Background: Red Bull has become the patron saint of hackers and makers, so it makes total sense that they host the 72-hour Red Bull Creation contest. Selected teams submit functioning entries which have to make use of the Bullduino.

The Hack a Day team’s entry is an ingenious Red Bull delivery system, for those weary troops in the field. No, literally. It’s a cannon that shoots Red Bull cans, which gently parachute down to the ground. How do you get a skinny Red Bull can to fit into a 3-inch diameter cannon?

You MakerBot a custom sabot for it. (Duh.)

MakerBot’s Tony (IWorkInPixels on Thingiverse) joined up with the Hack a Day team recently to help the creation, and designed this piece, including the Hack a Day logo on each bottom piece. He’s shared the design with some detailed instructions on attaching the parachute and an LED for nighttime location.

This is insanely cool. Watch the video above to see the whole system in action and hear an explanation of the contest entry.

With so many amazing resolution and reliability advancements in MakerBotting technology, it can be easy to forget that 3D printed objects don’t belong in every kind of application.

Please do not use ABS or PLA near any kind of heat source or flame including fireworks or even incense.  ABS will catch fire and keep burning with a thick black smoke. ^1 2  PLA becomes very soft even at low-ish heat and can deform and melt, losing it’s stability and structural integrity. ³

So, this Fourth of July, please be safe and keep your awesome MakerBotted goodies away from flame or heat!

Remember, only you can prevent bunny fires.

That said, Tealids’ incense holder IS pretty awesome. 

Untitled by tealid

This thing brought to you by

1. Which, of course, is never a good sign. [↩]
2. Plus, I have to think that smelly smoke would negate any good smells generated by incense… [↩]
3. That’s one of the reasons PLA is never used as a hot beverage or food container. [↩]

Tomorrow is a big holiday in the United States and this app is the perfect way for anyone with a MakerBot to make it special. And delicious.

The company dreamforge has put up a genius custom cookie cutter app for all to enjoy. Introducing Cookie Caster.

It’s web-based, and sits right inside the homepage. You can draw your cookie cutter freehand, or trace an image that you upload from your computer. As you work, the app lays down two end points to each line that you draw, with one point in the middle that you can drag to create curve. That means you really don’t need too many points in your shape if you’re tracing. Just get the basics down and add curvature later.

Once you’re finished, you can save the file to the Cookie Caster gallery (you can see my test triangle, labeled “Pelkertron” because I don’t understand naming things, or my truly terrible Dollar Sign shape). But even better,  you can download the .stl for free and make it right away. If you have a MakerBot, this means you can make custom cookie cutters in minutes. If you don’t have a MakerBot, you can pay a fee to have the Cookie Caster folks send you your finished product. Sweet!

Let’s be sure to give credit to the awesome cookie cutter work of Guru, which inspired Cookie Caster. They say in an email that their app has just made some simple updates to Guru’s and put it on the web.

One possible enhancement to Cookie Caster that stands out would be the ability to add interior shapes to my cookie cutter, like the hole in the middle of a doughnut. Try out the app and throw your feedback in the comments below.

If you come up with any good 4th of July designs, or designs for your own country’s holiday, share them in the Cookie Caster gallery and on Thingiverse!