WTFFF?! 3D Printing Podcast Volume Two: 3D Print Tips | 3D Print Tools | 3D Start Point

Recent publications have touted the availability of completely clear FFF 3D Printing material, and some unique projects that have been made using it. Tom & Tracy explore and discuss the potential of this emerging material, and its potential impact on the industry. To send us a message, go to 3dstartpoint.com or wtfffpodcast.com or shoot us a message at info@wtfffpodcast.com or on our facebook...

In this WTFFF?! episode we decided to follow up withsomeone we met at SoCal MakerCon. Back then we didn’t have enough time to getin depth about what they do; the company is AstroPrint. In the SoCal MakerConinterview with him I said that their company is just apps and software, so it didn’tquite excite me. But now that we havelearned more about it, I actually think it really is exciting. Drew Taylo...

Today Tom and Tracy Hazzard discuss why you should diversify your 3D print freelance work, but maybe not too much! Where and how to get started and how to promote your skills in a professional and concise manner. To send us a message, go to 3dstartpoint.com or shoot us a message at info@3dstartpoint.com or on our facebook or twitter! Its absolutely free, so ask away and and don’t forget to subscri...

Today we are bringing you a follow-up interview that was mentioned in our episode with Brandon Davis where we talked about his mission with the new Blue Dragon and end user 3D printing, of FFF 3D printing. I think this is really interesting that we’re focusing on people who are really choosing FFF printers for end use production. This has happened multiple times now. I think maybe because it’s mor...

Today, we’re going to talk about 3D print plankton by Planktomania. Their website is a great resource for teachers and students out there. This just shows how 3D printing creates endless possibilities specifically in for education. Something micro can now be printed and held and experienced, taking the learning process to a whole new level. To send us a message, go to 3dstartpoint.com or shoot us...

MorphiApp is a tablet-based CAD software that I think is a great starting point for kids or even adults who are just getting into 3D printing and CAD softwares. It has a free version and a paid version. It is only for Apple or iOS based devices for now though. But is impressive in it’s capabilities, and you can do a lot with it, even in the free version. To send us a message, go to 3dstartpoint.co...

An interesting project out of the Netherlands, a hot bed of 3D printing, is our inspiration for this episode of Design Friday. It comes from designer/architect Brian Peters who made 3D printed bricks that he calls Building Bytes. We are so intrigued by the customization you can get with these, each brick is different and designed to be unique from the others to create these structures. Videos and...

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...

Today, we’re going to talk about what I think is the mantra so far for the year, applied 3D printing, applications of 3D printing, applied technology. We have a recurring guest, Brandon Davis, he is the founder and CEO of Blue Dragon. Brandon has been so much in sales and customer support in his history. That’s how we met him. He used to work for Leapfrog. He has always been really closely tied wi...

Today, Tom is going to ask Tracy questions about the Women in 3D Printing meetup that she attended virtually. Tracy will talk about the things that she learned and realized in this meetup, like the role of tech in jobs, how everything comes back to art and design and how companies in the industry need to have a little more end user empathy focus.

Simplify3D, from my experience and in my opinion, is the best slicing software that I’ve come across so far. It’s not free, but it is well worth it’s price. Simplify3D, not only does it have more capabilities than any other slicing software I’ve used, but it really is a very comprehensive program and it has a well done user interface. To send us a message, go to 3dstartpoint.com or shoot us a mess...

Some very bad information is out there about the “threat” of 3D printing to businesses. Tom and Tracy Hazzard discuss two recent articles that pushed out some misinformation about the industry. The trademark and licensing industries have gotten 3D printing all wrong, and don’t have their systems set for this new technology. To send us a message, go to 3dstartpoint.com or shoot us a message at info...

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 yo...

Today, we’re going to take a deeper dive into scanning, and in particular 3D scanning art, and on an initiative that is really trying to scan the whole world in reality. It’s pretty ambitious. We’ve got Jon Beck on the show. He’s Project Manager at MyMiniFactory for the Scan The World project. It is very cool. It is the idea that they’re going to scan sculptures around the world in hopes of 3D pri...

Today, we're going to take a deeper dive into scanning, and in particular 3D scanning art, and on an initiative that is really trying to scan the whole world in reality. It's pretty ambitious. We've got Jon Beck on the show. He's Project Manager at MyMiniFactory for the Scan The World project. It is very cool. It is the idea that they're going to scan sculptures around the world in hopes of 3D pri...

Liquid gold or gold 3D printing can forever change the industry of jewelry design. But are all jewelry designers going to need to go learn CAD? Or will that limit their artistic skills and creative process? Also, you’ve got to have the right printer for these types of designs or you’re not going to get the feedback you need. To send us a message, go to 3dstartpoint.com or shoot us a message at inf...

We get a little bit critical today of a book called 3D Printing Business: How to Get Rich from Home with 3D Printing. We found this book on Amazon and even though it was only $4, we think it is totally not worth it! But it’s not just the book, it’s the whole concept of ‘3D Print Get Rich Quick’ that we think really hurt the 3D printing industry. 3D printing is not a get rich from home overnight ty...

Disrupt the normal sales process with human-like marketing automation. Discover how to create an email sequence to get people to take action on their request, and why it’s critical to consider the timing of your follow up emails. You learn why this sequence accelerates prospects to do business with you when compared with typical approaches to email contact. What do you get when you combine an engi...

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 lear...

Discerning which 3D Print ideas to discard can be difficult, whether it be 3D designs or 3D business ideas. How to avoid “shiny object syndrome” and keep your business balanced between all the different ideas and how to know which idea to follow through on and which to discard and move away from. To send us a message, go to 3dstartpoint.com or shoot us a message at info@3dstartpoint.com or on our...

We had the opportunity to hear Lucy speak in San Diego at the Inside 3D Printing conference last December. We were really impressed with her. We went up to her after her talk and asked her to be a guest on the show, and was more than happy to do it. Lucy was requested by Eduardo Martini via Facebook, he saw the online promo video for their shoes and suggested her as a guest. We’ve been looking for...

In current news for the 3D printing industry, MakerBot now has a new CEO. That’s 4 CEOs in 4 years. Tom and Tracy Hazzard discuss their thoughts on what caused this and what it means for the company moving forward. They share their opinion on what went wrong and what needs to change for MakerBot. To send us a message, go to 3dstartpoint.com or shoot us a message at info@3dstartpoint.com or on our...

Cura is a free slicing software that is created by Ultimaker. Cura has a lot of features, and these are definitely for the advanced user. If you’re serious about doing your own slicing and want to do advanced things that go beyond predefined basic slicing settings, then the Cura slicing software is definitely a good slicer to try out. Tom provides you a thorough guided tour of Cura’s features, and...

Real world 3D print design sales numbers are hard to come by, and we are glad that Austin Robey of Make Mode has generously offered to share his Shapeways shop stats for his line of 3D printed emoticons or emojis. Through our discussion there are many take-aways to gain about what to design, how to market your products, types of consumers are in the different 3D print “store fronts”, and even what...

Trimble SketchUp is a free CAD design program that should not be passed up for new 3D print creators and those collaborating with a team to create 3D models. Looking at who should consider making the jump from the free version to the Pro version and what sorts of designers might want to take a second look at the many different features it has to offer. To send us a message, go to 3dstartpoint.com...