Uncategorized

TechShop Bankrupt, Maker Community mourns by taking action

It’s taken us some time to process the magnitude and impact of the recent news that TechShop declared chapter 7 bankruptcy.  Many of the fabricators in our network leveraged the tools provided by the TechShop to conduct much of our clients’s fabrication work.  Those users productivity all has since stopped, delayed expected delivery dates for project work and has pushed that fabrication demand originally supplied by TechShop members onto our You3Dit independent laser, CNC machine and 3D Printer owner / operators.   We’ve scrambled a bit internally to reroute the fabrication of several jobs and are back on track for the short term  (HUGE THANKS to our You3Dit fabricators who stepped up).  We want to help others do the same. However as of this writing, TechShop is still bankrupt, closed an leaving many people stranded who need help with getting access to machines.  We have to figure out what we’re going to do next to solve the long-term issues created by

read more TechShop Bankrupt, Maker Community mourns by taking action

Autodesk TechWomen 2016

Last Friday, September 16th, we had the privilege to meet and share our passion for 3D printing with approximately 100x TechWomen leaders in the Autodesk Gallery at One Market Place in San Francisco. The TechWomen program is organized by the Institute of International Education (IIE)–the same governmental group that is responsible for the Fulbright Scholarship and other programs that embrace their mission “to advance international education and access to education worldwide.” Each year Autodesk hosts these women for an entire day and provides mentorship along with exposure to design, leadership and product-oriented workshops.  Autodesk is one of their first stops during their 6 week Silicon Valley trip and these women spend the entire day learning about topics like leadership to product design. You3Dit for the second year has participated with Autodesk and works with their top-employees to help facilitate these workshops–illustrating the power and capability of 3D printing to transform manufacturing with a talk co-founder & CEO Chris McCoy gives entitled “iManufacture” (Download the PDF of the iManufacture talk from TechWomen

read more Autodesk TechWomen 2016

And we’re off…SFmototype has begun!

What did you do last Saturday?  We kicked off the first of it’s kind, 3D Design and Prototyping challenge for motorcyclists, enthusiasts and pretty much anyone who can sketch their motorcycle ideas on paper. BuildTak–a 3D printer build platform manufacturer and SFmototype Sponsor–made these beautiful custom 3D printing surfaces for our Type A Machines Series 1 Pros and Printrbot Simple Metals that are on display at SF Moto (275 8th Street, San Francisco, 10a-6pm) Last Saturday, September 10th, we had the official kickoff of our first ever SFmototype Design and Prototyping challenge–where for 45 days, err, 40 days now–people have the opportunity to sketch out on paper, napkin, envelope, whatever…a concept related to motorcycles and submit it to our SFmototype competition.  If their concept considered to be the best by a panel of expert judges, they can win a number of prizes: A motorcycle 3D printers CAD training Shop Training and much much more… We had an amazing set of panelists

read more And we’re off…SFmototype has begun!

Create a Design on You3Dit: Win a 3D Printer or CAD Education Package!

You3Dit and SF Moto are hosting a design & prototyping challenge called “SFmototype” where people will enter an idea to be turned into a 3D printed motorcycle prototype for a chance to win prizes!  CAD designers are a vital part in this sketch-to-solid process and will also have a chance to win prizes specifically allocated to the “BEST DESIGN” category. How to Enter as a Designer: Registered You3Dit Designers who submit designs for SFMototype projects, will be automatically entered to win prizes such as: Type A Machines: Series 1 Pro ($4,095) Printrbot Simple Metal: V2 ($999) Solidworks Training by Hawkridge Systems ($1000) Featured story on Autodesk’s Fusion360 Blog Design Criteria: A panel of experts will choose the best design based on the following criteria: 1) Design’s ability to meet all customer requirements 2) Design’s ability to be 3D printed 3) Design’s ability to leverage power of 3D printers 4) Design’s ability to solve a relevant motorcycle problem 4) Design’s ability to optimize the build platform specifications on a Type A

read more Create a Design on You3Dit: Win a 3D Printer or CAD Education Package!

Autodesk Fusion360 License – $25 – July 12th, 2016 ONLY!

Today is Amazon Prime Day and if you act fast, you can lock down  Autodesk Fusion 360 licenses for $25 – over a 90% discount!! This is an unbelievable promotion Amazon (Prime) is doing for Fusion 360 today, Tuesday, July 12th, 2016.  Today it is $25 for an annual subscription (instead of $300), so take advantage of this amazing, innovative 3D CAD/CAM tool by purchasing Fusion 360 through Amazon today.  If you purchase 5 or more seats, you can get training/ mentoring from Autodesk’s Fusion 360 Street Team… so if you purchase 5 seats today, it would be $125 with training!) Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aeo2XYofCrw&feature=youtu.be Our You3Dit network is full of people who use Autodesk Software.  Fusion360 is no exception.  It’s a great mix of all of all the great features from professional Autodesk CAD software you know and love, wrapped all into one package.  Check out their CAD model gallery here. For students and educators, Autodesk Fusion360 is free; and that’s

read more Autodesk Fusion360 License – $25 – July 12th, 2016 ONLY!

Digital Fabricator Go Bag Shopping List

Here are some of the key essentials for anyone doing digital fabrication jobs for hire.  Hope the list helps you!  Let us know if we’re forgetting something!! Raw Materials: Blue 3M Masking Tape, 2″ (~$6) (Amazon) Leatherman of any kind (we use the “Wingman”) (~$30) (Amazon) 6″ Digital Calipers (~$20) (Amazon) Tape Measure (~$10) (Amazon) Personal Notebook (~$10-20) (Amazon – Makers Notebook) Pens (black, blue, red) (Amazon) Sharpies (Amazon) Hand Sanding Block: 3M (~$6) (Amazon) Sandpaper: 150 grit, 12″x12″ sheet (~$2/sheet) (Amazon) Uline Indestructo Boxes: 4″x4″x2″ (100x) ($42) (Uline) 4″x4″x4″ (100x) ($57) (Uline) 6″x4″x2″ (100x) ($48) (Uline) Return address labels – Avery  (Amazon) Packing tape (Amazon) Elmer’s Wood Glue (Amazon) Superglue (Amazon) Roll of 3D printer filament (Any roll, PLA or ABS, Cubicity.com) Essential Smartphone Apps: Shyp (works only in metropolitan areas) Dropbox – cloud storage Trello – task tracking You3Dit 🙂  

NRI hosts You3Dit and other 3D printing enthusiasts

“Balancing model-making artistry and expertise in various fabrication technologies, NRI’s 3D Labs offer the beginner and advanced 3D designer the ability to transform their computer-generated models into real, physical objects.” That’s NRI’s homepage tagline and they’re really getting involved with the 3D Printing community in San Francisco. You3Dit was stoked to be invited to present on “upcycling” on September 9th and Chris McCoy shared with the guests of NRI’s meet up how You3Dit helps to enable upcycling via its global platform of 3D designers and fabricators.  How you might ask?  What the heck is upcycling?  Download the presentation “Upcycling with Digital Fabrication” here below: Upcycling with Digital Fabrication – by Chris McCoy, Ph.D. Enjoy!

Don’t just lend a hand, give one

Enabling the Future is an amazing organization that connects 3D printer owners with people who need prosthetics.  Since Chris–You3Dit’s founder–first 3D printed one of Enable’s prosthetic hands back in December of 2014, it changed his view of consumer-grade 3D printers and the potential they can unlock. My name is Sanjeet Sanhotra. I’m a recent high school graduate and soon to be college student at UCSC. I’ve been working with You3Dit for over a year and have recently took on a project with them to “give a hand” to the amazing organization that is Enabling the Future! I want to bring the You3Dit community together to print and put together hands for those in need. I hope to do this by having volunteer fabricators around the world in out network send us parts as well as have leads in specific countries to help put these hands together. By all of us working together, we can really make a difference helping out those who really need

read more Don’t just lend a hand, give one