MakerBot Industries

Functional Pin Tumbler Padlock Model by Thing-O-Fun

Sometimes awesome things just beget awesome things.  Thing-O-Fun’s first contribution to Thingiverse, the Functional Pin Tumbler Lock Model started off as a way of just understanding more about the design constraints of DIY 3D printing.  Over the weekend he uploaded a model for an entire working pint tumbler padlock.  As with the tumbler lock, the only non-printed parts are the springs from ball point click pens.

While a plastic lock may not be the most secure in the world, it would still have its uses.  It’s best usage is probably for learning more about the inner-workings of the lock itself.  As any MakerBot owner will tell you, putting something together yourself is the best way to learn.  Even a plastic lock would be sufficiently strong for household uses like keeping kids out of a cabinet.  A plastic lock that has been finished and painted could even work as a decent theft deterrent.

Functional Pin Tumbler Padlock Model by Thing-O-Fun

Functional Pin Tumbler Padlock Model. User Print-To-3D: thingiverse.com/printto3d shared a very cool sectioned Paddle-Lock: js-kit.com/blob/sk9sIwQKzOFH1K4lciYmmQ.jpg that got me interested in making something that actually locks. Again, all items are printable except for the springs which I removed from ball-point click pens (thankfully my wife is still putting up with disassembled pens around the house). This one is a little more complicated but it still works and makes a good desk oddity. If you were to glue the "Top", "Retainer", and "Lid" in place, the only way to get this lock open without the key would be to break it. But, what is the fun if you can't take it apart? Note 1: I did do a bit of finish sanding on the components to make everything fit together and slide/twist well. I would suggest a "dry-fit" of the components with their mates before attempting assembly. Note 2: The "Lock" component is a difficult print. I was able to get good results by adding two supporting features over the length and then carving/sanding it back to a circular form. If anyone has suggestions on how to print circular objects on their side, I'm all ears.

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Functional Pin Tumbler Lock Model by Thing-O-Fun

Functional Pin Tumble lock. All of the components can be printed with the exception of the helix compression springs. These springs can be taken out of standard click pens. The springs I made this for are 4mm OD and ~20mm long. I made a small window in the "Outer Barrel" to view the key pin pushing up on the driver pin. This was a quick project to familiarize myself with the design constraints required for successful FDM designs/prints. I thought I would distribute since it could be fun for teaching and demonstrations.

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Job Description
We are looking for someone with a bright mind and passion for 3D printing. Your primary role will be to research, test, and design new extruders for our 3D printers. There are a whole range of cool ideas that have yet to be tried and we want you to bring them to reality. You will be responsible for making them smaller, faster, cheaper, simpler, and more reliable.

Job Responsibilities

• Design, prototype, and test experimental plastic extruders.
• Run thermal, mechanical, and flow simulations to speed up development process.
• Experiment with new plastics to optimize flowrates, reduce oozing, and increase quality.
• Work with our R&D department to integrate results into next generation machines.

Job Requirements

• BS or MA in Engineering – Mechanical or Materials preferred.
• Taste for simplicity and elegance in technical design.
• Fluent in both written and spoken English.
• Willing and able to relocate to NYC.
• Familiar with ProE and/or Solidworks.
• Experience with thermal and mechanical simulation software.

Bonus Points

• Deep and abiding love of robots and/or digital fabrication.
• Previous experience designing/operating/repairing plastic extrusion machines.
• Previous experience designing consumer goods.
• Knowledge of common manufacturing techniques.
• Current owner of a MakerBot 3D printer.
• Active participant in the open hardware community.

To apply, please send your resume and a brief bio to extrusioneer@makerbot.com

I’m sure you’ve all been at the edge of your seats eagerly awaiting the arrival of MakerBot TV’s second episode!
Well wait no more – S01E02 is here!!! And it is, dare I say, even more awesome than the first one!

In this episode we’ll get you hyped-up for Maker Faire, have some behind-the-scenes fun with turtle-building Skimbal, learn about bot calibration with Elliot and get the low down on a brand new and totally rad MakerBot challenge with Bre.

Special Thanks to:
Tony Buser for the use of Bobble Head Bob, 2ROBOTGUY for his alphabet design.
And all these great folks for the use of their music: Doctor Popular, Vim, µB and Trash80.

Look at that texture!

There seems to be a trend in MakerBot land…child sees object, child wants different object, child asks parent for object, parent designs and prints object, parent uploads design to Thingiverse, much rejoicing.

Some young ones approached their father, sconine, after seeing the ever popular octopus, and wanted a starfish. Taking the challenge, sconin enlisted SketchUp to produce these beautiful (great color choices!) sea stars. Using the properties of MakerBot printing, the texture on these fish is most convincing. Not content with completely flat starfish, sconine tried heating up the starfish while resting on some rocks, and the results are pretty remarkable. Have a look yourself and try to convince yourself they wouldn’t look real just a few feet away. Just try.

So now you can find starfish on the sea floor at almost four miles down, or just across your desk on your MakerBot.

Starfish by sconine

My kids love the octopus, and kept asking for a starfish. This did the trick! I drew this in sketchup freehand. It took quite some time to get the surface right. Looks very topographic once printed. A great flat bottomed animal for the Makerbot. Perhaps a flounder is next up :)Update: This prints really well if you scale it up as well, I've printed it so that it just fits on the build platform, takes a bit longer, but comes out great. Sort of neat that the ends of the feet tend to curl up a little due to the heating/cooling of the plastic. Was very odd but overnight these things crawled up on a few rocks I'd left on the table...Update 10/15/2011: if your original needs a companion, check out Squiggly version.

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Sylvan Heumann, or Syl by those who know him, has always been at the forefront of designing, using, and adapting new technology. Like many MakerBot operators, he was born “with an intense curiosity about how stuff works.” This insatiable appetite just had to be fed. And fed. And fed. From acquiring his Ham Radio license in 1950, to building his very own computer (IMSAI 8080) in 1976, he’s never shied away from the latest and greatest. It’s no surprise that he just added a Thing-O-Matic (assembled it himself of course) to his workshop.

Syl’s journey into the world of fabrication did not begin in school. Studying Business Administration, and pursuing a career outside of the sciences, Syl relied on his own devices to get his creative fix; he built up his workshop, which in addition to his Thing-O-Matic, consists of a beautiful lathe, a CNC mill, electronic test equipment, and a plethora of other gizmos and gadgets. He’s taken on photography, boating, and even flying.

Over the years Syl has designed and built engines, argon lasers, and countless other projects, but his long term interest has been telescope design and accessories. He’s taken some absolutely gorgeous images of the moon with a telescope and digital camera.

So what does he have in store for his MakerBot?

[My] main motivation in building the Bot was to understand the technology. But I have amazed some of my friends with a few of the items from Thingiverse! Right now, I am making Coke can holders for a friend’s boat.

Less than two weeks ago, Syl turned 86 years young (can anyone top that?), and when he’s not working on his next project, he can be found cruising down the highways of California in his Ferrari F430. What does he have to say to all of those tinkerers, hobbyists, inventors, and designers out there?

My advice – when something doesn’t work or you don’t understand it, never quit trying. Put it aside for a short while, but come back and try again until you dominate. Never shy away from getting help. The satisfaction will erase all the frustration!

It’s quite clear that Syl has put an enormous amount of time into educating himself and pushing the limits of DIY. He is an inspiration to us all and we thank Syl for being a MakerBot Operator and friend to the community!

Answer: Motorized cube gears

Dougc314 has taken the gears-motif to a new level.  This would make an awesome office toy.  Just a little something to sit on the edge of your desk and slowly cycle through the rotations, forming and deforming a cube as it goes.  He was also kind enough to provide some additional instructions for making your own variations.

Or, imagine how cool it would be to modify whosawhatsis’ Eccentric Sphere Gears to be motorized, paint it to look like Earth, and then fire it up?

Motorized Cube Gears by dougc314

A motorized version of Emmetts' Cube Gears. I built it (Emmett's that is) and was showing it around work. One of my favorite collaborators (Brian C.) and I were discussing motorizing it. I had visions of a tiny motor in the center, and was fussing over battery size, etc. when Brian suggested blowing a hole through one of the big corners and connecting a drive shaft to the center to an external motor. A quick look on Ebay found a motor, and when it came in the mail I started in on the design. I designed the parts in Alibre, sorry, OpenSCAD is a very impressive tool, but I am too CAD oriented). I did import the stl of the gear into Alibre. The zip file has the Alibre files and STEP AP203 exports as well.

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MakerBot Operator Scott Miller sent us these pictures of his students doing work with a MakerBot at Mech Design class at Olin college.  They have high end 3D printers installed at their school, but he brought his MakerBot in to show how 3D printers work and run some prints.

There is no substitute for being able to put a machine on the table, upload a file, and build a part in real time. Being able to build working prototypes quickly is a critical part of the Olin College Mechanical Design class.  We use 3D printing and Sheet Metal to leverage their complementing strengths.  To design effective parts, it is critical to understand the fabrication process.  We used the Thing-O-Matic in class to visually demonstrate the entire 3D printing process from the design in Solidworks -> STL -> SkeinForge -> GCode -> 3D print.  Understanding the print methodology and internal structure of the parts allows the students to be more effective right off the bat for their 3D printed designs.

Scott sent me a slide from his presentation courtesy of Professor Barrett that shows some basic guidelines for 3D printing. Great tips!

We really want — really need — a 3D printable cute robot mascot.¹ So when we heard that GrabCAD wanted to collaborate with us, we took this opportunity to create a challenge on their site and put up a brand new MakerBot Thing-O-Matic kit as stakes for the engineer who blows our minds and warm our hearts.

The concept of the robot is wide open so feel free to enter creatures of all shapes and styles. Inspired by the lunchbox on wheels that rolled around on the Death Star in Star Wars? Great! You’re a fan of humanoid robots like the B9 from Lost in Space? Super! All shapes of robots’ designs are expected to participate. The winning entry will become the lead MakerBot Robot Mascot. It is very likely that most, if not all entries will be filmed for MakerBot.TV videos. The finalists will have their robots 3D printed on a MakerBot at MakerBot HQ and sent to them.

You may submit as many robots as you like, just don’t wait around! This competition ends on September 28th.

The inspiration for this challenge is Tony Buser’s “BOB” robot. We saw this and all we could think of was “MORE!”, especially considering the popularity of robot models in the Thingiverse, on GrabCAD’s Library, and elsewhere in the Internet kingdom.

Bob is built from a toolset of robot parts that include joints for arms and ears. This toolset gives you a nice set of components that you can use to make your robot design have pose-able parts. The toolset also includes the MakerBot M logo design to make it easy to badge the robot with it. Using the toolset is not required, but we wanted to make the functioning side as easy as possible for people to express their robo-creativity, so some of the components are offered up front for optional use in this challenge.

We’re doing this with GrabCAD, a great community and platform for engineers to collaborate and get hired to make things. Head on over to GrabCAD to read the rules and requirements, and get started with our challenge. We hope that you will post your projects on Thingiverse as well as GrabCAD so that both communities can benefit from your creativity!

1. Yeah, we said “cute.” [↩]

Another video from the GE Air Show project, this time featuring helicopters. The client (GE) has discovered what most of us already know: that watching a Makerbot print is hypnotic! The creative direction has been to emphasize the design and print process, so you’ll be seeing more timelapse takes of the print.

This is likely to be the penultimate video of the project: they are taking submissions for the grand finale right now on the Facebook page.

We’ve liked 3dTin for awhile now; it was a clever, useful app since it debuted.  But, unlike many clever, useful projects, this one has actually had its development continue, and it’s seen some major improvements.  In fact, there are a couple of big ones you should know about: first, they added cylinders!  And now, they’ve added the entire library of primitive templates that you see above.

3dTin is probably the most accessible way to get into 3d modeling, so it’s really great to see it becoming a more powerful and full-featured tool.  Most of the designs are still a bit, well, low-rez, but it’s clear that it’s much more than a one-hit-wonder.  If you like what you’re seeing with 3dTin (and Cadmium, a 3d modeling library for Python) you can support them by purchasing the premium app on the Chrome store, or just logging on and making cool models!