Fun 3D print project to kick off Memorial Day weekend - 3D print your own kayak! Think outside the build plate and have a little fun with this design inspiration from Grass Roots Engineering. To send us a message, go to 3dstartpoint.com or shoot us a message at [email protected] or on our facebook or twitter! Its absolutely free, so ask away and and don’t forget to subscribe so you can hear more on our regularly scheduled Thursday podcast episodes!   Love the show? Subscribe, rate,...

Tom and Tracy Hazzard address how educational aspects relate to what's happening to the 3D printing industry with Kiki Prottsman from CODE.org. This company has developed systems to get computer science curriculum into every grade level from elementary to high school. Their method should be the model for getting 3D printing into all grades instead of each 3D printer company recreating the wheel each time. To send us a message, go to 3dstartpoint.com or shoot us a message at...

An older project that many new to 3D printing or even some who have been around in the industry for awhile may not have heard about is a Kickstarter project from Zheng3. They did this project around creating Barbie armor and other items using 3D printing called Faire Play, sort of like a Renaissance Faire. Great ways to get funding for Kickstarter through small rewards for backers as well as show off your design chops. Another great entry point for many into 3D printing, whether you want your...

An interesting and new type of Tech Tuesday that came from listener Cory Smith where full scale office chairs, the seat and back, were 3D printed in a single piece. To be able to create this chair design the printer is a modified delta 3D printer that uses plastic pellets instead of filament. Another good advancement and we can see that more furniture scale parts are being made. To send us a message, go to 3dstartpoint.com or shoot us a message at [email protected] or on our facebook...

For Business Monday Tom and Tracy share a business lesson from Napoleon Hill's "Think And Grow Rich". Every business leader and entrepreneur needs to recognize his or her strengths and weaknesses, hiring the right expert can make the difference between success and failure, especially in the 3D printing industry. To send us a message, go to 3dstartpoint.com or shoot us a message at [email protected] or on our facebook or twitter! Its absolutely free, so ask away and and don’t forget to...

This Design Inspiration Friday is for all the designers and aspiring designers out there to start thinking about how to apply 3D printing to what you want to make and figure out ways to make it happen, brought to you by Olaf Diegel's 3D printed guitars. Do projects that make you excited so that you can learn 3D printing and design along the way. To send us a message, go to 3dstartpoint.com or shoot us a message at [email protected] or on our facebook or twitter! Its absolutely free, so...

Tom and Tracy Hazzard sit down with Jessica Hedstrom, Community Manager at Sculpteo, to talk about all the wonderful new materials that are available that enable 3D print designers more than just print in plastic. There is definitely a place for both FFF printing and service bureaus in this new developing world of on demand manufacturing. What materials are most popular or cost effective and what great services and discounts are available with Sculpteo. To send us a message, go to...

The first review in our Battle of the Mini 3D Printers is here! The M3D printer started as one of the most successful 3D printer Kickstarter campaings, now more than two years later the Maryland based company is in post reward production, selling their printers for $350 each. After giving this printer several tests, and jumping through many customer service hoops we cannot say that we are able to love it. To send us a message, go to 3dstartpoint.com or shoot us a message at...

We received a sample of four new filament colors from Toner Plastics recently and have tested them out for this Tech Tuesday episode. Some of these we haven't seen a color out there like it, and they were much needed. The quality of the colors they sent actually made the test 3D printed pieces look less like a cheap plastic item and made them look more real and higher quality. Be sure to check out the blog post for photos of the colors and our test prints. To send us a message, go to...

If you are creating intellectual property of any kind such as a patent, trademark, or copyright, this back to business Monday episode is one you'll want to hear. Tom and Tracy Hazzard have over 20 years of experience with IP protection and have learned a lot from some things that have gone really wrong and some things that have gone really right when filing one of their 37 patents. Attorney-client communication of business goals and expectation in the end product is key. Writing meaningful,...

LACE by Jenny Wu is the subject for this Design Inspiration Friday. The ability for her to create forms that are not able to be produced easily in normal jewelry is what impressed us the most. How 3D printing is allowing for designers and storefronts to have made on demand products with zero inventory. To send us a message, go to 3dstartpoint.com or shoot us a message at [email protected] or on our facebook or twitter! Its absolutely free, so ask away and and don’t forget to subscribe...

In this episode with Michael Weinberg, IP and General Counsel at Shapeways, Tom and Tracy Hazzard address why it is important to pay attention to what is going on with copyright and trademark law in the 3D printing industry, including a current Supreme Court case that is taking up this situation on IP and infringement issues. This episode will be helpful to anyone in the 3D printing field, but especially the designers and those with a 3D print business. To send us a message, go to...

A really cool and amazing project from none other than Nescafe that exemplifies a zero inventory marketing promotion. This project is about two year years old, but we just became aware of it and think it's a great example of marketing and product development that uses 3D printing at the same time. We think we all know what 3D printing can do in product development, but here is what 3D printing can do for marketing, promotions, exposure, and transforming your brand. To send us a message,...

While not in the FFF realm, the OLO smart phone printer isdefinitely noteworthy and is the subject of this Tech Tuesday. It came out of avery successful Kickstarter campaign for a resin 3D printer. It's very simple,very small, very cheap, and uses your smart phone and an app to create thefinished products. Quite an interesting concept and another interesting gatewayinto 3D printing for a new or younger user. To send us a message, go to 3dstartpoint.com or shoot us a message at...

Tom and Tracy Hazzard share their tips on using LinkedIn for your business advantage to gain exposure and get yourself, your skills, your business, or your product noticed. Identifying common profile mistakes and sharing lesser known tips and features of LinkedIn that can give you the professional edge. To send us a message, go to 3dstartpoint.com or shoot us a message at [email protected] or on our facebook or twitter! Its absolutely free, so ask away and and don’t forget to...

Geeking out over this week's Design Inspiration Friday because Shapeways just reported that they were the service bureau for the Dorne Dagger. Tracy has read the books and both Tom and Tracy Hazzard have been watching the show, even participating in a Game of Thrones float for Mardi Gras this year in San Diego. Discussing how 3D printing can be an entry point to fans of any show or character because it allows you to get creative and really make a prop in a movie or TV show yours, even...

An incredible interview with one of the earliest adopters and mover and shaker in 3D printing, Ron Hollis. He's been fascinated with 3D printing since the early '90s back when it was only referred to as rapid prototyping. He has a wealth of knowledge and business lessons to learn from such as how current 3D print companies should follow his business model with Quick Parts and how they are missing out on utilizing a key asset of their business. It was fascinating to hear about where everything...

Tom and Tracy Hazzard dive deeper into a question that came up in the previous episode. Are most 3D printers on the market today jack knives? If a 3D printer is trying to be all things to every market, are they serving any specific market well? Maybe making 3D printers specific to the exact objects you want to make would produce better results. They even give a business concept out to all WTFFF?! listeners to illustrate this point. To send us a message, go to 3dstartpoint.com or shoot us a...

Tom and Tracy Hazzard discuss how 3D printing outside the build plate can be possible with a new software program from Autodesk called Project Escher. Many 3D printers today are being held back by the software available, especially in the dual extrusion realm. Project Escher shows off the uniqueness of what only FFF printing can do - 3D print really large pieces that do not need to be assembled post production. To send us a message, go to 3dstartpoint.com or shoot us a message at...

There are so many people in the early stages of start-ups, that we have been getting a lot of people that are stuck in these cycles of overthinking and not being able to take the next step forward. In this Back to Business Monday episode, we discuss how to set up your road map to success and identify when you need those roadblocks to prevent you from going further. As Tom's mother puts it, "Don't go borrowing trouble." To send us a message, go to 3dstartpoint.com or shoot us a message at...

Mother's Day is early this year and there is still time to work on a 3D print project or download a 3D printable gift for mom. Tom and Tracy Hazzard went through a few of the items from this year's top picks and offer up a few suggestions on how to really impress mom with 3D printing this year. To send us a message, go to 3dstartpoint.com or shoot us a message at [email protected] or on our facebook or twitter! Its absolutely free, so ask away and and don’t forget to subscribe so you...

Anyone of our listeners, teachers, educators, or head of the PTA even, anyone who is considering getting 3D printing into schools, this is the one for you. We had a great conversation with Drew Lentz the manager of the MakerBot Learning Team. He shared many helpful and free resources for educators for all kinds of the learning spectrum, whether one is a right brained or a left brained type of learner there's a program for you to learn 3D modeling. Makerbot has some great events this summer...

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The findings of researcher Mohammad al Faruque at University California at Irvine bring us today's Tech Tuesday topic. He has found that through audio recordings of 3D printers printing objects, that one could use reverse engineering and recreate printed objects with incredible accuracy. What this means for intellectual property liability and ways to keep your 3D printer from being vulnerable and a security risk in this episode. To send us a message, go to 3dstartpoint.com or shoot us a...

Back to Business Monday episode where Tom and Tracy Hazzard explore how identifying and settling a business or product into a market gap can ultimately lead to success. There are many 3D printing companies out there that are all doing the same thing but not truly filling a need leaving a gap the size of the Grand Canyon. To send us a message, go to 3dstartpoint.com or shoot us a message at [email protected] or on our facebook or twitter! Its absolutely free, so ask away and and don’t...