Tag Archives: startup
Interview: Protos Eyewear Combines Fashion, Tech, and 3D Printing
Finding a pair of glasses that fit properly and look good is a painstaking process. Could 3D printing help with this? Protos Eyewear thinks so.
Protos is an eyewear company based in San Francisco that uses 3D printing to manufacture their frames. This intricate layering process results in bold and striking designs that are impossible to make through standard manufacturing methods. Protos eyewear is lightweight and durable, and the material provides a unique look and feel.
We interviewed Protos founder and CFO Richart Ruddie to learn more about the company.
On3dPrinting: How did you and your founders come up with this idea?
Ruddie (Protos): We have always had a passion for eyewear. It’s a product that is almost dominated by a company called Luxotica and we are able to enter the market with a unique niche that they have not caught on as of yet. They’re fun to design because they require such attention to detail in regards to proportions and ergonomics. If you change the silhouette by as little as 1 millimeter, it can totally change the character and the fit of the frame. 3D printing is just getting to a point where it is inexpensive enough to use as a viable manufacturing method, and the materials are finally starting to become strong enough to be consumer grade. These factors are what motivated us to start the company.
On3dPrinting: What is the consumer benefit of 3D printed sunglasses?
Ruddie (Protos): Eyewear with an unparalleled aesthetic (see below for the pixel pair in particular). Soon to be custom fit eyewear that we will be able to take anybody’s facial dimensions and make custom fitted glasses for them which we believe is the next big thing in the industry. We are beta-testing tailored fit glasses right now and would be proud to let a few of your readers and yourself to join the beta process.
On3dPrinting: Is there a business or cost advantage with 3D printing technology over traditional manufacturing?
Ruddie (Protos): You have no upfront tooling costs. So you could easily develop hundreds and hundreds of different models at no cost. You also can make the glasses to order and eliminate the need for backstock.
On3dPrinting: Who is your target customer?
Ruddie (Protos): Techies, fashionistas
On3dPrinting: We would imagine some customers would be concerned about fit. Do you offer any guarantees?
Ruddie (Protos): We do have a return policy in place:
On3dPrinting: You’ve been in business for over a year. Any data you can report about your growth?
Ruddie (Protos): We have been putting together everything over the last year or so. We had a great launch party in San Francisco which had 75 designers, fashionistas, techies, and other SF’ers and they all loved the glasses. We sold out that night and have been working on improving our line of products since than. We just recently launched to the public and sell sunglasses right on the website. As of right now growth is slow as we work on getting the word out and connecting with others that are interested in the products.
On3dPrinting: Where can someone design and buy a pair?
Ruddie (Protos): Contact us directly and we can discuss customized pairs on both a single level and mass production basis.
Top 3D Printing Headlines Last Week: NASA, Piracy, London, Idle Hands
A roundup of the top news On 3D Printing brought you from September 11 to September 16.
Friday, September 14
Interview: Idle Print Looks to Monetize Spare Cycles in 3D Printing
Idle Print is trying to help people find solutions for their 3D printing needs at a fraction of the cost, while also helping people who own 3D printers make some income on the side. Idle Print is an online marketplace that allows sellers with 3D printers to find buyers who need an object printed. The company was created by Kevin Nuest and Blaine Wilson and debuted at Startup Tucson.
We spoke with Idle Print and here’s the transcript of the interview.
On3DPrinting: Hi Blaine, thanks for taking time to answer a few questions. First, what problem are you trying to solve at Idle Print?
Idle Print: The 3D printing market suffers from great inefficiency. Lead times are often measured in days if not weeks, and commercial services aren’t cheap. Meanwhile the rate of innovation and development of open source 3D printers is driving machine prices downward and capability upwards. Our founding assumption is that these two segments are ready to converge.
On3DPrinting: How much money do you think an end user can make?
Idle Print: That will depend on a great many things; supply/demand, additional services, marketing, capability, etc. We hope to enable proficient operators with a capable machines to make a living doing this, though I’m sure we’ll see a range of users from hobbiests to full-time users with a garage full of bots cranking out parts. If you consider the average cost of commercial print jobs, having a single machine generate a day’s salary at minimum wage isn’t unreasonable, and depending on how you calculate it, conservative.
Additionally, we hope for this to be a platform to offer additional services to supplement revenue via 3D modeling, scanning, post processing, etc. We want to enable users to provide a bit more than just printing, though that’s certainly the foundation.
On3DPrinting: Why wouldn’t someone just order a print from Shapeways or i.materialise rather than ordering from a consumers’ 3D printer?
Idle Print: In a word – Efficiency. Shapeways is running a several week backlog on their least expensive material and I’ve never heard of anyone getting anything back from Solid Concepts in less than three days. As someone in manufacturing who needs a model RIGHT NOW, that’s not acceptable. Meanwhile those same companies start their pricing at $1.40 per cubic cm. Last I checked, ABS is ~$.04 per ccm. While that’s not an apples to apples comparison, we believe there’s certainly room for such a service to compete with (if not supplement) existing commercial printers.
Additionally, we hope to help accelerate the shift from 3D printing from the domain of engineering offices and product developers to everyone else. Companies such as Makerbot and Cubify already spearheading the effort, making the service more efficient and available is our contribution to that goal.
On3DPrinting: How does someone get involved in Idle Print?
Idle Print: The best way to stay updated is via facebook at http://www.facebook.com/
Additionally, if you’d like to be notified once the service is up & running, you can sign up here: http://idleprint.co/ (still in early alpha)
On3DPrinting: Thanks Blaine! Good luck with Idle Print.
Moddler is Making the Market in High-End 3D Printing [Video]
John Vegher, founder of Moddler, is making a market in high-end 3D printing. His clients are from all industries: medical devices, industry designers, film studios, fine artists, students, architects, and more.
His team receives a digital file and then 3D prints the design on an Objet Eden 500V, which costs about $250,000 and can print high-resolution in 16 micron layers. They clean up the print and ship it back to the customer.
Where does Vegher see big changes coming? In material science. You can print in glass, metal and more.
Watch the video below to see what Moddler is cooking up in 3D printing.
Via VentureBeat.
A Look Back at the History of MakerBot, 3D Printing Pioneer [Video]
MakerBot TV has kicked off its second seasons with a look back at the history of MakerBot Industries. Ramen noodles and pure adrenaline were the keys to early perseverance in 2009. As the first 3D printer units shipped, the team scaled from borrowed space and 1 employee to a dedicated office with a team of 85.
Watch the video below hosted by Annelise Jeske (@MakerBotTV).
