2013: Coolest 3D Printed Items of The Year

[Eddie]

As we wind down the year, 3D Printing has been one of the biggest tech trends in the last 12 months. We have seen so many interesting items 3D Printed since January. I thought I would make a post with some of the coolest things that we have seen printed in the last year.

#1 - 3D Printed Prosthetic Nose
This nose was printed with a starch substance and is being used by several people with facial deformities.


#2 - 3D Printed Metal Gun
Solid Concepts printed out this metal gun back in November. They are now selling these guns in limited quantity at a price of $11,900.


#3 - 3D Printed Circuit Board
A working circuit board that was 3D Printed in November of this year.


#4 The 3D Printed Robot
All the main parts of this robot can be made on your 3D Printer


#5 Tiny 3D Printed metal parts
These parts, printed by Microprint are extremely tiny. The printer used, can print at 5 micrometers per deposit, meaning 5 millionths of a meter.


#6 3D Printed Gran Torino Body
Maybe not as classy as the original body, but certainly a lot more intricate.


#7 - 3D Printed Custom Prosthetic Leg
Made by Bespoke, which has since been acquired by 3D Systems. This is just one of the dozens of 3d printed prosthetic legs we have seen this year.


#8 - 3D Printed Human Ear
This is the real deal. An ear 3D Printed with human ear cells. This was created at the beginning of the year by researchers at Cornell University.


#9 - 3D Printed Prosthetic Thumb
This thumb was 3D Printed by a man who didn't want to pay $5k for a prosthetic. Instead he spent $20 on materials and printed it himself.


#10 - 3D Printed Hand
This kid got national attention when his father 3D Printed him a hand, saving him thousands of dollars in the process:

[BurnItDownBaby]

The 3D Printed Gran Torino body is amazing. I would make that #1

[colonellocke]

Gotta be the kids hand. How cool is that.

I think the robot and the circuit board would be tied for second: I for one bow down before our 3D printed overlords. LoL

Third place would be the metal gears. They could easily dethrone #2 if they can scale up (production of) the printers so that the price comes down.

[RedSox2013]

I woud say the hand and he human ear are probably the most impressive. The ear because of where it's going to lead us in the coming year or two, and the hand because it took a lot of imagination and creativity, something we will certainly see a lot more of this year.

[ChiloquinRuss]

If you read the complete story of the robo-hand I believe the collaboration aspect of the story is the highlight of this 2013 project. Two people separated by thousands of miles but joined by two MakerBots and the internet designed this wonder. Most inspiring. Russ

[johnstevenjacob]

I’ve noticed that most of the 3D printed objects here are human body parts. I’d like to add this 3D printed skull by Jesper Knudsen of Denmark. This may not yet be ready full bone replacement, but this can be a huge help for training doctors. http://www.3d2print.net/shop/blog/co...eed-new-skull/. Also, this rubber filament is good material for experimenting in making different human body parts because of its rubber-like characteristic: http://www.3d2print.net/shop/filament/elastic-filament/.

[Egon van Engelen]

I'm not a big fan of guns, but the rest is great. My favorite is the kid with the 3D printed hand, look him being proud ;o)

[Feign]

While the gun is technically impressive from an engineering standpoint, it certainly doesn't show the creative potential of the technology. This 3D printed electric motor was more impressive in my opinion.

[Maggie]

WOW! I agree that motor is impressive. Here is the video:

[Desislava Dobreva]

3D printers are literally my favorite thing in the world right now. I can add to everything else said the fact that they can now produce food as well.
3dfood.jpg

These are candies produced by the Chefjet 3D printers and are obviously just the beginning!
I've described my 7 favorite 3D printing technologies right here, so feel free to take a look :-)