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You just spent the last six months traveling to the red planet, Mars. You sit down for your first meal and you reach down to pick up your fork…but you realize you forgot it! Rather than waiting months or possibly years for the next group of people and supplies to come, you can simply upload […]

We’re taking a look at two lower resolution and cheaper 3D printing materials for prototyping: ABS and PLA. When will PLA suffice? When do you gain much more by going with ABS? A lot of people look at price and automatically choose to print in PLA because hey, it’s the cheapest material! But depending on […]

While the tool marks left on metal parts produced using CNC machining services are visually appealing to some, in many cases, some additional post-processing may be desired or even required. There are a variety of finishes that one can use to add functionality or aesthetic appeal to parts, and the glossary below will help you […]

Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS), a fancy way of 3D printing metal, is the new trend in aerospace engineering. DMLS uses a Ytterbium fiber laser to fire into a bed of powdered metal, welding the material together to create a solid structure. It’s great for complex metal parts that you can’t build with conventional manufacturing […]

There are so many different ways to prototype and manufacture physical products, and at times, the list of materials and processes can feel daunting even for the most experienced engineers. At Fictiv, we’re working to give people more streamlined access to the best fabrication technology available. We’re also dedicated to helping engineers learn which fabrication […]

You’ve envisioned it, you’ve modeled it, and you’ve printed it. As it turns out, however, your newly printed prototype may need a bit more TLC before it appears or functions as intended. In this article, we’ll investigate practical methods for cleaning up 3D printed parts, as well as the tools you should have at your […]

Depending on your visual model needs, you can choose from different finishing options for 3D printed parts. To make life easier, Fictiv always recommends printing parts that need any type of finishing work in a high resolution material, like VeroWhite or VeroBlack. People often try to cut costs by printing in a low resolution, hard, […]

In prototyping automotive parts, it’s common for NVH (noise, vibration, and harshness) to be placed on the back burner in the early product design phases, as there are often bigger challenges at play (like not breaking parts). NVH studies, often difficult and elusive, are not exactly a low-hanging fruit in the prototype phase. However, a gram […]

CMF, which stands for Color, Material & Finish, is an area of specialty within the greater industrial design discipline. At large, design-centric hardware companies, CMF designers work alongside industrial designers and product design engineers to make sure that the chromatic and tactile identities of the product are on brand and in vogue. On smaller teams, […]

Ever wonder how the fantastical creatures you see in Star Wars are brought to life? There are some incredible tools at the hands of filmmakers, animators and producers these days, one of which is 3D printing. So when Lucasfilm wanted to re-animate the lovable holochess game in The Force Awakens, they worked with Academy Award […]