Layer Lines Weekly

BICO began as CELLINK, the Swedish company that put bioprinters and bioinks on university benches, and grew into a lab automation group built on software, dispensing and robotics. Alex and Jordan cover the bioprinter lineage, the 2021 rebrand and acquisition spree, the whistleblower investigation and founder exit, the divestments and BICO 2.0 reset, and a 2026 leadership shake-up that put the foun...

A Texas jury finds Bambu Lab's X1, P1 and A1 printers infringe Stratasys patents on prime towers and bed leveling. Alex and Jordan dig into why the $27.6M figure is a midpoint, not an ending. Plus Bambu's first laser cutter, Creality's 'no purge waste' four-color crowdfunder, a two-ton WAAM steel die from ORNL and Boeing, a Hackaday support trick you can test this weekend, and an AI photo-to-CAD c...

Alex and Jordan profile Divergent Technologies, the Los Angeles company behind the 3D-printed Czinger 21C that's now printing Tomahawk missile structures and aircraft fuselages. From a father-son hypercar project to a $2.3 billion defense manufacturing bet, this is a company trying to sell a factory model, not a printer.

UMaine launches its biggest printed boat yet — but is it a turning point or a bigger version of the same demo? Plus: Japan signs a production deal for printed interceptor drones, 3D Systems goes nuclear with Savannah River, SprintRay's FDA-cleared crown resin, a warping guide worth your weekend, and Bambu Lab patents that may or may not ever ship.

Alex and Jordan profile nTop, the New York software company betting that traditional CAD, not printers, is what's holding back advanced manufacturing. From its 2015 founding as nTopology through NVIDIA's backing and a push into GPU-native simulation, this is the story of a geometry engine trying to become a platform.

Ursa Major rides a $2.3 billion SPAC into the public markets while the Navy and Army push printing onto submarines, ships, and flight lines — but is it a structural shift or a very well-timed news cycle? Plus PrusaSlicer 3.0's preview, a filament cabinet that dries without heat, and a mystery company claiming an 80-printer drone farm that nobody can seem to find.

Alex and Jordan profile HP's 3D printing business, from the 2016 Multi Jet Fusion launch with Nike and BMW watching, to a top-tier polymer AM position, a metal binder jetting push, and a decade-old question that still hasn't been answered: is HP's inkjet moat real? Plus the MJF 1200, Craftcloud, and what one reseller exit does and doesn't tell you.

A federal court strikes down the ATF's ghost gun rule and Alex and Jordan untangle what it actually changes for people who print. Plus: Creality's suspiciously cheap four-color announcement, Bosch and Nikon SLM print a V8 engine block, a two-year-old Indian startup test-fires a printed cryogenic rocket engine, and IBM claims to have invented '5D printing.'

Alex and Jordan profile Creality, the Shenzhen company whose cheap, hackable Ender-3 put 3D printers on millions of desks. They trace the line from the 2014 CR-3 to high-speed K series machines, a nozzle-changing printer called KliTek, a filament recycler, an e-commerce platform, and the signals that Creality wants to go public.

A record-shattering funding round for Hadrian lands with a curious lack of confirmation, Hyundai and Kia open a dedicated additive manufacturing center after 30 years of quiet practice, and Prusa refreshes its whole lineup for free. Plus: a QIDI Plus5 review worth reading, Bambu Lab's mysterious R1 laser teaser, and a 13-year-old in Utah who spent his summer printing a wheelchair for a toddler.

Alex and Jordan profile UltiMaker, the company stitched together from two desktop 3D printing pioneers that's now betting on factories, defense, and an open materials ecosystem. From open-source roots and the MakerBot merger to the Factor line and the Bambu Lab squeeze, this is a look at whether a desktop legend can survive by going upmarket.

Walter Reed becomes the first hospital cleared by the FDA to print its own titanium implants, and Alex and Jordan dig into what it actually takes to turn a medical center into a manufacturer. Plus: Renishaw goes after supports in metal printing, $9 million against the defense qualification wall, a carbon-fiber trick for your desktop prints, and a Florida 3D-printed house that has the New York Post...

Alex and Jordan profile Materialise, the Belgian veteran that decided decades ago that the money in 3D printing wasn't in printers. From Magics and Build Processors to custom PEEK skull implants, they trace how a 1990 founding turned into a dual software-and-medical business, and ask whether a margin-first strategy can survive flat revenue.

3DEO, Fusion3, and BigRep all wind down in the same week that Walter Reed lands the first FDA clearance for a hospital-printed cranial implant. Alex and Jordan sort the survivors from the science projects, plus HP's mysterious high-temp printer, Prusa's nozzlegate, Sovol's seven-toolhead IDEX, and ChatGPT trying its hand at CAD.

Alex and Jordan profile 3D Systems, one of the oldest names in additive manufacturing, as it recasts itself around defense, healthcare, and dental production. From Figure 4 hearing aids to hypersonic metal parts and a Saudi joint venture, the hosts weigh a genuine strategic shift against lawsuits, revenue whiplash, and a leadership picture that's harder to see than it should be.

Velo3D opens a massive metal AM campus in Livermore while defense money floods into additive — but does a big building mean big production? Plus: aerospace giants gang up on the F135 engine, the Navy prints metal at sea, Polymaker's HT-PLA Pro talks a big game, and Apple hinge rumors get the hype treatment.

Alex and Jordan profile Prusa Research: from RepRap roots and the beloved i3 MK2 to enclosed CoreXY machines, the INDX toolchanger, and a licensing pivot that has the maker community arguing. Can the company that built its brand on openness survive a commoditized market by becoming more closed?

Three companies exit additive manufacturing in a single week, and Alex and Jordan dig into what the shakeout actually means for anyone who prints. Plus: the Navy's at-sea printing exercise, BMW's refreshingly boring scaling blueprint, Prusa's INDX toolchanger, a free Blender tool for resin supports, and whether 'vibe coding' your CAD is a real thing or just a vibe.

We profile Bambu Lab, the company that turned 'it just works' into a market-leading strategy for desktop 3D printing. From the X1 Carbon to an integrated ecosystem, a Stratasys lawsuit, and an open-source backlash, we sort what's confirmed from what's hype - including a valuation rumor that does not survive contact with reality.

Auxilium says it bioprinted kidney and liver tissue on the ISS — we dig into what that actually proves. Plus Venus Aerospace's $91M detonation-engine round, Framatome's nuclear WAAM center, DAIHEN and EOS on the materials front, a clever single-AMS color trick, and a University of Utah claim that objects can print in a single 20-second laser shot.

We profile Formlabs, the MIT-born SLA and SLS company that turned a Kickstarter desktop resin printer into a dual-technology manufacturing ecosystem. From the Form 1 to the $84,999 Fuse X1, we dig into its material moat, its move onto the factory floor, and the IPO question hanging over its next chapter.

An $8 billion space mega-deal gets sold as a win for 3D printing — but was it? Plus Velo3D's giant new metal factory, a defense-and-maritime AM surge, recycled scrap becoming LPBF powder, Bambu's 'safer' filament, and the week's most gloriously silly headline: a 3D-printed steak coming to your backyard grill.

We profile Stratasys, the 35-year-old company that invented FDM and now sits in the middle of a high-stakes pivot from prototyping to serial production. From Scott Crump's original patent to a multi-technology portfolio, CEO Yoav Zeif's industrial bet, the $42.5M Markforged deal, and a balance sheet under pressure — here's what the original incumbent actually is in 2026.

Oak Ridge prints composites onto fabric and folds them into shape — claiming a 90% cost cut. Plus sand binder jetting for small foundries, Dow's tougher PLA, metal repair quadrupling bridge life, QinetiQ rescuing a Royal Navy sub, and a consumer 'metal laser printer' that sets off every alarm we own.

Divergent unveils a twelve-laser metal printer and a defense super-factory, Beehive drops $50M on EOS machines, and the C-17 microvanes go fleet-wide. Plus Bambu's 'safe' filament, an open-source revolt against the cloud, and Nano Dimension quietly walking out of the room.