So... apparently scorpions glow under UV lights. Who knew?

Some things are just better in glow in the dark plastic than others.

10.  Things tagged with jewelery¹²

Basically any kind of jewelery would be better if it glowed in the dark.

9.  Firefly bracelet by neurothing

I suppose this is technically included as jewelery – but it deserves a spot of its because it’s a firefly.  I like fireflies.

8.  Spider Plus Ring by builttospec

There are few things more Halloweeny than a spider.  Unless you’re talking about a spider ring. 

7.  Glasses by langfordw

Imagine – glasses that make you see even better – without any change to your prescription!

6. Clip on reading LED by Conrad2468

You’ve only got the power of one little button battery.  If you’re doing something critical, say disarming a bomb with your light duty pliers, and the battery goes out.  Well, if you have Conrad2468′s clip on reading LED, you’ve got a few more precious seconds.

5.  Printable Key Rings by catarina

Anything that makes keys easier to find is a good thing.

4.  Things tagged with dock

Shave precious seconds off your response time to that late night phone call with a glow in the dark phone dock.

3.  Arc reactor prop with led light by dugdug22

This isn’t printable – yet.  When someone creates a printable version, I’m all over that.

2.  Smart Bra Clips by 2ROBOTGUY

This just makes sense.

1.  Skull Throwie by Orion

A skull that you are supposed to throw.  That uses LED’s and magnets.  What could be better?  Maybe if it glowed in the dark.

(Link to glow-in-the-dark ABS in the MakerBot store)

1. Don’t put a UV on a scorpion.  That will hurt it. [↩]
2. Photo courtesy of furryscaly [↩]

MakerBot Operators are not afraid to hack their bots. This machine out of the Robots and Dinosaurs hackerspace appears to use the relay component in a 200-in-one kit instead of a relay board. Bonus points for the green tape. More bonus points for the Spaghetti Monster themed MakerBot decorations!

Robots and Unicorns - natural allies

Here are some potential uses I came up with for the MakerBot Unicorn Pen Plotter.^1 2 Let’s get the usual and obvious stuff out of the way first:³

• Drawing small things, using a pen or pencil
• Small swivel blade for cutting things
• Drawing with a resist-pen to create circuit boards

So, what else can we do with a Unicorn?

• Painting things, with a small paintbrush
• Perforating paper, cardstock, cardboard, or fruit roll-ups
• Applying adhesive with a gluestick
• Bleach with a bleach pen
• Mini-CNC router or etching with a dremel
• Scoring glass with a diamond blade
• Install a small wooden rake for an automated mini-Zen garden
• And, the worst idea of the bunch, a CNC tattoo gun (seriously, you shouldn’t try this)

Let’s suppose you had a MakerBot Unicorn at your disposal.  What would you do with it?

1. Mind, I have some pretty BAD ideas sometimes [↩]
2. Photo courtesy of interpunct [↩]
3. Besides being a blog post about various ways to use the MakerBot Unicorn, the post title “Unicorn Variations” refers to a collection of short stories by Roger Zelazny.  The story behind the story is particularly interesting, and a testament to what can be accomplished if you try out silly ideas now and then. [↩]

Last night we launched beautiful LED strips to light up your MakerBot and MakerBot Glow in the Dark ABS Plastic and today we’re introducing two more items for your bot. The first is the noise reducing Cork Gasket Pack. Install these gaskets on your MakerBot to reduce the vibration caused by the stepper motors.

The second thing we have for your MakerBotting pleasure is the electronics stacking Relay Board Mount Kit! This makes it so that you can mount your relay board in a really aesthetically pleasing way!

1 meter LED Stripes are the single best way to make your MakerBot look awesome! At MakerBot, LEDs are a core value. With years of experience at raves, we can say that these 1 Meter LED strips are 1000000% awesome.

LED Strips come in really bright red, blue, yellow, green, and soft white!

For an added bonus they’re adhesive backed flexible circuits, so no construction is required and they’ll stick pretty much anywhere! This is the best way to pimp your MakerBot and make the interior look great. As an added bonus, these LEDs make pictures you take of the inside your MakerBot look great. Buy now and make your MakerBot 1000000% more awesome.

Glow in the Dark ABS Filament!

We had to wait until night to make this announcement, it’s only appropriate!  Glow in the Dark MakerBot ABS Plastic. This is a wonderful material and we’ve got it just in time for you to make things for Halloween! You can make things and then they will glow in the dark! Get yours now and make things that you’ll be able to see when the sun is down and the lights are out!

You asked for them, you get them! Nothing is too good for you guys. Videos are courtesy of lrodriguezvideo.

Thing-O-Matic from nearly every angle

Thing-O-Matic startup routine

Thing-O-Matic printing

Is that a clear acrylic internal floor? That’s pretty nifty. I could see myself installing some LED’s down there.

Door chock from Lt. Jason Rivera Rescue Co. 1 Stamford, CT Fire Rescue Dept

Just about every firefighter keeps slightly different gear on their person while fighting fires.  Interestingly, their gear usually includes equipment modified by the firefighter themselves, improvised ways to carry equipment, and homemade tools like the “door chocks” above.  These improvised door chocks can be tossed between a door and it’s frame, over the hinge to keep it open as the firefighter advances through an area in a building.

The website VentEnterSearch.com has several sections devoted to training props, pictures showing what some firefighters carry on their person, and lots of tips for helping firefighters in the field – basically firefighter hacks.  There are some pretty ingenious ideas in those pages.

What can you think of that could help out our firefighters in the field?

Behold! The Thing-O-Matic!

Actually, I don’t think anyone was afraid to ask.    With the lead up to this last weekend’s Maker Faire in New York there was a lot of speculation and curiosity about the new Thing-O-Matic. ¹  After combing through the comments I put together a pretty big list of answers to your questions.

First, some tech specs on the Thing-O-Matic:²

• Interface: Print through USB or print from SD card
• Size: 300 x 300 x 410 mm (12″ W x 12″ D x 16″ H)
• Build Area: 96 x 108 mm
• Build Height: 115 mm
• Generation 4 Electronics
  • Supports up to 5 stepper drivers (XYZ + A/B)
  • Connect over USB (no more FTDI cable)
  • Optional LCD interface support (Not included)
  • Full mechanical endstop support
  • High current mosfets to drive heated build platform and extruder heater
  • Thermocouple support for more accurate temperature sensing
• Standard ATX power supply
• Works with both 110v and 220v power
• Theoretical XY Positioning resolution of 0.02mm (20 microns or 0.0008″)
• Theoretical XY Maximum Feedrate of up to 5000mm/minute (roughly 200 IPM)
• Theoretical Z Positioning resolution of 0.005mm (5 microns / or 0.0002″)
• Theoretical Z Positioning Feedrate of up to 1000mm/minutes (roughly 40 IPM)
• Capable of printing with ABS and PLA

And, your questions:

@James Taylor asked, “Any idea when you will be posting the bits in SVN?”

Bre: Yup, we’ll release them when we ship.

@Rob asked, “Does it ship with any plastic?  Is it compatible with the Frostruder MK2 and Unicorn?  Will it work fine with the filament spindle box?”

Bre: The Thing-O-Matic will ship include 1 pound of natural ABS and will be completely compatible with the Frostruder MK2 and Unicorn.  The Thing-O-Matic was designed to work with the filament spindle box and even has integrated holes to run the tube through the machine in the back.

Also, check out some more awesome photos of the Thing-O-Matic taken at the New York Maker Faire by I, Dioloid!

Ask your questions in the comment below and we’ll do our best to get them answered.

1. Photo courtesy of I, Dioloid [↩]
2. Mmmm…  Delicious stats… [↩]

What’s that? You absolutely, positively MUST have videos of the MakerBot Unicorn in action? Well, you’re in luck – Matt Griffin has come to our rescue! He’s put together several videos of this majestic creature in action doing some amazing things!

MakerBot Unicorn Pen Plotter: Unicorn Logo print (single)

MakerBot Unicorn: Unicorn Logo “Print-to-Pad” derivative

MakerBot Unicorn Pen Plotter: Printing a Sticker

MakerBot Unicorn Pen Plotter: Trace from Video Frame

Thanks Matt!