Steampunk Vespa Scooter by Cris Cofitis

Pulsar Project Vespa Steampunk Scooter

This steampunk'ed Vespa scooter is the creation of Greek designer, Cris Cofitis, of Pulsar Project. The Damn Geeky blog has an extensive photo gallery of the scooter.

Take a look here at Pulsar Project to see other scooters and motorcycles designed by Cofitis, including the insane custom he calls "Chimera," which was an entry into the AMD bike build at the Sturgis 2011 rally.

Tip of the hat to the Design You Trust blog... we first saw the Vespa at their Pinterest board.

3D Printing Plays a Big Role in New Imperia GP Roadster Development

Imperia GP Roadster Hybrid Car

The classic Imperia marque is being resurrected in Belgium with the development of a unique hybrid-powered retro-coupe. 3D printing technology plays a big role in its development and manufacture.

Imperia Automobiles was formed in 2009 to bring to market hybrid car technologies developed by Green Propulsion, a Belgian automotive R&D firm that specializes in electric and hybrid vehicles.

The roadster's hybrid powertrain consists of a 200hp, 1.6liter gasoline engine and a 150hp electric motor.

For the roadster's drivetrain components, Imperia designers partnered with Voxeljet, a 3D printing services company in Germany, and SICTA, a French aluminum foundry. Voxeljet prints sandcasting moulds which are then sent on to the SICTA foundry.

Tip of the hat to the 3ders blog.

The Wooden "Sandwichbike" Bicycle from PedalFactory

The Sandwichbike from The Pedalfactory

The Pedalfactory is an Amsterdam-based design firm with a mission to design and sell unique bicycles. This new offering, the wooden-framed "Sandwichbike," is certainly that.

The Sandwichbike is the brainchild of industrial designer Basten Leijh of Bleijh Industrial Design Studio. Basten designed and built the first Sandwichbike concept as an entry in the 2006 International Bicycle Design Competition (IBDC), an annual industry event held in Taiwan.

Sandwichbike Packed for Shipment

The bike's frame is constructed from two flat plates of beech plywood tied together by machined aluminum tubes. The forks are also beech plywood. The design of the bike allows it to be shipped flat in a box, complete with all components and the tools required for assembly by the buyer at home.

The Pedalfactory has created a website specifically for the Sandwichbike. Buyers can order a bike online.  The first production run began shipping in Europe this month; international shipping will commence in January.

Tip of the hat to Dezeen blog, which featured the Sandwichbike in a post this month.

World's First 3D-Printed Metal Gun from Solid Concepts

Printed Metal Handgun from Solid Concepts

From the Dezeen design blog comes news of this 3D-printed gun from Solid Concepts, an additive manufacturing firm based in Southern California.

A post at the Solid Concepts blog describes the pistol and the method of its construction in more detail. It is a 45ACP model based on the classic Colt 1911 45caliber (the design of which is in the public domain). A Direct Metal Selective Laser Sintering (DMSLS) process was used to print the more than 30 parts required in stainless steel and Inconel 625. The handgrips, which are seen at the bottom left of the picture here, were printed in plastic.

Solid Concepts VP Kent Firestone says that the goal of this exercise was to prove that the DMSLS technology has advanced to the point now that it can create components that are very accurate and very strong, that the process is ready for mainstream manufacturing use... Regarding the first point, Firestone says that no finish machining was used on any part, only some hand finishing. With respect to the second point, he notes that each time the gun is fired the barrel experiences a pressure of 20,000 psi.

The folks at Solid Concepts have run more that 1,000 rounds through the gun now. The video below was made to document their 500 round endurance test. You can see more videos from Solid Concepts at the Solid Concepts YouTube channel, including one about the DMSLS printing process.

Tip of the hat to the Dezeen blog, where we first saw the gun.

Art Donovan's Extraordinary Steampunk Lamps & Illuminations

Art Donovan "Tesla" Wall Lamp

Art Donovan is an extraordinarily talented designer with a flair for steampunk aesthetics. He brings these talents and sensibilities to bear on the design and fabrication of incredibly detailed and beautifully constructed lamps, lights, clocks, and mechanisms. Donovan is also a leading chronicler of the steampunk subculture; in a post last year we featured the first edition his book, The Art of Steampunk, which featured not only his work, but that of other excellent artists and craftsmen in the steampunk scene (a revised second edition was published this past summer, see our Amazon link below).

Steampunk Tendencies Blog

Crossbow Archer from SteampunkTendencies.com

SteampunkTendencies, a great big photoblog for steampunk art, costumes, mechanisms, clockworks, lamps, and mods.

The OP-1 Music Synthesizer from Teenage Engineering

OP-1 Portable Synthesizer from Teenage Engineering

While preparing the our previous post about The Synthesizer Book blog, we found a post there about the OP-1 synth from Teenage Engineering. Looked interesting, so we did a bit of research and found, for example, this rave review in the "Cool Tools" category at Boing Boing. The author claims it's easy and fun to use, with a very intuitive color-based interface. He says that although at may look like a toy at first glance, he's recently produced a movie soundtrack and used the OP-1 for many of the sound effects he needed.

Teenage Engineering occasionally adds new capabilities and features to the OP-1's synthesis engines. The user can upload these via its PC/Mac interface. The OP-1 also contains a microphone for recording voice and sampling audio. It also contains an FM radio, so the user can sample audio from radio broadcasts.

There is said to be an extensive world-wide users community. For example, the OhPeeWon.com site is an independent site created by OP-1 enthusiasts.

The Synthesizer Book, a Blog About Synths & Electronic Music

Richard Martinez shares his passion for all things synthesizer at his blog, The Synthesizer Book. If you share his passion for synthesizers and electronic music, check it out. You can also follow him at his SynthesizerBook Twitter account.

"Cafe Racers Today" Motorcycle Blog

Vintage-Styled Honda CB350 Featured at Cafe Racers Today

Today we found another cool blog that focuses on cafe racers, Cafe Racers Today blog at tumblr. The Honda CB350 from Vintage Customs, pictured to the left, is a fine example of the bikes you'll find there. Check it out.

Sucker Punch Sallys Thruxton II Cafe Racer

Sucker Punch Thruxton II

Last year we featured a post about the Sucker Punch Sally's Triumph Thruxton cafe racer. (That build was commissioned by Fender Guitars.) We recently found this new Sucker Punch Triumph Thruxton custom at The Bullitt Blog.

Photo Credit: The Bullitt Blog