3D Printing: The Stories We Didn’t Cover This Week– August 22

This week’s 3D printing news includes some late summer fun ideas, like flying a 3D printed kite or rigging your bike up with an awesome 3D printed wind-driven bubble machine. Also, there’s news from China where a child’s heart surgeries were aided by the surgeon’s use of a 3D printed heart replica. Hong Kong has just opened a 3D printing center aimed at educating the public and allowing access to 3D printers, and an Italian team is working on a 3D printed metal turbine and other projects. Also from Italy, Maurizio Casella designed a model of the latest Ferrari F1 car, which is a fine addition to his large series of other 3D models. Finally, you still have a little time to enter Gigabot’s giveaway competition, if you convince them you have a worthwhile community project to use your Gigabot for, in a 2-3 minute video.

3D Print a Late Summer Tetrahedral Kite

Summer is almost gone, but you still have time to enjoy the warmer weather. One way to do this is to grab your kids and head out to fly a kite: or better yet, why not 3D print your kite and then go fly it? OpenKite is an open source kite kit that features a kite with hundreds of tetrahedral cells. This design was originally created by the inventor of the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell, and it was updated by designers Heather and Ivan Morrison. Finally, it was adapted by OpenKite’s Sehun Oh, who was inspired by both architecture and sculpture in her own adaptation of the original design. Oh recommends printing the kite with ABS plastic. Happy kite flying!

Hook Your Bike Up with a 3D Printed Bubble Machine

Another great late summer activity is bike riding. I just inherited a Schwinn 3-wheeler from my dad, and I have been wondering what I could put in its nice big metal basket on the back. Well, the question has been answered. I am going to rig my bike with one of these wind-driven bicycle bubble machines! As you pedal, 12 bubble wands on one ring circle around through a reservoir of dense soap to leave a trail of bubbles behind you as you ride. The design is based on the pulley system here, and the inventor of this wonderful machine is Jost Schenck (heinzdrei), who originally entered it into the Thingiverse Catch the Wind challenge. He was one of three challenge winners, which makes a lot of sense, because this is about the coolest 3D printed bike accessory I have ever seen. Watch the video here if you are not convinced.

3D Printed Hearts Aid Surgeons in Chinese Baby’s Heart Surgery

While the news so far has focused on whimsical 3D printed activities like kite flying and blowing bubbles, we turn now to more serious 3D printing news: 3D printed tiny heart replicas for a baby. Chen Chen is a Chinese baby born with five holes in his heart, an unusual congential heart condition. In order for doctors to do the best job on this 9-month-old baby’s heart, they scanned and 3D printed an exact replica of the heart to examine and practice on before doing the surgeries. The first surgery occurred on July 3, 2015, which filled the holes, and the next, more invasive, surgery took place on July 21. Chen Chen is recovering well, and he’s also been a part of 3D printing history in China as the first Chinese child to have 3D printing used in congenital heart surgeries. Go Chen Chen!

Hong Kong Opens 3D Printing Center

Clearly China has a strong commitment to 3D printing technology in medicine and its other sectors. Hong Kong has just opened its first “one-stop” citizens education center for people of all ages. “3D Printing One” was established by the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC), and it has 17 3D printers ranging from desktop models to bigger machines that print plastic, food, and metal. In fact, the metal 3D printer is the only one in the city and so it will probably be used for many projects. The center plans to host workshops and classes on a number of 3D printing issues as well. The new center is open free to the public, and you can find out more information about the center from the Hong Kong Productivity Council.

New Partnership to Produce 3D Printed Metal Turbines Announced

Speaking of metal printing, a collaboration between Italian 3D printer reseller 3DZ and the Italian Center for Sustainability, Energy, Environment and Mobility (CSEEM) led the center to the purchase of a professional metal 3D printer, the ProX 100, which will be used for Direct Metal Printing (DMP) research and development projects. CSEEM plans to use the printer to make a motor turbine. The organization has also been involved in researching fluid dynamics, thermodynamics, and combustion in diesel and petrol. Another project they are working on is a heat changer that will maximize thermal efficiency, and the use of printing ceramic materials for solar energy. With these new research and development projects, we are sure to hear more coming from the Italian 3D printing industry.

New 3D Printed Ferrari F1 by Maurizio Casella

In other news from Italy, Maurizio Casella is a 3D printing designer focusing on elaborately crafted vehicles, and his latest model is a Ferrari F1–also known as the Ferrari SF15-T. All of Casella’s previous models have many parts, and this one has ten .stl files for FFF/FDM systems. His 3DaGoGo page features 20 models available for print. The F1 files are available for download for $4.99, and if printed in full color sandstone, the car’s sponsors can be included–giving the printed car an even more authentic look. Now you can have your own printed version of Ferrari’s F1, or any of the other Casella models that you happen to come across while browsing his page.

Great Big Giveaway Contest from Gigabot

re:3D, the maker of the world’s most affordable, human-scale, industrial 3D printer, prepares to launch its third generation system in October. To celebrate this, it is sponsoring a second giveaway competition. To enter, you must create a 2-3 minute-long video explaining how you would use Gigabot for positive social causes in your local community. The deadline for entering is August 22, by 11:59 CST. You still have time to win your own Gigabot, so get busy making that video! Winners will be announced August 31, 2015.

Have any of this week’s crop of stories caught your attention? Let us know in the Stories We Missed forum thread over at 3DPB.com.