UNL Print Services offers new 3-D option

Printing has entered the z-axis.

Having purchased a desktop 3-D printer in August, Print Services is offering use of the machine to all faculty, staff and students. The new service was unveiled during the Supplier Showcase on Oct. 22.

“3-D printing has been around for 20 or 30 years, but it is only just becoming affordable,” said David Hadenfeldt, director of print, copy, mail and distribution services. “Really, it’s the most exciting thing to come along in printing since color.”

3-D printers work by reading a digital file from a computer, then using a heated material — primarily plastic or metal — to build the object paper-thin layer after layer.

The Print Services machine, a MakerBot Replicator 2, uses a corn-based (PLA) plastic to create objects. While a variety of colors is available, Print Services currently can craft objects that are semi-transparent, white or red.

The technology is nothing new to campus. Engineering and architecture have 3-D printers, but both reserve use to students within the colleges.

“Our machine is available to anyone at UNL,” said Hadenfeldt. “It is also available as a back-up machine to those in the colleges.”

Read the full article @ News.UNL.edu.

Posted in HIgher Ed, Nebraska, Tech Tagged with: 3d printing, unl

3D Printed TARDIS Transformer toy

Someone with access to a 3D printer please contact me. I will happily discuss covering all costs (materials & shipping,) and some for your time and effort. I really would love to have one of these!

Details @ Thingiverse.com.

Posted in Fun Tagged with: 3d printing, doctor who, tardis, toy, transformers

Forget 3D-Printed Guns; Here Are Some 3D-Printed Shotgun Slugs

Read the full article @ Gizmodo.com.

Posted in Tech Tagged with: 3d printing, weapons

Pirate Bay Takes Over Distribution of Censored 3D Printable Gun

A few days after the blueprints for the world’s first printable gun were published online, Defense Distributed has been asked by the State Department to pull them down, citing possible arms trafficking violations. The blueprints, however, are still available on The Pirate Bay and many other file-sharing sites, which adds a 3D chapter to the IP enforcement debate.The Pirate Bay says it welcomes the blueprints and has no intention of taking the files down.

Read the full article @ TorrentFreak.com.

Posted in Politics & Law Tagged with: 3d printing, gun, piratebay, weapons