Steampunk Boots for Men

Plated Men's Steampunk Boots

We've put up posts about cool steampunk boots for women, now here's one for the men.

       

RoBo 3D Low Cost, Open Source 3D Printer on Kickstarter

RoBo3D Printer

This low-cost, open source 3D printer from RoBo 3D is the latest, hottest 3D printer Kickstarter project: With three days left to go at the time of this posting, 919 backers have committed almost $467,000, well over the target funding level of $49,000.

The base model prints with PLA (Poly Lactic Acid) biodegradable plastic, the same material that the MakerBot Replicator 2 uses. PLA has a reputation as the easiest 3D printing material to work, hence the best material for the novice to learn with. The base model is $520. An upgraded version for an additional $99 will also print in ABS, which is much tougher and stronger than PLA. The print volume is 10"x10"x8" (800cu. in.), nearly twice the volume of the Replicator 2.

At this low price point, a quarter of the cost of the Replicator 2, the RoBo 3D promises to bring 3D printing home to many more of us. Check out the Kickstarter page here for more info... there is still time to subscribe.

Update: The RoBo3D is now fully funded with 1,251 backers committing just under $650K!

Popular Vintage Gothic Steampunk Boots from Metropolis

Metropolis Knee High Lace-Up Steampunk Boots

These Metropolis goth/steampunk boots from Hades Footwear have been an amazingly popular item here at the Cool Stuff We Like blog... we've had a surprising number of pairs ordered through our Amazon store links.

If you've ordered a pair through us, or otherwise own a pair, please drop us a comment and tell us what you think of their quality and finish, and let us know what kind of comments about them --- compliments or otherwise ---you've gotten from friends and/or strangers.

And to those of you have purchased them through our links, you have our thanks.




      

Olaf Diegel's 3D Printed Guitars are Amazing

The 3D Systems "Americana" 3D Printed Guitar

I just discovered this 3D printing news site, 3ders.org. Lot of great content there. If you've got an interest in 3D printing, definitely visit and bookmark this site. That led me to the subject of high-quality, 3D printed guitars.

The Americana 3D printed guitar you see pictured here was designed by renowned guitar designer Olaf Diegel. You can see more of his 3D printed guitars and buy one here at Cubify. You can even work with Diegel to get a unique custom guitar to your own design and taste... To build, unique, personalized products, isn't that an aspect of the promise of 3D printing? Well, that has been realized in this case.

You are probably skeptical about the tone and sound quality of printed guitar... I was, too, until I listened to Olaf Diegel demonstrate his printed guitars in the video below. He begins with some riffs on a standard Fender Stratocaster as a reference, then proceeds to play a couple of his printed guitars.... I was amazed. Check it out.

Vanilla Bicycles, Handcrafted in Portland

Vanilla Bicycles "Randonee" Model

The folks at Vanilla Bicycles in Portland, OR described themselves as a collaborative community of framebuilders, painters, wood, leather and metal workers, and photographers. At the center of this community is owner, designer, framebuilder Sacha White, who's been building bicycles since 1999.

Check out their elegant handcrafted bicycles, which are constructed with high-tech steel tubing silver-soldered, for strength, to beautiful Henry James investment-cast lugs.

Also check out the larger community of bike builders, craftsmen, artisans, and racers that the crew at Vanilla works and socializes with at their Community page. You will see there an ethic of collaboration and sharing that is very much a part of the culture of Portland's creatives, which is celebrated in Charles Heying's book, Brew to Bikes (see the Amazon link to below).

Also check out the bicycling apparel and bicycle-themed t-shirts and hats that feature their stylish logo at the Vanilla online boutique.

MakerBot Opens 3D Printing Store in Manhattan

MakerBot Replicator 2 3D Printer

I just found this Businessweek article about the 3D printing retail store that MakerBot has recently opened in Manhattan. Customers can purchase 3D printed items and see the new Replicator 2, pictured to the left here, in action.

The store features the MakerBot 3D Photo Booth... step in and it creates a 3D model of your face from a series of 2D photos, which you can then have printed to scale there in the store.

I am assuming that customers can bring in their own design files and have them printed there, though that's not explicitly stated in the article or at the MakerBot website.

Check out the Replicator 2 in action in the video embedded below.

Benji's Cafe Racers Blog

BCR Customer's 1975 CB550 Cafe Racer

Back in April we put up a post about cafe racer builder Benji Flpprboi (yes, that is his name), founder, designer, and builder of Benji's Cafe Racers (BCR) in Edison, NJ. I just went back today to take a look at his latest, and found a pic of a customer's bike you see to the left, a a very clean lime-green 1975 Honda CB550.

Benji is also blogging fairly regularly, and has put up a lot of cool stuff since the time of our original post... check out his blog.

"Waiting for the Guns" by Maigret Jnr

Maigret Jnr

The crew at Islands & Rivers in the UK filmed this music video for Maigret Jnr's beautiful, evocative song, Waiting for the Guns.

Waiting for the Guns is available for download and on vinyl from Make Mine Records. The 7" EP vinyl includes three other Maigret Jnr songs.

We've embedded the YouTube video below. Give it a listen.