MakerBot Industries

iPhone dock created in Shapesmith and printed on Thing-O-Matic

How can I model the thing I want to print?

As the population of 3D printer operators continues to grow, answering that question will become more important than ever. Combining parametric modeling and a clean UI, browser-based Shapesmith hopes to provide an open source answer.

The developer, MakerBot operator, and Thingizen Benjamin Nortier tells us all about it.

Q: Who are you and what is Shapesmith?

I’m a software developer with an Engineering background and I’m also a 3D printing enthusiast. Shapesmith is a browser-based 3D modeling tool that I’ve been working on, and am very excited about. It is aimed at users who want to create high-quality parametric models for 3D printing, but who don’t want to spend thousands of dollars on expensive 3D CAD software.

I wanted to design an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) after being inspired by DIY Drones. I realised that it would be very attractive to 3D print aeroplane parts and I was using tools like Blender and Sketchup to design some airfoils or wings.

Because I had worked on a 3D CAD tool for electromagnetic simulation earlier in my career, I was very dissatisfied by the free design tools that were available. This dissatisfaction was reinforced when I bought a MakerBot Thing-O-Matic and started to design some models. So I decided to try and make something better.

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MakerBot Industries collaborated with The New Museum Store to construct a very different kind of holiday window display than you’d find at Macy’s. A sci-fi fanatic’s fantasy, the window display is a science-fiction-meets-holiday-window mashup. Little green elves in Star Trek-like outfits fight with lightsabers while automaton snowmen resembling the Daleks out of Dr. Who scan the horizon. Another pair of elves circle a gigantic stack of presents (shaped like the silhouette of the New Museum) on the back of a train powered by an Iron Man-inspired arc reactor, pushing a DeLorean time machine. 3D-printed gifts burst from a New Museum-edition MakerBot Thing-O-Matic right into the back of a Cylon-Santa’s sleigh, pulled by X-Wing reindeer.

The printed elements from the New Museum window will be documented at our MakerBot Workshop page and available for free download at the beginning of December from MakerBot’s online community website, Thingiverse.com, where users can post digital design files, document their designs, and collaborate on open source hardware. MakerBot Operators can download and print their own sci-fi holiday scene!

Visitors to New York wishing to see the window should head over to the New Museum at 235 Bowery this holiday season to check it out.