SolidSmack

SimplyColor3D Add Multi-Color Models and 3MF Support

SimplyColor3D has now now moved to version 2.0, and it includes a lot more features. 

With the increased availability of multi-color 3D printers, there is a demand for multi-color 3D models. However, there’s a huge problem: there are hardly any such models available in popular 3D model repositories. 

In fact, I took a cruise through Thingiverse and found only ~2300 entries tagged with…

Tama Is A Hand Hug For Those Cold, Lonely Nights

With 2020 the way it is, celebrating Christmas might be a bit lonely for some. Maybe you’ve been cooped up “two weeks” already. Maybe you’ve thrown off the restraints of government tyranny. Either way, everyone needs a good hug. You can’t do much about social distancing and the rampant virtue signaling, but you can do the next best thing and get yourself a hug. A hand hug that is. By which I…

MIT Researchers Develop A.I. To Detect a COVID-19 Cough

Yes, COVID-19 has made the year 2020 a living nightmare and yes, it’s still here… we think – Is it? No? Yes? Well, at least the flu is no more. You already know how some people are asymptomatic (meaning HEALTHY), which is used as an additional method to keep you in fear, but I digress. Now, your healthy cough can (allegedly) reveal if you’re haulin’ virus bits around unbeknownst or not.

Magic A.I.…

A Portable 4K Touchscreen For High-Res CAD on the Go

With 4K screens the norm nowadays, you would think there are many an option for portable 4K displays. Well, there are. There are just a couple of problems. First of all, there are a lot of options. Second, the combo of 4K, touchscreen, and features means a price point that skimps on one or the other.

The Lumonitorbrings the best balance we’ve found among portable 4K displays with the widest…

iFactory3D Launches Low-Cost Belt 3D Printer

German startup iFactory3D has now launched their inexpensive belt 3D printer on Kickstarter. Inspired by the 3D print community, Artur Steffen and Martin Huber developed an open source belt 3D printer design way back in 2018. They posted this design on Thingiverse, and apparently received demand from visitors to provide a kit to build the device.

Here they discuss how the project started:

LEGO’s Latest Largest Set Is A 9,036-Piece Roman Colosseum

If you thought the Death Star was the biggest LEGO set in existence, then you’re still living in the 2010s, my friend. As of November 2020, the award for the biggest, baddest set in the Denmark-based toy company’s arsenal goes to the new 9,036-piece Roman Colosseum.

Just ask LEGO designer Rok Kobe, who talks about the set’s many details in a recent video on the LEGO YouTube channel:

Volvo Donates New Cars To Be Dropped 30 Meters For Rescue & Extrication Practice

You’ve heard of YouTubers who drop phones and other pieces of tech to test their durability, but have you ever heard of a company actually donating their products for the sole purpose of destroying them?

This is exactly what Volvo has been doing recently. In order for Swedish rescue teams to get into the practice of saving lives, the car company has donated ten of their newest models so they…

Cool Tools: Xiem Studio Fluting Tool Set

Sculpting, be it in clay or soft polyurethane foam requires a few key tools to efficiently bring your creative work to life. And among them, a fluting tool is just the ticket for precisely shaving convex slivers of material away to perfection.

VIEW PRICE ON Dick Blick Xiem Fluting Tool Set

The Xiem Fluting Tool Set caught our eye during a recent search on modeling techniques for…

KeyShot 10 3MF Support + Stratasys J55 3D Printer Offers Full-Color 3D Prints | Priority Designs Bluetooth speaker design process show cases both!

We are cooking with gas now people! Hot off the press. The 3D Manufacturing Format (3MF) file type is about to go prime-time owing to KeyShot and Stratasys. This dynamic duo is bringing an honest to goodness CMF experience to early-stage physical prototyping.

For those not familiar, the 3MF format could be likened to a next-gen STL. Bundled inside this potent format is all the information…

SkillCoach | Making Design In The Music City - Fractal Design | Spring 2021 Industrial Design Internship Opportunity

Pack your bags young people cause there’s a design gig to be had in Nashville, Music City USA! That is if you’ve got the chops to get da props. Fractal design, a physical product development firm just went live on the job board over on leManooshwith an Industrial design internship opportunity for spring 2021. Fractal is casting their net the world over to find creative talent with just the right…

Microsoft’s Xbox Series X Takes The Fridge Meme and Turns It Into A Slick Advertisement

Well, they’ve done it. They’ve hacked into our brains. Barely a day after my neurons were all a-buzz with interstitial activity over the thoughts of the next-generation console as “mini-fridge”, Microsoft busted out a premier release of a CGI trailer for their new Xbox Series X Fridge and it’s slick!

Now I’m pretty sure they are not gonna be releasing a juiced-up super fridge to the masses,…

The DiFOLD Origami Bottle Is a Reusable Liquid Container Which Folds In On Itself

I jump at any chance to save the environment with my actions but sometimes, these alternatives can be a tad inconvenient.

Take reusable bottles, for instance. While you definitely cut down on plastic waste, hanging on to them can be a bear! Think about the moment after your last swig of your favorite beverage. What to do? Yep, stuff it in your bag. Now you’ve got a little less useful space and…

Cool Tools: Split-Level Drafting Table

If you’re like us and used a massive drafting table in college back in the day (do they even still?) you may have one or you may be on the lookout for one. So classic. And if you can find one with a protractor arm, even better. But once we saw the size and had limited space to fit it, we decided to seek out a more compact, mor functional option. That’s when we came across the Safco split-level…

The Sony PlayStation 5 Design Easter Egg is So Small You Need To Squint To See It

With the Sony PlayStation 5 release coming up tomorrow, people continue to argue about graphics cards, processing power, and the overall mini-fridge size(?) console design. However, if you turn your eyes to the controller you’ll find an itty-bitty Easter egg your eyes might not catch at first glance.

Playstation 5 Controller Design (Easter Egg!)

Early reports about the console all say the…

SkillCoach | Sheet Metal Design & Fabrication – Making a Metal Darth Vader Helmet

Reproductions of the classic Darth Vader helmet can be found all over the web. I’ve seen them in construction paper and EVA foam. But when it comes to Darth Vader constructed in metal, the Gold Point Props(GPP) build is as epic as the voice behind the mask! Finding this video afforded a welcomed moment to reminisce of my autobody days gone by. But even more, a chance to showcase a creative talent…

Watch A Hundred-Year-Old Rusty Knife Get Brought Back To Life!

It’s always fun to watch someone repair something that looks beyond the point of fixing. It takes vision, creativity, and some serious craftsmanship. An this is what’s on display at The Small Workshop (TSW) YouTube channel. Man, what they can do is just crazy!

The channel features homemade tools and workshop projects specializing in wood and metal, with some of the biggest draws being their…

In my drummer days I could lay down a beat! I couldn’t wait until the next time I could sit in front of a drum set. In between times, I’d take to air drumming in my bedroom imagining banging out a perfect beat. Like most things, good drum skills take consistent practice. Sadly, for a drummer that’s hard to do because it takes a lot of money to buy a full drum set and the right place to keep them.…