If you have never participated in Thing-A-Day before, here’s the quick summary: this is an opportunity to join a vocal crowd of Makers who are seizing the day, each day for a month, as an opportunity to make something new and then share it (or evidence of it) as part of their community posting effort. Several of us at MakerBot are planning to participate on our own time with a wide range of tools — and encourage you all to not only consider signing up and sticking with the challenge, but also posting your creations to Thingiverse for all of our community to savor.
A few tips. Aim … um … simple. Like 45min from idea-to-thing kind of simple. And push a bit ahead towards the next day whenever a little extra time falls your way. Oh, and take those things that you have to do anyway and twist them into opportunities to share something that, frankly, people really will appreciate anyway.
Inspire all of us and help populate Thingiverse with new and exciting things that have never been shared there before!
And don’t forget, the Thingiverse tag you should use for your posts is: “thing-a-day”
The Atlantic just posted a piece pointing to MakerBot and Thingiverse as a trend setter that tech innovation giants such as Apple should be following closely — and threaded throughout the piece is an excellent profile of Thingiverse maker Brendan Dawes that really does a good job of giving a glimpse of how many of us are using MakerBots in our everyday lives:
I asked Dawes if the MakerBot had changed him; if it had altered his perspective in some unexpected way. “What’s exciting to me is the opportunity to look at industrial design –a very difficult, very sophisticated craft– with fresh eyes. I’m able to approach these problems from crazy angles, because I haven’t spent twenty years immersed in the culture of industrial design,” he said.
“That and it’s sort of magical to have this thing sitting at home, this thing that makes physical objects out of nothing,” he said. “It’s just amazing.” (link)
Following a lead established by past MakerBot Artist-in-Residence Marius Watz, Ganske has just now released several of his projects on Thingiverse with a Creative Commons license that permits MakerBot Operators all over the world to make his sculptures for themselves. Like Watz, Ganske sees no difficulty offering both supervised and signed pieces of his work in a limited edition for a collectors/gallery setting and also offering a version for download for those with 3D printers who wish to execute their own non-commercial replicas of his work.
The collaboration with Ganske — himself now quite an accomplished, enthusiastic MakerBot Operator — didn’t stop with his first pieces: he was commissioned by MakerBot to create illustrations, including what MAKE described as that “awesome poster annoucing the launch of The Replicator 3D printer“!
This is a sculpture from my recent solo show, "Tomorrow Land"! You can read all about the meaning of the work here: rhgallery.com/site/exhibitions/tomorrowland/tomorrowland_pressrelease.pdf
What's important is this sculpture features the silhouette of William Shatner cut out of a landscape.
It's art so it's not "for" anything other than to impress your friends with your well-developed cultural palette.
This is a sculpture from my recent solo show, "Tomorrow Land"! You can read all about the meaning of the work here: rhgallery.com/site/exhibitions/tomorrowland/tomorrowland_pressrelease.pdf
This is a variation on the first sculpture (also on Thingiverse). What's important is this sculpture features the silhouette of William Shatner cut out of a landscape.
It's art so it's not "for" anything other than to impress your friends with your well-developed cultural palette.
This is a sculpture from my recent solo show, "Tomorrow Land"! You can read all about the meaning of the work here: rhgallery.com/site/exhibitions/tomorrowland/tomorrowland_pressrelease.pdf
This sculpture commemorates the end of the shuttle program. The shuttle silhouette is cut out of a cemetery. Pour one out for this retired work-horse!
It's art so it's not "for" anything other than to impress your friends with your well-developed cultural palette.
We are looking forward to seeing Micah’s work appearing in homes and other settings around the world, and you might catch a glimpse of Micah’s posters in a city near you….
If you are in the Greater Los Angeles Area, stop by the Affordable Art Fair this weekend to catch Keith and myself as we introduce the brand new MakerBot Replicator to the West Coast!1 The remaining hours are today until 8pm and tomorrow (Sunday) from 11am until 6pm.
We have been visiting with AAF neighbors and presenters such as ArtStar.com, the filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, and the LA-based Toy Art Gallery. We are even making 3D printed versions of vinyl art toys by awesome Art Toy heroes Luke Chueh and Dave Bondi for the Toy Art Gallery staff, work the gallery hasn’t yet had the opportunity to produce.
Quite a few MakerBot Operators such as Miles Lightwood (TeamTeamUSA), Theron Trowbridge and the crew at CRASHspace, and MakerBot’s Taylor Goodman (based in LA) have spent a lot of time with us at the booth, sharing things for us to print and generally introducing us to the wonderful design and DIY community here. We are hoping that Cliff who designed Chess Set I (that we are making giant) and other Thingiverse superstars will stop in also.
At night, we have been running all over town, introducing the machine to CRASHspace, UCLA’s engineering students, galleries and museums, and other hackerspaces. We have also been printing “Keith it!” busts of a cleaned up Beethoven model at night and placing them on the Thomas Organ in the lobby of The Standard – Downtown. To date, these custom 3D printed sculptures have been either stolen or disposed of by the hotel staff within a couple of hours of appearing. But we have photos to document.
Wanna visit for free? drop a request to griffin at makerbot dot com by 11am on Sunday and he’ll see about adding you to the list with a comp’d ticket! [↩]
The software engineers working on revisions of ReplicatorG for our new machines created a button called “Keith It” to created maximum-sized objects to suit the new three-times-Thing-O-Matic build volume by Keith’s request. This name will only persist if you request it… [↩]
We believe that this Thingiverse should commit itself to achieving the goal before the month is out of landing MakerBot People on the moon, and housing these daring adventurers there safely and productively in sight of the distant Earth, their home….
So stated President R.Maker in a recent address to the Congressional Assembly of Benevolent Moderators and the Citizens of Thingiverse… and we have breaking news to report. There has been touch down on the moon. I repeat, the MakerBot mission to the moon has now landed, and the MakerBot People are having a great time.
Yesterday, we introduced Michael “Skimbal” Curry’s MakerBot Fairytale Castle Playset. Now, we transport you thousands and thousands of miles away — to the MakerBot Moonbase Playset! Michael has clearly outdone himself with this lovely Flash Gordon / Buck Rogers / Tintin-inspired 1950s rocket playset centerpiece. Gizmodo declared this playset: “The Best Use of New MakerBot“!1
Forward Brave Astronauts!
Journey into the farthest reaches of the Cosmos and be among the first humans to see the wonders of our Thingiverse.
Your daring MakerBot crew risks all for science, adventure, and our distributed-manufacturing future!Created by Thingiverse user Skimbal, designer of the Turtle Shell Racers, MakerBot Botmobile and the Gothic Cathedral Playset.
Greetings Bold Adventurers!
I know you must be pretty excited right now, but please try to contain yourselves while we get thought this final pre-flight briefing....
Your rocket is just coming out of the Replicator now. And let me be the first to say, she’s a beauty. This new model you’ll be flying has that stunning red-and-white color scheme, and a much lower risk of sudden occupant liquefaction.
We’ll be sending you on a daring voyage of exploration and discovery. You're going out into the furthest reaches of the known Thingiverse, with only your wits and those little helmets for protection. We have no idea whats out there... or if it's friendly. But here at MakerBot Space Exploration our engineers have decided its best to just say positive.
Remember, it's the dream of every spool of filament to one day be printed into an astronaut, and you are the lucky few who get to live that dream. Go forth my brave astronauts and see all there is to be seen! Discover all that can be discovered! Meet new prints and learn their ways! Yours is the greatest adventure of our time!
And be sure to take lots of pictures, you know we love a good slide show. Created by Thingiverse user Skimbal, designer of the Turtle Shell Racers, MakerBot Botmobile and the Gothic Cathedral Playset.
As a special treat for CES this year, MakerBot posed a set of provocative questions:
Remember the playsets, dollhouses, action figures, army figurines, and plastic ponies you played with so passionately in your youth? Dreaming up secret worlds — or creating narratives with friends, neighbors, classmates, and siblings?
Well, what if you could produce these tools of imagination with the push of a button? And what if you could roll up your sleeves and invent your own characters, furnishings, and buildings — and share them not only with your children, nieces, nephews, neighbors, or friends, but also, and instantly, with the rest of the world?
Handcrafted dollhouses are nothing new to the serious Maker, but MakerBot is taking steps to make this practice easier and more widely adopted than ever before. For the rest of January, MakerBot and a squadron of Makers will be introducing the MakerBot Playsets to the Thingiverse: 1:18 scale dollhouses as full of imagination and mischief as craft, modeling techniques, and cleverness.
MakerBot’s own design superstar Michael “Skimbal” Curry, creator of such Thingiverse megahits as the Turtle Shell Racers and Gothic Cathedral playset, starts the ball rolling by architecting a pair of MakerBot Playset buildings. Introducing two new Thingiverse superstars: Cushwa and PrettySmallThings are doing a tremendous job furnishing these playsets with their imaginations.1
Long Long ago in a land far away, there was a little castle surrounded by an industrious town. The townspeople loved their little castle and wanted it to be perfect. But the little castle was empty. Its owner had left long ago, taking all the fine things with him and locking them away.
The Townspeople resolved to re-furnish there castle. They learned to craft and create. Making chest and chairs, tables and beds, gadgets and gizmo's, they filled the castle with things that reflected themselves and their experiences. They created so many things that at the end of each day it looked like little castle couldn't hold any more.
But the castle had a secret. Every night, it grew. Sprouting new towers, chambers, and cellars. The town's people would awaken and rejoice, ready for another day of crafting and creating. The town was proud of its magical castle, and everyone wanted to fill it with the best that they could offer.
But wasn't a magical castle, it was a MakerBot Castle.
Each night the daring Damsels deftly deployed their wondrous Replicator, creating new rooms to extend the structure. Floor by floor they built up into the sky. Until one day the little castle had become the tallest and grandest in all the Thingiverse.
And the small town around the castle had grown into a great city, filled with the incredible things and spectacular ideas. The Makers, Crafters, and Hackers had learned from furnishing the castle. They had perfected their crafts and honed their skills. When they looked out on the world from the tallest tower, and saw that it too was a place they could rebuild. And they spread across the land, sharing their knowledge and teaching others how to improve the world around them.Created by Thingiverse user Skimbal, designer of the Turtle Shell Racers, MakerBot Botmobile and the Gothic Cathedral Playset.
The daring MakerBot Damsels are in no manner of distress -- they deftly define their own world of wondrous wizardry. Making, Creating, and Crafting, they dexterously develop designs for castles, creatures, and contraptions.
Deploying Cupcakes, Thing-O-Matics, and Replicators, dozens of Damsels distribute production precisely for punctual perfection.
Dastardly deed doers and nefarious ninja gnomes beware, the Damsels don’t take kindly to klepto capers and would-be kidnappers.Created by Thingiverse user Skimbal, designer of the Turtle Shell Racers, MakerBot Botmobile and the Gothic Cathedral Playset.
The November issue of the MakerBot Newsletter which we launched last Friday morning offered a very special set of coupon codes, valid for “Black Friday” until the end of “Cyber Monday” (Nov 28th). A coupon, in fact, that we’ve never been able to offer before: tremendous discounts on our flagship MakerBot Thing-O-Matic fully-assembled and user-assembled kits. This discount was so popular over the weekend, that we have decided to extend it to all of our community, even those who have not yet signed up for our newsletter.1
While the coupon codes were created solely for those who signed up for the newsletter, these codes will work for anyone who uses them in the coupon code part of checkout in our online shopping cart. This deal is only valid until midnight EST (“New York”) time, so those interested should jump on this now before these discounted kits sell out or the window on the coupon code closes. Feel free to share these coupon codes as widely while they still function! We want everyone possible to take advantage of this extremely unusual discount.
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.
Earlier this year, videos circulated revealing prototypes of Japanese “nekomimi”1 — robotic, wearable cat costume ears that bend, twist and re-orient based on a wearer’s mood and brain activity. This impressive, if whimsical, engineering feat makes a great deal more sense within the context of the endless repetition of the motif of catgirls in Japanese manga, anime and cosplay.2 But even beyond these cultural associations, anyone who has spent time with a housecat has probably noticed the expressive qualities of cat ears.
Ever since the high-end tech demos surfaced, DIY Makers world-over have been experimenting with how to accomplish this type of project using components at least a few orders of magnitude cheaper than research-grade brain scanning equipment. In fact, MakerBot R&D staffer and anime-fan Benjamin Rockhold has a folder full of mechanical and arduino sketches to address this very chibi-awesome design challenge.3
Well, MakerBot Operator Josh DiMauro not only beat everyone to the punch, he has brought the whole project in at a price that has kickstarted an entire branch of DIY, affordable brain-mappable appendages with his MindWave Cat Ears project on Thingiverse. And he was able to accomplish his mission quickly over the course of scores of iterations thanks to his MakerBot Cupcake!
Follow below the fold for a quick interview with Josh in the wake the posting of his own tech demo video (at the head of this article). Read the rest of this entry »
combination of Japanese words for “cat” and “ears” [↩]
There are further recurrences of this image in the darker crevices of the Internets — I suggest you neglect to investigatefurther. [↩]
He is both delighted, and disappointed, that someone else got there first. [↩]
I figured this tool might be useful for the MakerBot Clock Makers project and for educators and students looking to explore basic gear mechanics. (I am spending time each day designing new attachments for it.)
