Google just dropped 2D CAD drawings for its new Fitbit Air as an open invite for makers to design their own bands, so expect unofficial STLs to hit the usual model repositories fast. Just note: Long-term skin contact means sweat, friction, heat, and overnight wear, and very few 3D printing filaments are actually certified for that job. Look for materials, such as Siraya Tech’s Flex TPU 85A with ISO 10993 biocompatibility documentation.
There’s a new toolchanger in town – or, rather, there will be, when Creality releases its next flagship printer, the K3, later this year. Powering the toolchanging is a new system the company calls KliTek.
This new filament is the company's Jet Black TPU in evening wear because sometimes your RC tires, phone cases, and bendy little shock-absorbing bits deserve to feel like they’re walking a red carpet. The new Prusament PTU Galaxy Black filament keeps the serious stuff under the sparkle, including Prusa’s in-house production and tech specs, plus refill-friendly NFC-tagged spool, and costs $37.99/500g — a small price to pay for adding just enough bling to make your functional parts whisper, “I’m not like the other black filaments.”
Driven by defense and energy sector part demand, Incodema3D’s latest investment underscores a growing industry-wide transition toward standardized, repeatable metal AM supply chains.
Designing garments based on body data — from curves and sweat zones to sun exposure — Laura Civetti and Juan Daniel Cabrera Cobo, with additive manufacturing partner Stratasys, generates textile patterns tuned to the wearer’s needs. This design research project is part fashion, part performance gear, and part glimpse of a future where your clothes don’t just fit — they respond. Printed on a Stratasys PolyJet 3D printer in 18 pieces then assembled.
A new update to Snapmaker's OrcaSlicer fork for its U1 toolchanger 3D printer integrates the community-developed FullSpectrum color printing technique, letting you combine filaments in a print to achieve new colors. A long (and excellent) post on the Snapmaker blog digs deep into how it works with tips and tricks for how to achieve the best results. It's well worth a read.
The company scales up its budget range further with the A2L, a larger build volume printer with H2-series module compatibility. Just don't expect a laser.
Nike is testing a new initiative that uses additive manufacturing to create a flexible, digital platform for limited-run sneaker designs and customer personalization.
What's the primary brand of printer you're using, day in, day out, for your own personal printing? I'll list the common, popular desktop brands in the poll, but feel free to add your own if it's not listed under the "other" option.
The 3D model repository, acquired in February by MyMiniFactory, took another step on the path to reinvention this week with the introduction of an ad-pass, letting its users remove advertising from the site for $4.99 a month ($4.19 if you bill yearly). This follows last month's licensing shake up, which saw the site become a little more open source-friendly.
Never has a business move in 3D printing felt so close to home. (All3DP also has an ad-pass. It's pretty generous – you should check it out if you haven't already.)
Creality’s anniversary celebration includes new machines, cutting-edge tech, a debut on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and a powerful statement about where consumer 3D printing is headed.
With marketing material that looks suspiciously like a baby announcement, Bambu Lab is stoking expectations for its next addition. Congratulations, it’s a printer. The new machine appears to be called the A2L, with the “L” presumably standing for “large,” “larger,” or “look, we needed more build volume.” Details are under wraps until June 1, but clues suggest it's a bigger sibling to the popular A1. The ad also shows multi-color print, hinting that the A2L supports multi-filament printing like the A1 and A1 Mini. In other words: same family, bigger crib.
Fillamentum’s circular NonOilen filament expands with new colors that Fillamentum says keep the material’s reusability intact.
Stratasys has entered a definitive agreement to acquire Markforged from Nano Dimension in an all-cash deal valued at $42.5 million, subject to customary adjustments. The acquisition is expected to close in the second half of 2026 and would add Markforged’s line of continuous carbon fiber FDMs, software, and materials capabilities to Stratasys’ portfolio, strengthening its position in aerospace, defense, automotive, and other industrial applications.
By switching to a 30-W CO2 laser source, Sinterit’s latest compact system enables high-speed printing of white, natural, and colorable powders.
Prusa Research has dropped a beta of PrusaSlicer 2.9.6 alongside an EasyPrint update, both shipping Prusa ColorMix – the company's take on the FullSpectrum filament mixing technique that’s spread across desktop slicers in the past three months.
OrcaSlicer hit version 2.4.0 alpha on May 25, with a release that bundles a handful of welcome new features alongside something more strategically significant: Orca Cloud, the project's own centralized profile and synchronization platform.
the arrival of Creality's anniversary means a new hardware drop. As the company gears up to celebrate, some teasers are starting to work their way out, and it sure looks like we'll be getting a toolchanger.
This banner from the Creality website talks about something called KliTek and "next-gen nozzle changing." As for questions like "what kind of toolchanger" and "how many toolheads," we'll have to wait and see.
This hybrid solid-state manufacturing method bypasses laser-melting limitations to slash production lead times for complex aerospace components.
How about Kapton tape, painters tape, Ultrabase... IKEA mirrors? Over the years, the advice has changed. We just updated our guide to help you find a suitable build plate.
For most new printer users, I'd wager it's the print bed that came with the printer and nothing else. Print beds today are pretty well tuned to the majority of materials, but are still consumable. You'll need to replace it at some point in its life, but have the manufacturer defaults gotten so good there's no room to experiment with others? Are you still using the bed that came with your printer, or have you replaced it?