MakerBot Industries

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!

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If you’ve been following the GE Air Show on Facebook, you might be interested in the Grand Finale, posted above. Tons of new models, and as always, funny animation.

All the models shown will make their way to the GE page on Thingiverse shortly, so keep an eye out.

It was really fun to work on this. The teams from Impact Media and Evolution Bureau were smart, creative, talented and great to work with. I’d like to highlight the participation of Gabriel Bentley from Impact Media, who basically taught himself Sketchup and Makerbot operations in the space of weeks, and was running a one-man model airplane factory by the end of the project.

Also, one more thing: the observant amongst you may have noticed that there was never a Week 2 video. Well, fret no more – that footage was discovered, and is posted below:

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.

The GE Air Show continues, with a third episode of user-submitted designs featuring classic airplanes. As always, the printable files can be found on the GE Thingiverse page.

It’s a challenge to respond quickly to user submissions: the list of ideas is received on Sunday evening, and then the team works on it during Monday and Tuesday, starting to print on Monday afternoons. After that, the production crew puts together the video and it is usually online by Thursday or Friday. In order to work so fast, the team is using a number of techniques: some models are made in OpenSCAD, others in Sketchup and and other tools from scratch, and some are based on models from the Sketchup 3D warehouse. Netfabb is useful for slicing a model into different parts. After a few weeks of doing this, we’ve now evolved a series of useful tools and techniques, building up common part libraries (eg. for propellers) and a streamlined workflow for making objects printable (ie. almost everything is designed to print in sections, in order to avoid overhangs and support material).

A question that has come up a few times is “what is GE doing on Thingiverse?”  The answer is, a lot of things:

• Demonstrating support for innovative new companies and technologies, such as Makerbot and 3D printing
• Connecting with the community of makers, innovators and DIYers
• Learning about social media, and the kinds of things that will engage social media users (the number of “likes” on the GE Facebook page has gone from 15,000 to more than 90,000 since the Airshow started!)
• Experimenting with very fast turnaround marketing, highly responsive to users (this project involves doing in less than a week what would usually take months, and doing it repeatedly)

The exciting thing about this is that it is an experiment, everyone (including GE) is learning as it goes along. Suggestions and contributions are most welcome, via the GE Facebook page, or comments on the Thingiverse page.

I’ve been working on an exciting project lately: the GE Air Show. The idea is to get people to submit models, sketches, concepts or ideas for weird and wonderful flying machines, print them on a Makerbot, and then have them star in a video set in a miniature air show of the imagination. At the end of the month we’re hoping to have the airport crowded with all kinds of aircraft – so please submit your ideas.

We’re looking for submissions regardless of 3D design skills: you can submit sketches, mockups or just your brilliant idea to hello.social@ge.com, and you can check out other comments and submissions at facebook.com/ge. The models that are being built will be listed on the GE page at Thingiverse, thingiverse.com/GE, so keep checking back for updates.

I’ve been working together with Andrew Rutter on building the Makerbots, and getting 3D models ready for printing. It’s been very interesting so far: both Thing-O-Matics were up and running within a day – in fact, one of them was put together in only three and half hours! The new cartridge-based extruder is much simpler to assemble, and the Thing-O-Matic can certainly produce great results with a lot less tuning than was required for previous models.

This project is interesting because it highlights how quickly you can go from a concept to a physical object through 3D printing. By offering to model sketches or ideas that people have sent in, it makes it possible for people unfamiliar with 3D design to see their ideas made real. A lot of requests are for models of existing aircraft, but we’d really like for people to submit ideas for original and fanciful designs.

UPDATE: Anna Galovich has been generous enough to translate this fantastic blog post into Estonian. You can find the translation right here.

For a recent project, I had to print this awesome crocodile skull from the University of Texas Digimorph project. At first it looked daunting, but it turned out to be surprisingly easy to print. I really like this print because it is a complex organic shape, and it is really impressive that it came from a Makerbot.

Crocodile skull, printed on a Makerbot

I used Netfabb Studio and ReplicatorG to prepare for print. I’m not posting the print-ready files because a) not sure if UT will let me and b) the following process is easy and you will learn a lot. I basically used Netfabb Studio to re-orient, repair, scale and split the model, in order to get it ready for print. The procedure I followed is generally applicable to all kinds of complex prints.

Keep reading for instructions on how to do it.

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There is an experiment I’d been meaning to try for a while, and my Thing-O-Matic is now printing well enough that I felt I could try it. It is to take files from a site such as the 2001 Model Archive, and see if I could print them with little editing. The result was a qualified success: you can do amazing things with the Thing-O-Matic and support material enabled, but trying to remove delicate parts from the support material can be a real challenge. Some degree of editing of the source files is a good idea, to make them print-ready.

Space Pod printed, cleaned and partially repaired

For the first attempt, I chose the Space Pod from “2001: A Space Odyssey”. I loaded it into Meshlab and had a look. Keep reading after the break for a longer description of the process.

Space Pod file seen in Meshlab

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I’ve been using a 1/16″ aluminum build surface on my Thing-O-Matic for weeks, with really good results. Now you can buy an aluminum platform from Makerbot, and cover it with wide Kapton tape for the ultimate build surface. I’ve been using this combination on my Cupcake CNC for a while, and it is great: parts adhere really well and there is no warping. (Top tip: wipe the platform with acetone before printing for even better adhesion.)

However, this poses a challenge: sometimes parts stick to the platform so well that it can take a real effort, and a lot of force, to get them off. On the Cupcake, I would just detach the build platform and lever the piece loose. However, on the Thing-O-Matic, the platform is fixed, and you end up applying a lot of force to the X&Y platform as you try to release the piece.

One solution is to just double up the aluminum plate, and hold it on with bulldog clips, as described here. However, I went for a quicker solution in the short term.

Wing nut holding heated build platform for easy removal

I just put M3 wing nuts on the bolts holding the platform (you only really need 4, one on each corner, not 6). When I’m done printing, I can just detach the HBP connector (power off first!) and quickly unscrew the wing nuts. This allows for easy access to the printed piece from all sides, plus I can apply quite a bit of force without affecting the structure of the Thing-O-Matic.

At some point, I’d love to see a quick release mechanism for the Thing-O-Matic platform, like this one, but for now this is really saving me a lot of time and effort.

When putting together my Thing-O-Matic, first with a Mk5 extruder and then a Mk6+, a perpetual source of frustration was attaching the thermocouple to the thermal block. It seemed like tightening the nut would rotate it, and it would come loose. Moreover, more than once the stresses of assembling and disassembling the extruder would loosen it as well.

Fortunately, there is a simple solution:

Mk6+ heater block with groove for thermocouple

I used a Dremel tool with a diamond grinding bit to make a groove in the side of the heater block, where the thermocouple fits. It grips the thermocouple wire as the nut is tightened, and prevents it from rotating loose. With this simple change, I can always get the thermocouple installed on the first try, and it feels really solid.

I’ve been working with Lynn Hershman on some interesting projects, including a large-scale interactive installation that was shown at the Sundance film festival. The piece allows users to browse an archive of videos featuring work by contemporary women artists, using virtual flashlights that illuminate a simulated room.

I was able to use my Makerbot to make some small but critically important parts for the physical interface, parts that would have been difficult to make using any other techniques. Using the Makerbot and OpenSCAD, not only was I able to build the part (with help from friends), but I had it very, very quickly.

Wii to flashlight adapter ring

Keep reading for more details on what this little part does, and why using the Makerbot was the best option for building it.

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