MakerBot Industries

RC Airplane Bomb Drop by foxdewayne

As Landru points out in the comments, Thingiverse citizen foxdewayne’s “RC Airplane Bomb Drop” is the perfect companion to the shockingly peaceful “F-Bomb” by tbuser.

For when you absolutely, positively, have to plant a garden under restricted airspace.

RC Airplane Bomb Drop by foxdewayne

The local RC airplane club that I belong to wanted a way to attach a bomb to an airplane and drop it on a target. We will use these as part of a compatition at our fun flys.

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F-Bomb by tbuser

That's F for Flower. A PVA water soluble weapon of mass foliation. Otherwise known as a Seed Bomb deployed by ninja gardeners to sew seeds in hard to reach places. See Also: guerrillagardening.org/ggseedbombs.html Sure, there are cheaper and more efficient ways to do this... but... pfft... The idea is to stuff it with some compost and seeds and then throw it somewhere that you think could use some color, but you either can't get to it or it's where people wouldn't appreciate seeing you digging around. Then wait for mother nature to dissolve the shell and make some magic. This of course requires water soluble PVA makerbot.com/blog/2011/02/21/makerbot-introduces-water-soluble-3d-printer-filament/ since you don't want to wait a thousand years for ABS to go away. I'm not even sure this will work, however PVA is supposedly bio-degradable eliteanglingproducts.com/PVAEnvironment.asp and is used as a seed coating celvol.com/sekisui/sek_seed-coating.htm so hopefully it's safe. However, I will assume it's not safe, I'm stupid, and advise you not to do this. Also, I am not responsible if you get arrested for defacing someone's private property with beautiful flowers. :) However, I'm going to test it anyway (did I mention I'm an idiot and you shouldn't do this?). Unfortunately it's not the best time of the year to try it, but I loaded one and sat it in a pot outside. I also sat one in a pot indoors that I'll run some water over whenever I water my other plants to see how it dissolves naturally over time and if anything grows out of it. I also threw some of the seeds into another pot just in case these old seeds are no good and to compare the growth. SCIENCE! Alternatively, you could print this in something other than PVA and just use it like a little box to store things in...

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Shellton John is checking out a printed shell in Shellter East right now!
He’s climbed inside of a MakerBotted shell while still wearing a shell of his own!

Keep an eye on the DropCam today to see what happens!

We’re cleaning out our inventory at the Botcave! Last week we put up a grab bag of extra parts in our store and everyone loves it – so we made another one with a whole new set of items in it. You can pick up some pulleys, M8 bolts, timing belts, all at a fraction of their cost for your own projects. The best part is we’re selling each bag for only $9.99! Most of these parts are from the cupcake – so this is a chance to stock up on some extra parts for veteran MakerBot operators, but it’s really just a great deal that makes sense. My favorite things in this kit that I know are a great deal are the smooth steel rods used in the cupcake. If I tried to buy these separately I’d probably spend over thirty dollars just for the rods.

In the spirit of crazy grab bagness, we don’t guarantee items and quantities in each bag, but we do guarantee an incredible deal on each one (10 Bucks!). It’s a fraction of the cost! So pick up one in the store today: grab bag#1 and make your parts drawer all that much happier.

That’s right folks — people interested in video games have noticed that MakerBot’s own in-house designer, Skimbal, has created a set that allows folks to play a physical, table-top version of the classic city-creation game!  In his post, Kotaku’s Luke Plunkett calls for a set of rules that might transform this playset from a mere recreation of elements in a classic videogame into a fully dynamic table-top gaming experience.

Yes, that’s right, a board game.  Dare to dream!

I, for one, suggest that it should use non-6-sided dice.  I am in for anything that allows me to roll a d20.  At any rate, it looks like the giftability index for this particular set of prints has just shot through the roof!

Sim City 2000 Tabletop Play Set by Skimbal

Do you think the Politicians have it all Wrong? Is your Mayor a Bumbling Idiot? Are your local City Planers out to kill you? Well now you can prove them all wrong! Demonstrate your city building mettle with the Sim City 2000 Tabletop Play Set! All the Thrills of being a real City Planner, without the boring environmental impact statements. But Watch Out! Disaster can Strike at any moment! The Devastation of the Spilled Coffee Flood! The Clean-Up Alien from the In-law's House! The Horror Of the Attacking 1000 foot 3-Year-Old!

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Success!

Thingiverse user arkatipe recently posted their designs for a “device to repair plastic hangers.”  The device itself is little more than a hollow plastic cylinder.  However, the way arkatipe used this simple PLA cylinder is particularly interesting.

This is intentionally a little bit smaller than the hanger diameter. I’d recommend that you clean it up, drop it in a cup of water, then stick it in the microwave for a minute or so. After it’s softened up, press it on the hanger and hold it in shape until it hardens.

PLA softens at a much lower temperature than ABS and tends to hold the heat a little longer, staying malleable.  Having a little plastic part that can be printed very close to what you need, softened, molded, and then left to cool and harden could be incredibly useful.  It really opens up a world of possibilities.  If there were a particular shape that one could foresee being very useful, you could print up several of them and keep them on hand.  When you’re read to use them, moisten, nuke, mold, harden.

Thanks arkatipe!

Device to repair a plastic hanger by arkatipe

Because hangers cost $1.00, and the plastic to fix them is less than $0.01. Design is intended for PLA. Additionally, this can be used to justify the expense of your 3D printer to your significant other, provided you have several hundred broken hangers.

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One of the most interesting challenges faced in 3D printing is creating facsimiles of real-world objects, things that have not been designed according to design rules that make them easier to print. Animal skulls, and in particular dinosaur skulls, are a great example: full of complex organic shapes, extreme overhangs and bridges, and thin shells. I’ve been learning a lot about printing these, and thought I could share what I have learned.

Three reptilian skulls

I was inspired by the dinosaur skull posted on Thingiverse and set out to look for more. The Digimorph project at the University of Texas has some dinosaurs, but the STL files are not posted.  However, Artect, a company that makes 3D scanners, has posted a very nice high-resolution STL file of a Tarbosaurus skull, on their 3D model download page. It’s the first model listed on the page.  I sliced it in Netfabb, and have posted the sliced files on Thingiverse.

Keep reading for some tips on how to print this object, and other complex organic shapes!

Read the rest of this entry »

WNYC has included MakerBot’s New Museum window in their list of top Holiday Window Displays, Off the Beaten Path.  If you haven’t made it by the New Museum yet, there’s still time to see the Dalek Snowmen, X-Wing Reindeer and Cylon-Santa for yourself — the window display will be up through the end of the year!

FrostByte the snowman, was a jolly, printed soul

with a cron job | and a filament nose…

Isn’t that how the old song goes?  Not quite?  Well, it is appropriate for this printable snowman by trihedral.  ‘Tis the season for MakerBotting gifts for friends and family, so for the rest of the month, we’ll be sharing some of our favorite giftable Thingiverse items.

Next week, we’ll be sending out a special holiday Thingiverse round-up for newsletter subscribers!  Sign up here (or using the widget in the upper right-hand corner of this page.)  If you received last week’s newsletter, make sure to check your subscription preferences.

Welcome to December, MakerPeople!  Let’s make it a good one.

FrostByte by trihedral

Yeah, I've been calling him FrostByte... too much? I think it's too much. Oh well. A little light-up snow man for the holidays! I carved a piece of filament into an orange nose; the jaggedness makes it look like a carrot. I may add some copper wire arms (to look like sticks) but they might not be very pleasing to the eye in contrast to his roundness.

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