MakerBot Industries

Engineer Nick Starno was working with some test plastics today and needed to open a filament spool box. Luckily, there happened to be a plastic wrench within reach – made by one of our own MakerBots!

MakerBot Industries

Customer Support Technician

This position is in the heart of the action of a growing start-up and demands a person who wants to work hard, has patience, technical knowledge and writing skills. You’ve got fires to put out, questions to answer, forums to surf and infrastructure to implement all the time.

You’ll be interfacing with R&D to learn about next weeks’ product launch, when marketing posts to the blog and traffic goes crazy.   Emails start pouring in.  The CEO brings a touring reporter to your desk and asks to look at our software.  You’ve already got it open, because you just printed out a new derivative model of the common cold virus from Thingiverse on prototype plastics.  Sounds like an average day to me.

You’ll be responsible for eloquently representing a growing DIY 3D printer and technology company to it’s customers directly.  Via email, on the phone, or in person.  You’ll  help them solve their technical challenges, sooth their nerves, and reinforce our brand.  It’s a challenge, but it’s a dynamic, fun one.   The person best suited for this position is a creative at heart with a mind for technical problem solving, and strong interpersonal writing skills.

We need you to answer emails but you should also be proficient and comfortable with Mac, PC, and Linux operating systems, design/editing softwares, cameras, and the creative process.  The office tools we use most of the time should be a no-brainer.  Current MakerBot Operators preferred, but not a requirement.  If you’ve had experience with DIY technology, that could be very helpful. You will be processing orders, so an interest in participating directly in a multifaceted online store is a final requirement.  Full time, on-site only.

Desire to offer revolutionary technologies and change the world a plus.

Help democratize manufacturing and establish personal fabrication as a household phrase. Use your initiative to increase awesome.

Brooklyn.  Easy access to subway.

http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/tch/1992670148.html

Chooch's Pfierce Z-axis extenders

Chooch is the current record holder for the MakerBot Hall of Fame Tallest Print with his print of the Sears Tower.¹ He’s been kind enough to share his designs for a Z axis extender with everyone. ^2 34

One of the most common questions and concerns about a MakerBot relate to the build volume.   I would tend to doubt most people ever find the build volume is much of a constraint. The larger an object is, the longer it takes to print. At a certain point it just makes more sense to use custom plastic parts mixed in with stock parts – pieces of wood, metal, or other cut pieces of plastic.

Chooch’s solution for more Z axis room is simple and elegant.  Having seen this, I would think there are ways to extend the X and Y axes slightly.  Then again, if more build area is what you require, there’s no reason you couldn’t just build a whole new printer out of MakerBot parts.  There’s no special magic to the MakerBot design.  If you had access to a laser cutter or wanted to cut the parts out of large sheets of plywood, you could build a Cupcake CNC ten times the size of a standard model – and still use a stock MK5 and electronics.

So, how are you going to hack your ‘bot?  Are you going to try for a height record?

1. You should see the list of scrapped blog post titles lying on the cutting room floor.  Most would not have been appropriate for a family blog. [↩]
2. And all it took was a minimum of cajoling. [↩]
3. I find it hilarious that anyone would think *I* have the ability to make anything “famous.” [↩]
4. I also find it amusing that this post is about a Thing that was uploaded after I mentioned it in a blog post about a new thing created by a guy who made a prior thing I had written a prior blog post about. [↩]

While not MakerBot related, this LED necklace, entitled an “Aniomagic Necklace with Beads” by Osamu Iwasaki, caught my eye as a pretty and captivating trinket. ¹ Why aren’t we seeing more electronic jewelery?

1. Thanks to Clothbot for the link. [↩]

Are you 5-17 years old and want to get your hack on? If so, check out the HacKid Conference in Cambridge MA!

Kids are our future, why not give them that spark that will set them on a journey that only “hacking” can inspire?

HacKid is a new kind of conference focused on providing an interactive, hands-on experience for the entire family — kids aged 5-17 & their parents – in order to raise awareness, excitement and understanding of technology, gaming, mathematics, safety, privacy, networking, security and engineering and their impact on society and culture.

via HacKid — The HacKid Conference.

At last week’s In Deisgn Conference in Amsterdam, interior design magazine Elle Wonen collaborated with 3D printing company Freedom of Creation to produce a variety of pretty objects for its posters and to wow conference attendees with cool new product prototypes.

Photo: Ring designs by Janne Kyttanen http://www.freedomofcreation.com/for/janne-kyttanen-designs-woonbeurs-exhibition-gift

For the Woonbeurs trade show, which also happened in Amsterdam last week, Freedom of Creation printed these souvenir rings.

According to FOC founder Janne Kyttanen, who started the company ten years ago,

At Freedom of Creation we believe in a future where data is the design product, and where products are distributed in the same way images and music travel through the internet today.”

Right on, Janne!

We’ve been getting lots of questions about ways to improve cupcakes to make them as close to a Thing-O-Matic as possible. If you’ve got a MakerBot Automated Build Platform and MakerBot MK5 Plastruder you’re almost there. When we get our shipment of MakerBot Gen4 Electronics (We’ve been working on these for a looooong time) then you can add that to your cupcake and you’re very close to the MakerBot Thing-O-Matic. The only thing I would add to that setup to have the greatest cupcake of all time would be a MakerBot Filament Spindle Box, lots of reliable MakerBot ABS Plastic, and an LED Lighting strip

The last piece of technology that would really be left is to switch out the Z-Rods and install a cantilevered Z-stage. Plans have already emerged on Thingiverse for that, but would be an expensive upgrade as the motor for the Z-stage has a super fancy integrated threaded rod and there are the fancy bearings on it too.

So in summary, if I were going to buy the awesomest MakerBot Cupcake 3D Printer setup ever with what’s available right now and I was feeling impatient or I was on a budget and couldn’t buy a Thing-O-Matic, I would get:

1. The MakerBot Cupcake Ultimate (Includes tools and MakerBot MK5 Plastruder and MakerBot Automated Build Platform and MakerBot Relay Kit)
2. The MakerBot Filament Spindle
3. The MakerBot Rainbow Plastic Pack
4. The MakerBot Glow in the Dark ABS Plastic
5. A MakerBot LED lighting strip (I like the blue, but that’s just my personal choice, the other colors look awesome too)

Update: I got a note from MakerBlock asking about homing and endstops. When we release the Gen4 electronics, the endstops and the Gen4 electronics could get added to this list!

Photo by Ape Fight