We're back after a Monday off, so today we're covering two weeks at once. And we've got a standout story that's pure gold for resin printers: MIT has invented reusable supports that dissolve with ultrasound. Plus: China is exporting printers at a breakneck pace, someone has printed airless bike tires that actually work, a printed lattice that hides objects from infrared, and a Spanish company printing designer chairs from recycled plastic. Let's go. 🔥
🔥 Featured
🧪 MIT invents reusable resin supports that dissolve with ultrasound
Illustrative image generated with AI.
If you print in resin, you're going to love this. A team at MIT has tackled head-on the two biggest pain points of MSLA printing: manually removing supports — that tedious process that almost always leaves marks and ruins the surface finish — and plastic waste, since supports go straight in the bin once they've done their job.
The solution is one of those that makes you think, "how has nobody thought of this before?" Instead of printing the support directly attached to the part, they print a thin water-soluble interface right at the tip of each support, between the support and the part. Once the print is done, everything goes into a water bath and high-frequency ultrasonic waves are applied: the interface dissolves, the part releases with minimal force, and — here's the magic — the supports remain intact and can be reused.
How many times? According to the paper, they reused the same set of supports across four print cycles with no observable change in performance or release behavior. And this isn't a lab experiment with a tiny test piece: they demonstrated batch production of several dozen miniatures released all at once, a printed chain already assembled, and even a dental aligner on supports shaped to its contour. Real-world use cases, in other words.
What's most exciting is where this points: the researchers themselves talk about a future of resin printing that is "fully automated and hands-free," where the machine prints, releases, and reuses without you ever having to wrestle with pliers or generate mountains of waste. It fits perfectly with the cleaner, more sustainable resin direction we've been tracking since the chemistry that took the heat out of volumetric printing back in #016. The resin of the future will be less messy to clean up and less harmful to the environment. We're here for it. Read the full story at 3DPrint.com →
💵 Industry
🐉 China exported 3.6 million 3D printers in six months
Illustrative image generated with AI.
Brace yourself for this number. According to a report based on data from China's General Administration of Customs, Chinese manufacturers exported 3.616 billion 3D printers in the first half of 2026 alone — and that's not counting units sold domestically. That's a pace of roughly 7.2 million machines per year, nearly double the previous year (+90%).
Driving this surge are what the industry calls "the Dragons": Bambu Lab, Creality, Elegoo, Snapmaker, and Anycubic. These are the same names you see over and over in every maker community, and now we have the numbers to confirm what we already suspected: the vast majority of desktop 3D printers worldwide come from a handful of Chinese companies.
What does this mean for you? The same thing we discussed in the market report in issue #017: more volume, more competition, and more downward pressure on prices. The reason you can get a capable machine for little money today is this massive-scale production war. Makers are thrilled; Western manufacturers are sweating. Read the full analysis on Fabbaloo →
🎨 Hobby
🚵 3D Printed Airless TPU Bike Tires That Actually Work
AI-generated illustrative image.
This is the maker content we live for. The creator behind the Berm Peak channel got fed up with flat tires on the mountain bike trail and decided to tackle the problem head-on: 3D printing his own airless tires in TPU. After several iterations, he actually pulled it off.
The key to the design is an S-shaped flexible lattice pattern between the tread and the rim, which acts as a built-in suspension system, giving the tire just the right amount of flex without any air. Since a standard FDM printer can't print a full bike tire in one piece, he printed it in sections that attach to the rim via a separate interface. The result holds up to real trail riding — no more worrying about thorns leaving you stranded.
Is this a market-ready product? No, it's a proof of concept from a seriously clever tinkerer. But it's exactly the kind of project we love: taking a regular printer and a spool of TPU — the kind many of you already have sitting around — and solving a real-world problem. If you've been looking for an excuse to try TPU, here it is. Check out the project on Hackaday →
🤖 WTF Science
🌡️ A 3D Printed Lattice That Hides Objects from Infrared Cameras
Pure WTF science. Engineers from the University of Illinois and the Technical University of Denmark have developed the world's first omnidirectional 3D printed "thermal invisibility cloak." In plain English? An object wrapped in it becomes invisible to infrared cameras, no matter which direction the heat is coming from.
The secret lies in the structure: a laser-sintered aluminum lattice (with details down to 0.5 mm) filled with silicone, engineered to redirect heat flow around an object rather than through it. Researchers tested it on complex geometries, including head-shaped forms. Professor Shelly Zhang puts it best: a true thermal cloak must work regardless of where the heat comes from — and theirs can hide a complex 3D object from heat coming in from virtually any direction.
The potential applications they envision — protecting sensors, batteries, and electronics from heat, advanced thermal management — are still theoretical rather than shelf-ready products. But the concept of "sculpting heat flow" using a simple printed lattice is the kind of breakthrough that reminds you just how far this technology can go. The same 3D printing you use for miniatures, now redirecting heat like water around a stone. Read the full story at the University of Illinois →
🧪 Materials
🪑 A Spanish Company Is 3D Printing Designer Chairs from Recycled Plastic
We're closing on a homegrown high note. Spanish brand Nagami, based in Ávila, has unveiled the Echo chair in collaboration with ZHA (the studio that carries on Zaha Hadid's legacy): a large-format extrusion-printed design piece, produced as a single continuous structure, using recycled PETG sourced from industrial plastic waste — including single-use medical plastics.
Two things make this one stand out. First, the Spanish angle: it's not every day that a company from Ávila shares headlines with world-renowned architecture studios thanks to its printing technology. Second, the circular economy story: turning plastic waste into designer furniture priced between €669 and €1,231 depending on colorway, made to order so there's no excess stock sitting around.
It's the same sustainability mindset we saw in the MIT feature: less waste, more reuse. 3D printing isn't just for prototypes and miniatures — it's a tool for rethinking how everyday objects are made. And the fact that part of that conversation is happening in Spain? That's something worth celebrating. Read the full story on VoxelMatters →
💬 Our Take This Fortnight
Two weeks that paint a pretty clear picture of where things stand. On one hand, the industry is scaling fast and hard: China is exporting printers at a pace that's reshaping the entire market. On the other, the real innovation is happening in materials and processes — reusable supports, heat-redirecting lattices, recycled plastic turned into premium design. Less "my printer is faster than yours," more "what can I actually make with it, and what am I feeding it."
For resin printers specifically, the MIT highlight is a promising sign: the future of our hobby is cleaner, more automated, and less wasteful. In the meantime, we're holding it down in the trenches: resin, filaments, paint, free tools, and this newsletter every Monday. 💪
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
Can supports be reused in resin printing?
With standard methods, no — supports are printed directly attached to the part, removed by hand, and discarded. A new MIT technique changes this by printing a water-soluble interface between the support and the part; when ultrasonic waves are applied in a water bath, the interface dissolves, the part releases with minimal force, and the support remains intact for reuse. In testing, supports were reused across four cycles with no degradation. For now, this is research, not a commercial product.
Why are Chinese 3D printers so cheap?
Scale and competition. Chinese manufacturers exported 3.6 million printers in the first half of 2026 alone — nearly double the previous year. Brands like Bambu Lab, Creality, Elegoo, Anycubic, and Snapmaker produce at massive volume and compete aggressively with each other, driving prices down while pushing entry-level machine specs higher year after year.
Can you print TPU on a standard 3D printer?
Yes — most modern FDM printers can handle TPU (a rubber-like flexible filament), though it prints best at slower speeds, with well-dried filament, and ideally through a direct drive extruder. TPU is perfect for parts that need to flex or absorb impact, such as cases, gaskets, wheels, and dampeners. That versatility is what makes projects like home-printed airless bike tires possible.
Is 3D printing sustainable?
It can be, and it's getting there. While the process does generate waste — supports, purge material, failed prints — solutions are emerging: reusable supports like the MIT approach, reformulated lower-toxicity resins, and recycled plastics like the recycled PETG used in Nagami's Echo chair. On top of that, printing on demand eliminates excess inventory, and local production cuts down on shipping. The key is recycling waste responsibly, properly curing and disposing of resin, and choosing recycled materials whenever possible.