Welcome to our Blog

More than a Blog, A Place to Learn, Share, and Laugh a Bit

We started an email newsletter back in 2002 as “The Focus.” We kept that up for some time and then made the plunge into blogging around 2008. Over the years, thousands of students and engineers from around the world have told us that our blog is an invaluable tool to them. If you can’t find what you are looking for, don’t hesitate to contact us.

How to attach two small metal baskets to each other, to hold a large 3D printed part inside a Support Cleaning Apparatus tank.

How to Sink (on Purpose!) Your Floating 3DPrinted Parts (SCA Tank Tricks and Tips)

Ever print a filament-based part with soluble supports, that just wants to float in your tank? By tank, I mean the Support Cleaning Apparatus (SCA) tank offered by Stratasys that dissolves away suppo...

Set,Of,Ice,Cream,Scoops,Of,Different,Colors,And,Flavours

Choosing a 3D Printing Material for its Temperature-Handling Capabilities

It used to be, if you were thinking of 3D printing a polymer part, you’d select your material by considering several of the classic mechanical factors - ultimate tensile strength, elongation at...

Photo showing seven 3D printed polymer parts that demonstrate Stratasys equipment capabilities for creating small, colorful and intricate models for marketing communications.

How 3D Printing Supports Your Marketing Efforts

Problem: Your higher-ups require you to show photos of several new products in your marketing-communications efforts, so they can start selling hundreds or thousands. Or, they want you to show th...

Bogi Lateiner (Girl Gang Garage) and Anne Pauley (Google) standing in front of the Iron Maven custom car-rebuild at SEMA 2022. (Image courtesy Anne Pauley.)

Girl Gang Garage’s Iron Maven Debuts with 3D Printed Parts

Girl Gang Garage’s Iron Maven custom car-rebuild project, combining the body of a 1961 Volvo PV544 with the chassis, hybrid drivetrain and modern electronics of a 2019 Volvo S60 T8 Polestar Enginee...

3D Printed puzzle including printed replacement piece created by 3D scanning.

Reverse Engineering Can Take Multiple Paths

Oh, no – my favorite Arizona PADT puzzle is missing a piece!! What can I do to recreate the Phoenix/Tucson part? Luckily, I have access to reverse engineering tools with our ZEISS 3D scanning ...

Stratasys filament canisters can now be loaded with Validated and Open Materials. (Image courtesy Stratasys)

Opening up the Stratasys World of Additive Manufacturing Materials

Stratasys Fortus 450mc FDM 3D printer, which now offers an OpenAM license option for editing more material build parameters - especially for third-party filaments. (Image courtesy Stratasys) For y...

Five Versatile Resins for Stratasys Origin 3D Printing

Here at PADT I’ve had the chance to operate Origin resin DLP printers from Stratasys for more than a year, and they have rapidly become my new favorite systems. Parts printed with this “Programma...

3D printed Tourbillon 3-axis clock mechanism, assembled at PADT Inc., Tempe AZ

Three-Axis 3D Printed Tourbillon Clock – Now Ticking Away at PADT

A year ago we highlighted the beginnings of an unusual project undertaken by PADT’s Senior 3D Printing Service Technician, Justin Baxter, in the post Three Dimensions of Time, featuring an enlarged...

Car Mechanic Bogi Latiener is seen through the sunroof opening of the Iron Maven custom build car project

Girl Gang Garage: Iron Maven Custom Car Build and 3D Printing Update

We figured this would happen, but it’s still pretty cool to hear Bogi Lateiner of MotortrendTV fame talk about 3D printing: “Total game changer! I’m SO on board.” Time for a major upd...

Technology Behind the Tempe AZ 3D Printed House – a Habitat for Humanity First

3D Printed house in Tempe Arizona, by Habitat for Humanity Central Arizona. (Image courtesy PERI 3D Construction Inc.) You’ve seen photos of 3D printed concrete structures taking shape around th...