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Community & accessibility · 2026-10-09
Seven organisations and 24 design briefs give makers practical accessibility problems to tackle. Could South African makers contribute something useful?
Read the story →Original illustration: PrintVeld (not a product photograph)
Printers & upgrades · 2026-10-09
First CORE One+ INDX conversion kits began shipping in August, while orders opened for complete Gen 2 machines with four or eight tools.
Read the story →Original illustration: PrintVeld (not a product photograph)
Industrial printing · 2026-10-09
A metre-wide build volume and heated chamber put large jigs, fixtures and inspection tools at the centre of Stratasys’s September announcement.
Read the story →Original illustration: PrintVeld (not a product photograph)Local suppliers. VAT-inclusive prices. Rand per kilogram.
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PRINTVELD FIELD NOTES / 01
Seven organisations and 24 design briefs give makers practical accessibility problems to tackle. Could South African makers contribute something useful?
PrintVeld · Published
MakerWorld’s 2026 accessibility challenge starts with a different question: whose everyday problem could a printable design solve? In its 15 September announcement, Bambu Lab described 24 briefs developed with seven organisations, with the challenge running from September to December 2026.
The partners include Makers Making Change, PrintLab and Make Good. Their involvement brings lived experience, user research and routes for sharing useful designs into a challenge that could otherwise become a contest for impressive-looking objects.
PrintVeld’s take: this is a promising direction for South African maker groups, schools and community workshops. A modest adaptation that someone actually uses can be a stronger contribution than a complicated print that solves an assumed problem. Start with a published brief, listen to the people it concerns and explain the limits of your prototype.
Which daily task would you most like to make easier through 3D printing? Share the problem in the forum, and invite the person who experiences it to help shape the design. The linked announcement explains the challenge and participating organisations.
Source: MakerWorld / Bambu Lab — accessibility challenge announcement
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THE MATERIALS DESK / 03
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