MakerBot Industries

Derivative Design Concept: Open Source Disc Gun

This idea occurred to me this morning.  It’s basically a derivative of about 5 different designs (mostly rubber band related) on Thingiverse.  I’ve scanned in the entire sheet, so you should be able to print it off at full A4 paper size.  As a kid I loved these cheap plastic disc guns – but the internal plastic parts broke so easily that they were quickly trash.  I’d like to make an open source version that can be easily repaired, upgraded, extended, improved. 

If people like the idea, I’d be willing to do a series on the design, development, and prototyping of such a concept from start to finish.

What do you think?

Are you a printing daredevil?

I think I’m finding these Thingiverse poll questions to be funnier than perhaps they were intended to be.¹  The topic of the poll is essentially – how do you deal with print anxiety?²

I really don’t have print anxiety.  Give me a ridiculous 3D model as an STL and I’ll run it through Skeinforge and try to print it.  Overhangs?  Narrow gaps?  Thin walls?  Bring it.³

There’s almost no downside to trying – the plastic and time investments are so incredibly low there’s just no harm.  I can always stop the print early if it’s just not going well.  I say don’t procrastinate – pick something wacky from Thingiverse and give it a shot!

1. “Broad Flat Bottoms”?  Sign me up! [↩]
2. Photo courtesy of Travis Gray [↩]
3. And, I’m just using the stock Skeinforge settings that come with ReplicatorG! [↩]