MakerBot Industries

Imagine this: you’re working on a hobby project at home…working on, say adding binding to a mandolin or something like this.  Suddenly, you realize you’re almost out of clamps (the horror!)

Now imagine this: instead of driving down to the Hobby Hut or the McHardware and plunking down another $20 for that one extra clamp you need, what if you just printed one?  And then, you realize if you time the job right, that clamp would be ready just in time?

“It can’t be done,” you say.  And to this, I answer: not so.  It can be done.  NOW.

In fact, Thingiverse’s own RotoScan has already made this possible. That’s right, folks: the future is already here.  Again.

Hobby Clamps by RotoScan

Fully printable, functional mini clamps. Capable of maintaining up to five pounds of clamping force. Mini Clamp with 85mm clamping capacity Mini Spreader Clamp with 110mm capacityChanges made: Slightly shorter to better fit the TOM build platform Jaw changed to slide more easily on Bar Lip added to Jaw and to Wedge for easier one handed clamping/unclamping. Three more sizes of Wedges. Wedge2 is the standard size. If the jaw fits too loosely or too tightly, try one of the other sizes. The "ClampWedges" file has one of each size of wedge so that you can test the different fits. Added the Spreader Clamp Added 140mm blank Bar

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Polargraphs are basically really cool drawing robots that have been designed by Sandy Noble, a programmer and artist.  If you’ve never seen one in action, now’s your chance. ¹  Imagine a slow spider crawling around a wall and drawing at the same time.  A microcontroller operates two motors which reel in and out a line which is attached to a pen.  As the pen swings back and forth, it draws in a precise pattern to draw whatever you’ve programmed it to draw.  While very slow, it can cover a really huge drawing area that is pretty much only limited by the amount of string you set it up with and the ink reservoir of your chosen pen.

Thingiverse citizen and prolific printer John Abella recently created a printable gondola to hold the Polargraph’s drawing pen.  The Polargraph requires a bunch of stock off-the-shelf parts and some custom lasercut acrylic and wood bits.  By using a 3D printer to create these assemblies, you’re reducing the need for custom lasercut parts, fasteners, and the assembly time that would normally go into their construction.

Noble’s work reminded me of a similar project by Chicago artist Harvey Moon who showed off his work on “The Drawing Machine” at the recent Maker Faire.  Using a similar cable driven microcontroller controlled² pen drawing machine, Moon’s robot draws the same image differently each time!  Thus, each drawing is a unique little snowflake of arbitrary drawing machine coolness!

There are other equally impressive variations on drawing wall robots in the form of the Hektor, which draws with spray paint cans, the Drawbot by AS220 Labs, and Der Kritzler by Alexander Weber.  Alexander’s website provides a number of links to the websites of similar projects, if you’re looking for more information.

Also, thanks to John Abella for patiently answering my questions and pointing out additional resources!

Polargraph Gondola by JohnA

Based on Sandy Noble's Polargraph: polargraph.co.uk This is the first pass at a printable gondola for a Polargraph. It works, but it could use some tweaks. Anyone looking to improve it: the lower section arms are a little thin, and the spot for the captive nut isn't exactly sized right. I'd also beef up the upper chain mounts, as there's not much plastic outside the hole. The motor brackets and pulleys I'm using can be found here: thingiverse.com/thing:12403Lots more photos of the whole process here: flickr.com/photos/jabella/sets/72157627888557352/

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1. Cue video! [↩]
2. Redundant?  Perhaps. [↩]

Bicycle Spoke Beads by JonMonaghan

The bicycle spoke beads featured in this week’s MakerBot TV created by MakerBot artist-in-residence Jon Monaghan aren’t just retro, they’re futurist retro.  While bicycle spoke beads are clearly retro, being able to have spoke beads in any shape, color, or size created by your own MakerBot 3D printer is clearly futuristic ¹

Bicycle Spoke Beads by JonMonaghan

Go Retro.

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1. Okay, you got me.  Really, I just wanted a post with the title, “Bespoke Spoke Beads.” [↩]

MakerBot owner, John Biehler, explains the wonders of the  Thing-O-Matic on Get Connected, our new fave Canadian tech site! Check out the video to see John show off some cool things he’s printed including a money clip, Stephen Colbert’s head and even the Get Connected logo.

In this XtraSpecial episode of MakerBot TV grandiose guest host Xzibot shows you how to use your bot to deck out your bicycle (or tricycle for that matter)! Don’t miss out! Bot Your Bike!

Huge thanks to Jonathan Monaghan, Stef Shapira, Sam Gruen, Michael Curry and John Ditamos. Thank you also to devellison for the sprocket design, dreameredeemer for the light clamp design, gaarden for the tire lever, tamberg for the handlebar plug, jsadusk for the valve cap, aylr for the ipod case, and jonmonaghan for the cupholder and spoke beads. Music by Simon Stålenhag.

Cardboard Dragon with 3D-printed feet

I can honestly say I didn’t understand just how cool these simple 3D printed feet were until I saw this picture.  Drawing an animal for a kid is one great.  But being able to turn that drawing into a toy for them to play with is just so much cooler.  Thingiverse user and MakerBot dad guru has provided his method for creating quick and fun characters for use with these plastic feet.  In the true spirit of Thingiverse, he’s also shared his OpenSCAD designs for printing your own feet.

Also, I would be remiss in my duties if I didn’t mention SuperAmi‘s own game piece foot which serves a similar purpose. ¹

Feet for Cardboard-Figures by guru

I made some cardboard-figures from the delivery-boxes of a very famous book-seller and needed some feet. So i fired up my makerbot and printed some local-guru.net/blog/2011/10/12/Cardboard-Dragon-with-3D-printed-feet

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Game Piece Foot by SuperAmi

At the flee market this weekend I found a board game from my childhood, so of course, I bought it for my child. Unfortunately it was missing one of the plastic feet for the game pieces. So, I broke out the calipers and got scading. The piece is designed for the great game Mausefalle (http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/25097/mausefalle), but it should work with little or no modification with many a great board game with cardboard cutout game pieces. (ie: Candy Land) Now I just need to find the rules for Mausfalle, since I don't remember how to get out of the mouse holes...

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1. I suppose, SuperAmi’s foot is for monopods and guru’s feet are for bipedal and quadrupedal creatures? [↩]

Miles Lightwood, AKA, TeamTeamUSA is in town doing an artist in residency in the MakerBot Industries workshop. He arrived into town and we wandered over to check out Occupy Wall Street and we got a chance to hear Tom Morello, who’s part of Rage Against the Machine and is righteous. They are using the human megaphone technique since they aren’t allowed to use electric amplification. The way it works is speaker says MIC CHECK and everyone who can hear them repeats it and one sentence at a time gets repeated so that the speaker can be heard.

Miles was inspired to make MIK CHK, a megaphone to extend the range of the human microphone technique. Miles modelled up a clip that connects a coffee cup and two manilla folders and adds a comfortable grip. Viola! You’ve got yourself a MIK CHK megaphone that will extend the range of the human microphone technique.

Download it and go be heard!

MIC CHK by TeamTeamUSA

Share your voice. Save your voice. This thing is part of a DIY megaphone to acoustically amplify your voice. It's great for gatherings where electronic amplification is forbidden. All you need is a coffee cup, some card stock, and the printable MIC CHK (microphone check) clip. Once assembled, like the movie directors of yore, you can make yourself heard loudly and clearly.youtu.be/hlzPJrGIbTo Print out a bunch and bring them to your next gathering! Share your voice. Save your voice.

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Pirate Hook by SuperAmi

Thingiverse citizen and MakerBot dad SuperAmi has shared what is sure to be a Halloween favorite – a parametric pirate hook!  One of the most amusing things about this picture is that it really looks like SuperAmi’s son is running at top speed.  In my family the refrain of “You’ll put your eye out!” has been passed down through generations.  I can just picture this pirate tyke responding, “No I won’t!  I’m wearing an eyepatch!”

Parametric Pirate Hook by SuperAmi

This is a parametric pirate hook I made for my son's birthday party. It fits the paw of a 4-5 year old very well. It consists of three prints, the cup for around the hand, the hook, and then the grip and joining piece. My son really likes it, although the hook is a little primitive. I've included the SCAD. The cup file is parametric, and while not greatly laid out, it should be easy enough to scale up or down. Its also relatively tall, and could easily be shortened by a centimeter or two. The other files are not parametric, because I was in a hurry, but they should be easy enough to adjust.

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Here’s another awesome video for you to watch! BBC News has just featured Bre and Thingiverse in the latest edition of their Living Online series. The piece focuses on companies taking to the Internet to push innovation and Thingiverse is name checked as a prime outlet for creative collaboration. Consider this video a friendly reminder to design something new and share it on Thingiverse today!

If you are in the Seattle area, check out this invite from the Seattle MakerBot Users Group!

On Saturday, October 15th, the Seattle MakerBot Users Group in collaboration with StudentRND invite you to a family friendly gathering to share the fun and excitement of the 3D printing community! Members of the Seattle MakerBot Users Group will be bringing MakerBots and Mendels as well as knowledge and some expertise on how to use them.

This is a great opportunity to meet others who are interested and active in 3D printing. Come and find some local experts with whom to ‘talk shop’, and share the excitement of this up and coming technology!

We’ll also order pizza and split the cost depending on how many people show up.

When:
October 15th 2011
4:00pm-8:00pm (if you’re bringing a bot feel free to email chgray@gmail.com with any questions)

Where:
StudentRND
1405 132nd Ave NE, Suite 3
Bellevue WA 98005

Seattle Makerbot Users Group

• http://groups.google.com/group/seattlemakerbot

StudentRND

• http://studentrnd.org/
• http://facebook.com/StudentRND
• http://twitter.com/StudentRND