News

Afinia 3D Printers are great for for educators, engineers, and hobbyists alike, and for good reason. They are affordable, easy to use, and create quality prints. Now, a recent study published by The Built Environment Research Group reinforces why the H400 and H800+ should be of high interest to makers of all kinds. Especially those who use, or plan to use, their 3D printers in enclosed spaces like classrooms, offices, or at home. 3D Printing and UFP Emission Using a 3D printer inevitably creates UFPs (ultrafine particles). It’s important to note that UFPs are present in everyday life. For example, common household UFPs include animal dander, smoke (from cooking oils [Read more…]

Ho-ho-holy moly, we’ve got discounts! This year, we are offering three special deals, available November 1 through December 31, 2016*: $200 off the Afinia H480 3D printer $200 off the Afinia H800 3D printer $399 off the H800 plus H400 3D Printer bundle All printers come with a 1-Year Limited Warranty and unlimited lifetime phone support. About the 3D Printers The Afinia H480 3D Printer is our highly acclaimed “workhorse.” The Afinia H480 technology was awarded “Easiest to Set Up, “Easiest to Use,” and “Reliable Performer” by MAKE: Magazine, and continues to gain praise from those who use it. The H480 features a 5-inch cubed build area, auto-leveling platform calibration, [Read more…]

The United States is approaching its 240th year of independence, and that calls for celebration! They’ll be 4th of July cookouts, city parades, and fireworks… and for the technology-savvy Afiniacs, 3D-printed decorations, too. Here’s some of our favorite 3D prints to help you celebrate the holiday in techie-style. 10. Keep your barbecue nice and tidy with these napkins holders. American flag coozie/pencial holder by Thingiverse user UrbanAtWork. 9. Make sure to keep your drink cool, or have a place to hold the silverware, too, with this American flag coozie/pencil holder. 8. Keep yourself safe and aware from the flame with this American flag-adorned sparkler launch pad. 7. Spruce up your [Read more…]

Jeff Tucker is an RC hobbyist and 3D printer enthusiast living in California. He creates bodies and accessories for RC cars using his Afinia H479 3D printer and sells them through his website, www.inventeo3d.com. Ready, Set, Action “I began 3D printing about 3 years ago, when I was creating action figures. They were very popular around that time, and I wanted something to print customized heads for the figures. I’d print celebrities or characters, like Arnold Schwarzenegger from the Predator movies.” One of Tucker’s 3D-printed custom RC car bodies. “Unfortunately, I didn’t have the Afinia 3D Printer at that time, and the one I was using just didn’t have the [Read more…]

Subsequent to the USPTO’s recent ruling on Afinia’s Inter Partes Review (IPR) Petitions, Afinia has uncovered new information about the Stratasys prior product manuals that is highly relevant as prior art and was withheld from the USPTO. Regarding the key US Patent No. 5,866,058 (‘058 Patent), the USPTO determined that the manual for Stratasys’ FDM 1600 product (which pre-dates the ‘058 patent) did not disclose a temperature environment exceeding 70oC. The decision by the USPTO denying Afinia’s Petition for an IPR stated:“Even if the local region temperature were the same as the envelope temperature, the temperature of 70oC is the same as the solidification temperature for ABS thermoplastic, not in [Read more…]

Afinia updates the status of the litigation brought by Stratasys, Inc., noting that it has commenced Inter Partes Review of the asserted patents at the U.S. Patent Office. The Inter Partes Review addresses the validity of U.S. Patent Nos. 5,855,058; 6,004,124; and 8,349,239 (the other asserted patent was withdrawn by Stratasys). Afinia maintains that the asserted patents are both invalid and not infringed. The petitions and declarations in support are available at the U.S. Patent Office and on our website: ‘058 Declaration ‘124 Declaration ‘239 Declaration ‘058 Petition ‘124 Petition ‘239 Petition. [Read more…]

Lis (Liz) Bokt, is the Executive Director of a 43,000 square foot makerspace, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. “The Geek Group Science Center is where individuals can work on projects, regardless of scope. We have everyone from engineers doing product prototyping on our Haas CNC machine or our 6 Afinia 3D printers; to folks playing with our KUKA Robotics prototype KR-350/1; to kids doing their homework. We have 25,542 members that span the globe. For this reason, video is important to our outreach. We also hold tours every week and that helps us increase our membership.” Transformational Tour “One of my favorite moments came during one of those tours. A high [Read more…]

Jason Rider – 3D Printer-Enabled Entrepreneur Jason is the Founder of Thriving Systems Design, LLC, in Ft. Collins, CO and the inventor of the C-Bite Stake Clamp and Anchor System. The C-Bite System snaps on to the most common trellising products to hold garden plants. “I’m definitely a Serial Entrepreneur and was a bit frustrated because my notebook full of ideas weren’t coming to fruition. For example, in the early 90’s I was driving in my car and thought, “it would be great to have some sort of a one-handed dental floss contraption that I could use in my car.” Then, a while later, I saw them for sale.” 3D [Read more…]

Afinia Desktop 3D Printers Selected by Project Lead The Way (PLTW) Chanhassen, MN – March 24, 2014 Afinia’s award-winning H-Series Desktop 3D Printer has been selected by Project Lead The Way as a solution to enhance its science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) curriculum for its network of more than 5,000 schools. “We are pleased that PLTW has selected the Afinia 3D Printer as an option for both its middle school (PLTW Gateway) and high school (PLTW Engineering) programs,” said Mitch Ackmann, President of Afinia. “The use of 3D printers as a part of STEM curriculum is growing rapidly, and ours is really easy to set up and use, which [Read more…]

Press Coverage: Forbes – Afinia Refuses To Buckle Down Against Stratasys; Claims Patent Misuse GigaOm – Afinia’s Response: We Did Not Infringe Stratasys’ Patents Fabaloo – The Staggering Implications of Afinia’s Countersuit 3D Printing Industry – Afinia Puts Up Its Dukes to Defend Against Stratasys Lawsuit PublicKnowledge.org – Afinia Responds to Stratasys: Your Patents Are Invalid and Your Threats Are Anticompetitive MSP Business Journal – Twin Cities 3-D printing firm Afinia fights Stratasys lawsuit [Read more…]

The Who’s Who of the 3D Printing world was in San Jose, California in mid-September at the Inside 3D Printing Conference & Expo. All of us in the Afinia booth were extremely busy, so much so, that we didn’t have time for lunch – only a quick dash to the water cooler. Our visitors ranged from educators, engineers & creatives to business people learning how our desktop 3D printer could help take their business to the next level. We were especially happy to speak with some very well known journalists from the BBC, NPR, Associated Press, Fortune, Techcrunch, PCMagazine and a number of local network affiliates. Here are a few [Read more…]

Happy Time Lapse Thursday! Today we wanted to print something that would appeal to our Creative Afiniacs. We actually printed a few of theses, and have grown quite fond of how interesting they look in photos. We’re on a mission to print one of these in every color of filament, so we can recreate our owl photo. We printed a Coral Cuff created by pixil3d. We are working our way through printing these with every filament color, but the end result will be a beautiful display of this unique piece that will showcase the H-Series ability to master fine detail in a production style format. We printed our file at [Read more…]

Happy Time Lapse Thursday! Today we wanted to print something that is unique, and customizable, while still being an item that you could proudly display in your home or office. We printed a Scripted Vase created by hakalan. We chose to use the Classic version of this file, although you can choose from a long list of alternatives for yourself. We still altered this version to be a little bit taller in the Z axis. The end result was this unique piece, that will beautifully display pencils & pens on my co-worker’s desk. We printed our file at Z Layer Resolution: 0.15mm Fill: Hollow Shell Material: ABS Quality: Fine With [Read more…]

Earlier this month we had the pleasure of attending one of the première B2B trade shows for 3D Printing, Inside 3D Printing Conference & Expo, in Chicago. The event featured 2 full days of conference sessions, and exhibitors galore! The focus of this trade show was a bit different then what you might normally find. The focus was on Education, and how 3D Printing is revolutionizing this industry. We had the opportunity to attend a few of the sessions and we were happy to see that the Education Tracks recognized the diversity of attendees: Additive Manufacturing Professionals, Educators, Engineers, Designers, Hobbyists and the General Public. John Westrum, Afinia’s Vice President, [Read more…]

by Aaron H. Pratt The proliferation of printers in the 3D space has been remarkable. Among the most exciting things in the news in the past few weeks have been a 3D pen for manually drawing with plastic at a sub-$100 price point(1), and of course President Obama’s acknowledgement of the industry in his State of the Union Address(2). President Obama correctly acknowledged the laboratory where “new workers are mastering 3D Printing” as the appropriate domain of the 3D Printer today. He also keyed in on the technology as having the “potential to revolutionize the way we make everything”, which is simultaneously visionary and (in the short run) unrealistic. But [Read more…]

I’m loving it. Such a solid and well made product! Great documentation and Great Support! Very good quality prints. [Read more…]

Printed four cyclinders today smaller and skinnier than a straw with ABS with .15 on FINE with STABLE STUPPORT..used blue tape and elmers glue stick on the tape…they came out fantastic.. we are a design firm for As Seen On TV and this little Afinia will be the unit that prototypes a lot of the stuff you see in the next coming months! Can’t wait to see what you guys make to compete size wise with the Cube X..put us down for a preorder lol [Read more…]

My boyfriend loved the printer, he was shocked and excited. He always wanted a 3D printer but never thought it could be affordable. He saw the prices when they first came out and just figured it wasn’t something he would have access to. Definitely the best Christmas present ever for him. J The printer was very easy to set up and use. The actual prints look really good too. From talking to other people and looking at reviews etc.. your printer really does seem to be the best/easiest out of the box and overall best value. The MAKE award was right on! [Read more…]

Be our guest at any of the Design 2 Part Show for free! To obtain free admission email: aaron@afinia.com Date City Location September 19 & 20 Akron, OH John S. Knight Center October 2 & 3 Long Beach, CA Long Beach Convention Center October 23 & 24 Portland, OR Portland Expo Center November 14 & 15 Raleigh, NC State Fair Exposition Center [Read more…]

World Maker Faire in New York New York Hall of Science, Queens, NY Sept. 29 & 30, 2012 H-Series 3D Printer Visit the Afinia Booth for your chance to WIN an H-Series 3D Printer or a Year Supply of Filament! [Read more…]