MakerBot Industries

Thingiverse citizen and designer extraordinaire Twotimes has put together a new design challenge for you!  He’s putting up $50.00 in cash with MakerBot contributing an additional $100.00 in store credit to the winner!

It’s time to switch up the contests a bit.  Although 3D printing contests are cool, Thingiverse is about the universe of digital things not just printed things.  So, here’s a contest for all of you cutters out there.

Design something that involves cutting (Laser/Craftcutter/CNC), cardboard and bags (could be handbags or balloon envelopes or anything in between).  Add the tag “cutbag” to your thing.

The rules are simple: enter something that you have made, extra points go to open source things with the design files.  No points go to closed source things.  Make sure you also have a photo of the finished thing.  Also, don’t forget to tag it with “cutbag!”

All entries will be judged by:

• Awesomeness (I know, very subjective, but then I get to make the rules…) Don’t worry, I’ll have other people judging as well.
• Attention to detail
• Amount of discussion generated
• Completeness of entry (design files, instructions, photo of finished project)
• How many likes you get

The prize is $50 through paypal from me and if anyone else chips in, that also.

The deadline is April 15th.

Good luck!

Seattle Makerbot/Mendel User Group: 18 MakerBots! Photo by metrixcreate.

So many great photos have been pouring in for the MakerBot User Group Challenge. Here’s one that is blowing our minds. From the photo description:

18 makerbots, 6 mendels, 1 powder printer, 3 cnc cutters (big little and tiny), a laser and a few tables full of clonedel parts. The robots are winning.

Pine Tree by tc_fea

Even with some amazing developments in DIY 3D printing, there are still some limitations.  Some have managed to print in two colors at the same time or with a secondary material for support purposes.  MakerBot even launched a water soluable filament that may help with this even more.

However, tc_fea’s experiment in extreme overhangs literally turns the problem of support material for overhangs on it’s head.  By designing a model with ridiculously unsupported overhangs he was able to design a printable pine tree – that incorporates the way in which a filament will droop when it is unsupported!  The finished product is pretty amazing.

What other DIY 3D printing limitations can be exploited?  How about the striated nature of a printed model?

Pine Tree by tc_fea

This was an experiment to use extreme overhangs to produce semi-random tree like branches when the strands droop. The height between sectors and branch lengths could be optimized to produce a fuller appearance. p.s. it was a friend at work suggested this approach

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DocProfSky Gets a Thing-O-Matic

Those of us who had the pleasure of seeing Schuyler “DocProfSky’s” iGNiTe Phoenix presentation “Why I Love My 3D Printer” a few weeks ago are thrilled to see the above photo and an update from DocProfSky’s dad:

Can you say Thing-O-Matic? @DocProfSky now can!

Schuyler, we can’t wait to see what you will do with two 3D printers at your disposal!

Ok, we’ve talked about printable chess sets before…but this one is a step up, if you ask me.  First off, it’s from a cool, early-20th-century design, and second, Le Garage has it  all set to print in just a couple of passes.  Pretty impressive.  Kudos also go to TeamTeamUSA for the original Thingiverse version of the design.

There are a lot of great designs that have lapsed into the public domain, and when they make their way to Thingiverse, it’s good for everybody.  Keep up the good work, community!

Bauhaus Model I 1922 Chess Set by Le_Garage

TeamTeamUSA said : "Always wanted a Bauhaus chess set but couldn't afford one? Here ya go!" Inspired by Josef Hartwig's Model I chess set created in 1922 at Bauhaus Weimar. This set is at the ~original size, and need an big board to be played ! ^^ It was done as an Blender learning exercise based on MOMA picture and the globals dimensions they gave and we gess the others with proportions and eye. Exercise supervised by LeoM [ thingiverse.com/LeoM ] for Le_Garage.

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