux Capital, and established a full-blown factory in Long Island City. And it’s hoping to make the process of designing and printing physical knick-knacks even easier this year.
The plan? To inspire developers to create a slew of new design apps that hook into Shapeways’ printing… → Read More
Some one million 3D printed products later, Shapeways finally opened up shop in New York City.
The NY-based startup began printing from a single 3D Systems ProJet 3500 Plus printer last week at its Long Island City factory/distribution center. Because the machines are customized for specific materials, the ProJet will only be churning out UV curable acrylic plastics until other printers are… → Read More
Theo Jansen is an artist who makes wild animated, wind-powered robots that seem to have a life of their own. Once you set them up on a beach and let them go, they undulate, slide, and coil across the sand like some sort of steampunk gazelle. 3D printing service Shapeways is now offering two Jansen designs for sale, including a propellor-powered motor for getting your beest to move. You can… → Read More
3D printing service Shapeways is useful for everything from unprecedented puzzle construction to werewolf hunting. But this time they’ve really outdone themselves.
You might remember the Strandbeests, a set of sculptures/machines that “walk” under their own power due to clever design by their creator, Theo Jansen. The originals were large and hand-made from light wood so they could move easily… → Read More
So, you’re a big Rubik’s cube buff. Can solve any cube in five minutes, think people who can’t are fools? Well, sounds like you need a new challenge. How about this 17x17x17 puzzle cube by puzzle designer Oskar van Deventer, and printed using Shapeways? Should keep you busy for a few years. Too bad it costs two thousand dollars, whaaat! → Read More
Are you getting a bum quote from your local silversmith for the creation of a silver knuckle duster? Me too. They just don’t understand the importance of protecting ourselves from the lycanthropic scourge. Now, however, you can get together with a 3D modeler friend and make some sweet silver accessories for those terrifying full-moon melees. → Read More
For a long time, CafePress was the major player in customized product creation on the Internet. Slowly other sites sprang up, like Zazzle, Skreened, StickerGiant, Lulu, and many more. Many of these options are novelty one-offs, though, and you’re paying for the customization, not the craftsmanship, of the product. But the success of these somewhat kitschy sites have revealed a real hunger in… → Read More
I think by now we’re all fairly familiar with Shapeways and their 3D printing system. Incidentally, you can now select glass for some 3D models at Shapeways, which is pretty cool. But the additive printing process employed by Shapeways and similar outfits (fabrication, rapid prototyping, etc) has some inherent limitations in the designs that can be printed. Researches at the University of Illinois… → Read More
Shapeways are at it again, with an assortment of custom fabricated gifts available for Christmas. They ran a little contest recently, and the top three entrants are available for purchase now, including the cute “Punk Angel”, a snowflake ornament with custom message, and a snowflake candle holder. Each of these is under $30, so they’re sure to please without breaking the bank! → Read More
Sure you’re not going to make a Hatori Hanzo sword – yet – but Shapeways, a 3D fabrication service, has just announced stainless steel printing, allowing you to make steel objects as easily as you would made resin or plastic prototypes. That’s right: something that took our ancient ancestors generations to perfect is now available to anyone with a CAD/CAM program and some… → Read More
I know, there’s not a lot of room in the world for the stylus any more. Resistive touchscreens are on the way out, right? True, but tell that to the 766,500 Nintendo DSes sold last month. So there’s a bit of a market. Personally, I find the DS’s stock stylus a bit short — so a little extra length would be good, and I wouldn’t mind having my initials in gangster letters on it either. → Read More
Good news, people with Dads or Dad analogs! Show Pop you care with Shapeways custom cufflinks. Shapeways can offer two winning CrunchGear/TechCrunch readers each a pair of the custom 3D printed metal cufflinks as a Father’s Day gift. The final shipping date for this item is May 26, 2009, so be sure to let me know the winners prior to then. These items MSRP for $49, including shipping and gift… → Read More
We’ve been in love with Philips off-shoot Shapeways for months now and the service just got nominally better. While you can still fab in plastic, today you will be able to fabricate the first 3D items in brass, a cool and unusual addition to the Shapeways service. → Read More
You remember the object fabrication service Shapeways, right? You could take a 3D model from your Blender, Maya, or 3DSM project and turn it into a cool real-life object super easily. Now you can do the same thing with photos, even though that doesn’t make too much sense at first. No, you don’t get a copy of whatever object you took a picture of. You get a sort of weird version of the photo that… → Read More
Do you hear me, fabulous! I found Shapeways, the online marketplace for 3D objects and models, rocking a booth full of little things their community had designed. This service is really cool, and if you’re a crafty type or decent in Maya or Blender, you should check it out. There are a couple options for materials, and the sort of amber-colored hard plastic, as you see with the face-bowl, looks… → Read More
So first there was the online creation of pretty simple items like business cards and T-shirts – businesses which cut out the old middle-man way of doings things. Soon there will be a way to create and “print” objects in 3D on a mass scale, and the first of these is starting to arrive. Netherlands-based Shapeways is launching a private beta of a community for consumers wanting to… → Read More
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