MakerBot Industries

Marius Watz, MakerBot artist-in-residence, is having an art show called, “Extrusion” and there are MakerBotted things in it! Congrats Marius! Check out the photos from the whole show on Flickr!

I’ll be speaking at Thingmakers in London on May 4th. They’ve got an impressive lineup that should make for an awesome day of 3D printing awesomeness. Check it out and hope to see you there!

Will Smith who runs his MakerBot weekly over on Tested was on Tekzilla this week. Check it out!

Make sure to catch the Tested Weekly Mystery Object too!

The awesome crew over at Open3DP at the UW have birthed a new species of open 3D printer: Adderfab!

The Daily Mail checked out a MakerBot Thing-O-Matic and wrote up an awesome article about the experience. Check it out!

There are multiple levels of epic in this project and this video. Check out the DogBot post on Thingiverse.

1. It’s a DogBot… which is just awesome and fun to say.
2. It’s an OpenSCAD tutorial.
3. It animates within OpenSCAD. WOW!
4. It’s called On Shoulders TV. WIN!
5. Who doesn’t want a DogBot?
6. The presenter, Gavilan, has a great presentation style!

Go project DogBot!

When I got this in the mail, my jaw dropped and I thought to myself. “Ok, the world is catching on that 3D printing is huge.”

If you haven’t looked at it, check it out and let me know what you think of this article in the comments.

Hey MakerBot Operators!!!

A Seattle MakerBot User Group Meeting

MakerBot Operators have informally been gathering together to bring MakerBots face to face. They meet each other, trade tips and tricks, and MakerBot Operators may even in some cases be eating sushi together. We know that when MakerBot Operators get together, awesome things happen and we are setting up this challenge to encourage this because more awesome is more better! (Pictured above: S.M.U.G.r -Seattle Makerbot Users Group and RepRap Mendel – Photo by A. V. Passow )

Here is the challenge! Form a regional group if you haven’t already, make sure you’ve got a dedicated MUG (MakerBot User Group) Mailing List, gather the MakerBots before March 15, post a picture of two MakerBots or more, and get a MakerBot Care Package!

What is a MakerBot User Group? We define it as a group that meets in real life and has it’s own mailing list dedicated to MakerBotting.

Every MakerBot User Group that enters this challenge will get a MakerBot Care Package in which there will be LEDs and we’ve got a special package to go out to the group that gets the most MakerBots together in one photo at a MUG. One entry and one care package per group.

Can you have a MakerBot User Group meet at a hackerspace? YES, but remember, you’ve got to have a dedicated MakerBot mailing list for your MUG. That way you won’t mix the drama of who needs to do the dishes at your hackerspace with the drama of who’s hogging the communal MakerBot.

What about Maker Groups and Robotic Clubs? Same deal. You’ve got to have a dedicated mailing list for MakerBot action within your group and meet and bring MakerBots together.

If you’re MakerBot Operator Group has just met, that doesn’t count for this challenge, you’ve got to meet between today, February 22nd, and March 15th to get your MakerBot Care Package!

Here’s the MakerBot User Group Challenge details:

1. Form a group if you haven’t already. Get them together.
2. Meet. Put at least two MakerBots side by side.
3. Take a photo of them together. Humans are also allowed in this photo!
4. Upload the photo to the internet on flickr or facebook or your own site.
5. Email us the link to your picture mug@makerbot.com along with your group’s name, mailing list url, and a legit mailing address so we can get you your care package.
6. One entry per group submitted no later than March 15, 2011 at 11:59pm EST.

All participating groups who meet this challenge will win a MakerBot Industries Care Package and there will be LEDs. (LEDs are a core MakerBot value)

Don’t belong to a group? Find one in your area on the regional groups page.

No group nearby? Form one! Come up with a name, get a google group for your mailing list, and send us a paragraph tempting local MakerBot Operators to gather. Send it to mug@makerbot.com and we’ll announce your next group meeting on our blog!

TLDNR: MakerBot is having a challenge to get MakerBot Operators together to be more awesomer.

Today we are very proud to introduce a fantastic upgrade to your Thing-O-Matic.

It’s the MakerBot Stepstruder™ MK6 and it comes as a full kit for those upgrading from a MK3 or MK4 and it also comes as an upgrade kit so that if you have a MakerBot Plastruder MK5, you can just get the upgrade kit and you’ll be ready to rock. With this new extruder you’ll have the option to configure it to use MakerBot 1.75mm ABS filament. Today we’re also launching 1.75mm filament for sale in the store.

A New Day is Dawning for MakerBot Extrusion Technology

The MakerBot Stepstruder™ MK6 is the latest and greatest in MakerBot extrusion technology. With it, you get a lot more control over your plastic extrusion because instead of using a DC motor that just goes on and off, the MakerBot Stepstruder™ MK6 has a high torque stepper motor that allows you to control the rotation. This stepper motor has 200 steps per rotation and you’ll be driving it using the MakerBot Generation 4 Stepper Driver v3.3 (included in both the upgrade and complete Kits) to get a 1600 step per revolution. That means that you can control the extruder motor and when it goes one step it turns .225 of a degree.

The kit comes with extra parts that give you the option of using either MakerBot 3mm or 1.75mm plastic. Standard 3mm filament is what we’ve used so far and this extruder will happily print with it, but looking to the future, we are experimenting with a thinner diameter filament and you’re along for the ride! We’ve included parts that you can swap in to use 1.75mm filament too. Using this bonus experimental capability to extrude 1.75mm diameter plastic filament allows you to put less pressure on the filament to get the same amount of extrusion. Using smaller filament is something we’ve been wanting to do for a long time and with the MakerBot Stepstruder™ MK6 you can swap in parts to turn your 3mm filament extruder into a 1.75mm filament extruder.

We’re clearly declaring 1.75mm filament “Experimental” because it’s new. If you’re someone who likes pushing the edge of the technology, you can use the parts in the kit that are specifically for 1.75mm and try it out. We like it and we think you’ll like it too. You can get 1.75mm plastic individually or in a 1.75mm Mini MegaRainbow Pack.

A few notes about the development of the MakerBot Stepstruder™ MK6. We’ve been working on this actively for 9 months. Because there was no stepper motor available that had enough torque for this application at a reasonable price, we went ahead and had one manufactured to our specifications. We were all set and ready to go when we learned under testing that the motor gets pretty hot during printing. So we added a fan and a lasercut bracket to hold the fan over the motor to keep it cool.

This cathedral was printed with a MakerBot Stepstruder™ MK6 using 3mm filament.

Thinner 1.75mm Filament Available

You’ll still be able to use your stash of 3mm plastic with your MakerBot Stepstruder™ MK6 but you’ll also have the capability of changing some of the parts (included) to be able to use new MakerBot 1.75mm filament. We’re launching this sweet thin material in classic MakerBot colors of Red, Blue, Natural, Black and our new UV reactive “Nuclear” Green! It’s the same green you’ll see in all your favorite video games when you splatter aliens or find nuclear waste.

We’re committed to having the best extrusion material for your MakerBot and so all MakerBot ABS Plastic is sealed in bags with desiccant at the manufacturing facility to keep moisture out and to keep your filament dry. This is an added expense to MakerBot plastic and makes it cost more, but we feel that it’s worth it so that you can get fresh plastic with great extrusion characteristics right out of the bag.

We ran out of MK5 motors two weeks ago and have had Thing-O-Matics on hold as we have been getting parts in for this kit. Orders have been stacking up and so Thing-O-Matics that have been ordered, but not shipped yet will get this upgrade for free as a thank you for their patience. Starting with any Thing-O-Matic ordered today, the price of the MakerBot Thing-O-Matic has gone up to $1299 due to the increase in costs associated with this upgrade.

Have questions about the MakerBot Stepstruder™ MK6 and new 1.75mm filament? Leave them in the comments. Ready to upgrade your MakerBot? Go get your MakerBot Stepstruder™ MK6 upgrade kit or your MakerBot Stepstruder™ MK6 complete kit now!

We’re are on the lookout for a few champion summer interns!

A few internship slots are available for software engineering, marketing, design, electronics engineering and mechanical engineering.

If you’re interested in open source hardware development and have some skills and a passion for 3D printing, shoot us an email with a letter of interest/intent and a resume and your availability. The MakerBot internship experience is varied and includes building kits, design work, production, using a laser-cutter, and bigger projects. Interns get real experience doing real things that make a difference in the world.