After being open for three short weeks, 3DPrinterOS has over 3000 users in 421 cities across the world. We have been lucky enough to have a very proactive group of testers who have been the catalysts for so many of the changes and improvements made within our platform. Justin Kelly with Mind 2 Matter has been one of our most helpful users and currently holds the number #1 dashboard spot with 16 days and 1 hour of printing time (and counting).
We've recently reached out to find out a little more about Justin, Mind-2-Matter, and some of the interesting projects he's been working on.
What is Mind-2-Matter?
"Mind 2 Matter is a full services 3d printing company. We go from napkin sketches to fulfilled kick starter campaigns and everything in the middle. Education, events, consulting, custom builds, beta testing, etc. We're partnered directly up with Type A Machines since 2012 as the services side of their business and have been one of their 3rd party beta testers since it was 4 employees. We work closely with them to develop new products and features as determined by our needs in the market place. Last year we had 70k commercial print hours.Some of the clients we work with include: Google, Cisco, Sun, Tesla, New Relic, Autodesk, Yahoo, MadeInSpace (NASA). Then there's the gang of kick starter kids we helped bring their idea to reality with proven prototypes. 3 different VR helmets, the Ipad 3d scanner, and various medical devices."
What's the coolest thing you've 3D printed?
"Wow.. that's a pretty hard one to answer. Probably the most unique use of 3d printing was for Andrew Johnstones wedding ring. Mr. Johnstone is the architect behind the massive sculpture "Tha Man" which is burned during the burning man festival. He's an artist of high praise and ideas and he came to us with an idea even he said was crazy. Long story short.. he acquired an honest to goodness, naturally fallen, Moonstone. He wanted us to model a hand holding this stone in the shape of a ring to engage his long term (and overdue for a proposal) girlfriend. I modeled the ring under his direction after reverse fitting the delicate piece of Moonstone. We printed it using prototype material from MadeSolid (now called Phoenix) on a Form1+ and cast it in silver in house (we also do metal and glass casting). It breached internet fame at over 700m views on Cnet's front page. From there it went around the world.. last we checked it had over 3 billion impressions.[caption id="attachment_1040" align="aligncenter" width="622"]
Moonstone engagement ring by Mind-2-Matter made with silver casted resin using Form1+ 3D printer[/caption]"The coolest thing we've made STRICTLY from 3d printed material was a series of helmets for a Gwar like rock band "The Zoopy Monsters". These masks are roughly 100 hours of printing each. They comprise of 2-6 pieces depending. It was a 5 month process that is ongoing as we develop this year's newer; and audio enabled helmets."
Their request was simple "It has to look space age... and take a beer bottle to the face... repeatedly." Mission accomplished!
What printers do you use at Mind-2-Matter?
We use the best printer for the job. We own/operate:TypeA Series 1 2013 TypeA Series 1 2014Taz 4F100LForm1+Little Rper (previously lil dlpr/ little dipper on kickstarter) - unreleasedHulk - home brew 1 meter cubed printerWise Print Tek Start I'sWise Print Tek Start II's
Where do you see the future of 3D printing?
"Our future is in the parts on demand market. With 50 printers under our control now and 13,000 sq ft of warehouse space, we imagine a world where there is not warehouse of products just a warehouse of printers making products people want. For example, Amazon put out the bid for a $25k robot picking arm... we upped that ante to $30k. No takers yet. Beyond that we help artist bridge the gap from concept to creation which is a very rewarding task."Thanks to Justin for sharing these awesome projects. Check out the Mind 2 Matter website or follow them on Facebook to see what Justin and his team will make next!
