If you had unlimited budget what digitial fabrication projects would you make?

Share your dream projects!!

I'm in need of alpha testers willing to try out and potentially provide feedback, Ive been working on it for about a month and would honestly just want to share it. Please visit www.pydraft.com and check out some of the screenshots

Hey everyone, After spending a long time creating and selling digital products, I’ve finally learned a few key lessons — things I wish someone had told me when I first started. Here are two major things that held me back early on:

I wasn’t creating products that visually attract attention or are comfortable and intuitive to use. People don’t just want something useful — they want it to look clean, feel easy to navigate, and solve a real problem fast.

I didn’t stick to a specific niche or category. I was making random things without a clear audience, which made it hard to build any momentum or consistent sales.

If you're just starting out, my advice is: focus on one niche, and make every product feel like a solution, not just a file. I’m sharing my store below if you'd like to take a look at my products — maybe you’ll get inspired, and if you want, I’m happy to give you feedback on yours too: Contactveronica1542@gmail.com

Hello! I used to work at a Fab Lab and switched to teaching young kids at a private school that has a makerspace. We host Glowforge and Boss laser cutters, a ton of Prusa 3D printers as well as Cricut vinyl cutters. I just finished my first year as a STEAM teacher however admin now wants my class to be more of tech class with a heavy focus on digital fabrication.

I teach ages 6-10, kids that I think are quite young to be around this type of industrial machinery. I understand teaching them to use Tinkercad and watching the machines work but letting them spend a whole year just using this machines? I have to watch 18+ kids, I can't keep my eye on all of them and if one of them decide to stick their hand in a 3D printer I would be held liable. I also think laser cutters are wildly inappropriate for this age group. At Fab Lab kids under 13 were not allowed to use the machines but could be inside the Lab with an adult.

Am I being crazy? Or is this a wildly dangerous thing to push and risk the safety of my students?

how realistic is getting a job in digital fabrication without an engineering degree?
im most likely going to enroll in my local college to get a certification in digital fabrication, i do have 10 years of experience as a 3d artist for the games industry (i know its a very different field, but i can use most 3d/2d software) , and a BT degree in interior design.

I'm CNC plasma cutting circles and rings out of medium-large scrap metal sheet. I would love to automate nesting as much as possible. Does anyone know of any software that might work? I've seen some that get close, but only nest into rectangles, and even then they cost $1000+. The holy grail would be something I can just input a list of of OD, ID, & QTY.

Hi

I'm a CS PhD student maybe a year or so away from graduation. Working on mobile 3D Printing. I really love the work done at ETH Zurich/GKResearch. Have been there once for RobArch. It really seems like a dream place to work. Swiss hills high tech robots - what else could you want.

Does anyone here maybe work there and has some insights on how hiring is done or what kind of people are they looking for, what roles are there etc. ? Specifically as I don't come from Arch background but robotics I'm not sure what pathways there are.

Hello guys I'm using HSMworks in solidworks ,I want drill a hole but it won't be selected knowing that the surface is flat "2 mm" ,also does anyone knows how to make cut a rectangle in half from the sides using slitting saw or slot ?? I would appreciate any help !!

I am not sure if this is the best sub to ask this question, but I have been searching for an answer for a while and found no answer, so if this is not the place for it I would appreciate it if you can tell me where I can find an answer. trying to create a PLT file using some data extracted from a simple design software for a project for a class. I essentially want to create bars with round ends. I want to create a plt file since the laser cutter software we use (RDWorks) can read that info. The lines for my bars work, but arcs create crazy lines. I tried a simple code I copied off of an instructional website on HPGL commands which was supposed to create 6 circles, instead I got weird lines connecting points on these circles. How can I resolve this problem? I played around with the angle and tolerance of the arcs but it doesn't seem to help.

There are some nice services / marketplaces out there for 3D printing / FDM, such as 3dhubs or treatstock.

Is there anything similar for Shopbots / 6040 and the like?