It's not easy getting that monkey off your back

I busted my extruder board over the weekend and am going through withdrawal symptoms. ¹²  The new parts won’t arrive for about a week yet and the shakes have started already.  However, I probably have the most ideas for designing printable things when it’s out of commission.  Here a few things I’d like to design and print:

• A travel tea set – with plates, tea cups, saucers, little spoons, sugar cup, sugar tongs,³ – hopefully designed in a way so that they all nest within one another or stack or can otherwise be connected in a compact portable fashion
• A travel pirate set – a little ship, cannons, pirate figurines, sharks, rowboats, treasure chests, anchors, sails
• Crayon molds – triangular crayon molds, molds in the shape of animals, fruit, or lego bricks
• Modular castle set – perhaps based on the modular dungeon set?

It seems like just about every day there’s something new being invented, designed, or uploaded to Thingiverse that I just can’t live without.  So, most of the time when I’m printing, I’m busy printing the truly amazing things other people are designing. ⁴

1. Photo courtesy of madaboutasia [↩]
2. Fear not gentle reader, if I broke it, I can probably fix it. [↩]
3. sugar cubes? [↩]
4. So, really, it’s your fault I’m not more productive… [↩]

A few weeks ago, we had a live broadcast of Widget building the 2000th MakerBot Cupcake CNC. We invited you to participate in this historic event by helping to name it. Thanks to all who submitted ideas.

We have a name! Introducing Gidget, the 2000th MakerBot Cupcake CNC. Come see Gidget at the NYC Maker Faire this weekend, printing alongside other MakerBots in our fully rocking Botfarm.

Come meet Gidget at our booth at Maker Faire, pick up a freshly printed charm from our Botfarm, check out the new MakerBot Automated Build Platform and Makerbot 3D Scanner, and prepare yourself for yet another exciting announcement!

Come see Gidget, our 2000th Cupcake CNC, at Maker Faire

Printable Turtles

I’ve noticed a trend at my neighborhood grocery store – cupcakes.  No pun or joke intended, they’ve really been carrying more and more cupcakes and of an increasing variety for the last year or so.  I like delicious baked treats as much as the next man, but really only used to seeing cupcakes in the bakery in time for holidays.

The most interesting thing I’ve noticed about the proliferation of cupcakes is cupcake toppers.  Little plastic designs, sometimes as recognizable cartoon characters but usually as animals or flowers.  What I like about twotimes Turtle cupcake topper is that it was designed as a cupcake topper to be made out of frosting and printed with a frostruder.

Why put a piece of plastic on a cupcake?  Why not just put the object itself directly on the cupcake, in frosting form?  No choking hazards, no wasted plastic, no rafts, and… edible turtles!¹

Edit: Twotimes’ photo of the fully printed Chocolate Turtle Cupcake Topper is TOO awesome not to include here:

Sweet sweet turtles

Okay, who is going to be the first to print a Harry Potter chocolate frog?

1. Actually, I like having a printable plastic turtle design too! [↩]