Cat Litter Trap by Triskite

It’s a testament to the wonders of 3D design and MakerBotting that a 3D printer is just so dang useful.  You can use it to whip up a toy, broken latch, and now… keep kitty litter in it’s proper place.

It may seem like a small matter, but it’s never a good thing to see kitty litter outside of a kitty litter box.  Thingiverse citizen Triskite’s cat litter trap takes care of this problem with aplomb.  While many kitty litter boxes even include similar litter traps, not all of them do.  This is such a simple and useful modification to a litter box or home that no cat lover should do without it to keep the rest of their home free of pesky pet particles.

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Minifig Mechs by wgss

Thingiverse citizen wgss has been absolutely rocking a series of mini Mechs.  There’s so much to appreciate about these designs.  Not only are these scaled just right for legos, but each one of wgss’s four mechs is comprised of more than a dozen individual parts.  For Pete’s sake, he’s even modeled bullets separately.  While this means more gluing and assembly, having the parts separated out means everything can be printed without needing to use support structures and each piece could be printed with a different color plastic.

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Not all upgrades are a good idea

Sure, it seems harmless and innocuous at first.  A little upgrade here, a little upgrade there.  A super strong metalic arm, a sweet head’s up display, maybe an embedded MP3 player.  People, don’t you understand – no good can come of mashing up evil cyborgs and dispensers of delicious candy?!  The next thing you know we have replicas of talk show hosts and disruptive CEO’s.  I urge, no – I implore you, please stop the madness.  And, whatever you do, do not create an evil cyborg action figure that can walk on it’s own.

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P.S. A special thanks to TeamTeamUSA, 7777773, Tony Buser, jbakutis, skimbal, I-Bioloid, Luis, and InnovationByLayers for bringing us just a little closer to Judgment Day and the robopocalypse.

P.P. S.  Okay.  You got me.  I’m not really that worried about the coming robopocalypse.  I really just wanted a post highlighting awesome Doctor Who-themed things on Thingiverse so I could post THIS:

Thanks for the head’s up Sasha!!!

Printable non-lethal grenade by Beardface

As soon as I saw this printable non-lethal grenade by Beardface, I immediately thought…  There is NO way any self-respecting TSA agent or air marshal would ever let you board a plane with such a thing.  There is simply nothing you could say to anyone in an airport that would be soothing enough to make them forget you’ve got a grenade-shaped object in your luggage.  Yes, with great power comes great responsibility.

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Dragon Bookmark

Simple and stylish, this is dragon bookmark by roland is definitely up as my next print in the queue.  One of the cool things about intricate flat prints such as this dragon is that they should, for the most part, take about the same amount of time to print as a flat rectangular plank of the same volume of plastic.  Sure, some settings – especially those that include extra layers at the edge or ones that slow down the print speed for the outlines – might decrease the overall print time.  However, with such a thin piece the time differential is basically negligible.

For most product having a more intricate design means more creation time, more machine time, more production resources.  This is one of the reasons that 3D design and printing are so very exciting.  With 3D printing, you basically get all the intricate designs and features you want without any additional cost!  Your imagination¹ is your only real limitation.

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1. Or the imagination of your designers! [↩]

Acura NSX cookie cutter by EdinKali

Have you ever needed a cookie cutter in the shape of an Acura NSX?  Well, apparently, Thingiverse citizen EdinKali has.

The first thing that struck me about this cookie cutter was that it is so incredibly specific it is.  The universe may only ever contain a small handful of these things. ¹

So, EdinKali, I just have to know…  Why an Acura NSX???

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1. I just know, having said this, someone is going to print off a dozen of them JUST to prove me wrong [↩]

Bokeh-Effector by webghost

For those who didn’t know, such as myself, a “bokeh” effect is the aesthetic quality of the blur in an out-of-focus area in a photograph.  Thingiverse citizen has contributed an attachment for 72mm lenses that will create such bokeh effects.  I would think with a little OpenSCAD magic, one might be able to not only create a parametric derivative of this work, but also create a version that would create blurs and light patterns of nearly any type.

How cool would it be to have a collection of these things?  A lens for dinosaurs, rainbows, unicorns, daleks, fireworks…

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Hands for double sized Lego people by not-so-evil-scientist

Awesome work by Thingiverse’s prodigal son, not-so-evil-scientist!¹

Let’s give him a … round of applause!²

1. Why prodigal son?  Well, if you scan not-so-evil-scientist’s things, you’ll note that the first 8 things are all from about a year ago and have sub-8000 Thingiverse ID numbers.  Then, if you look at the last two contributions, both are sub-9000 whereas the latest things on Thingiverse are in the 21,000 range.  I have to say that I’m really glad that not-so-evil-scientist has returned to publish these long dormant designs! [↩]
2. Okay, I get credit for NOT making the obvious pun there. [↩]

Parametric Sculpture 01 by MCompeau

Don’t underestimate the power of parametric design.  Usually a parametric design¹ means the result tends to be very mathematical and blockly.  MCompeau on Thingiverse, Matt Compeau, has contributed two extremely organic looking parametric designs that are clearly exceptions to this general rule.  Matt’s designs are eerily reminiscent of neurons or perhaps undersea coral.  You can even imagine this as an excellent aquarium accessory – little fishies swimming in, around.

It’s also a heck of a test print to demonstrate the awesome power of DIY 3D printing.

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1. Meaning a design based on parameters [↩]

Restifo's profile picture

I have no idea what is going on in this picture, but it just tickles me.  Normally being caught inside a dalek would be cause for distress.  However, this child appears to be enjoying it. ¹

I just know there’s an amazing backstory here.  Did he find the hollowed out husk of a dalek and decide it would make a great new home, just like a hermit crab?!  Did he defeat a dalek and wears it’s carapace as a warning to other descendents of Skaro?  Perhaps he was bitten by a radioactive dalek and is slowly transforming into a half-boy/half-dalek? ²  Is this a new and improved dalek courtesy of the insidious Davros whose vision cannot be impaired by a simple hat?

1. And, I must say, I’m envious.  If I had a suit of dalek-space-metal, I’d show Iron Man a thing or two! [↩]
2. Can you imagine trying to give a child, housed in a dalek suit, a time out? [↩]