Shapeways Files for Bankruptcy

That&#x27;s a shame, but there&#x27;s heavy competition from companies like PCBWay, I suppose.<p>Incidentally, I read it the title like Shapeways provided some files to somehow 3d print bankruptcy. I&#x27;m not sure why.

Here is a personal anecdote that I cannot help but extrapolate on this sad day:<p>Back in 2016 I made an impossible to get replacement part [0] for the Breville BCG800XL SmartGrinder and sold it through ShapeWays. It paid for all my coffee up until ~2022 when another company popped up and began selling an injection molded copy of my part on Amazon, Walmart, etc. ShapeWays&#x27; marketplace always let you easily see the top sellers in each category. I somewhat wonder if outside firms simply caught on, bought one of each, copied it, and made an injection mold to mass produce everything cheaply. This is great for the consumer but I have no idea how ShapeWays could have defended against it. I am thankful it lasted the few years it did. 3D printing was a fun way to make a little while helping folks keep their stuff out of the landfill.<p>[0] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.ifixit.com&#x2F;Guide&#x2F;BCG800XL+Grinder+Jamming+due+to+Worn+Impeller&#x2F;62905" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.ifixit.com&#x2F;Guide&#x2F;BCG800XL+Grinder+Jamming+due+to...</a>

&gt; but we’d be surprised if the rise of similar services in China<p>Can someone list those? As someone who has no space for 3D printer this would be interesting to check out.

oh what a shame to see them go!<p>We just made our London based 3D printers and CNC machines at hello@factory.london in a similar offering (much smaller, early days!)<p>If you have regular &quot;making needs&quot; (printing, CNC, electronics) it would be great to talk to you, our processes aren&#x27;t defined yet and we can be very flexible to accommodate you.

Damn. I used to order metal parts from them. It was nice quality and far cheaper than <i>owning a metal printer</i>