MakerBot Industries

Foam Dart Pistol by SuperAmi

Thingiverse citizen SuperAmi resized vik’s Foam Dart Pistol for printing in a Thing-O-Matic and added a few features – such as a sight.  I love that these little guys are clearly taking the brand new gun sights very very seriously.¹²

I can also appreciate that each of the guns has a different colored muzzle.  This is probably one of the very best reasons I’ve seen for having multiple colors of plastic on hand.  Easy color differentiation means there won’t be a dispute about who has whose toy – and of course, allows for additional kid customization. ³

1. I would suppose you’d really need a gun sight if you were wearing an eye patch. [↩]
2. Then again, I’m not sure that lining up a gun sight using your eye patched covered eye is the best move. [↩]
3. Pink!  PINK!!! [↩]

OpenJsCad: like OpenSCAD, but using JavaScript

There’s always room for another open source Solid CAD modeller! While I’m a huge fan of OpenSCAD, it does have some limitations.  While you can do some amazingly complex operations in OpenSCAD, you cannot reassign values to variables.  This means that a lot of the usual programming techniques are simply not applicable to OpenSCAD.  With OpenJSCad, you can use dynamic arrays and store solids in variables.

So, if you’re rocking Chrome or a WebGL browser, check out joostn’s OpenJSCad!

Whirligig by ThePlanetMike

I love seeing flying toys and ‘copter parts on Thingiverse because they really showcase the finest points of 3D printing – fine details, strong, durable, thin, and lightweight.  This Whirligig by ThePlanetMike is an excellent accessible and understandable application of how versatile 3D printing can be.  And it’s an awesome flying toy.

Whirligig by ThePlanetMike

Introducing the Thingiverse's first fully printable flying object, the Whirligig. Just like its wooden toy ancestor, the whirligig will fly like a helicopter several meters when spun by hand. Here's a video of the Whirligig in action: youtu.be/Ly2nxN80kGs

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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 running “Keith It!”² versions of 3D scans of people like Laurie Anderson, Bre Pettis, Keith Ozar, Phill Niblock, and others, as well as a few other favorites such as a (newly revised v18!) Barrel of Octopi, giant chess pieces, cows, work by Micah Ganske, and others.

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.

Check out our photo gallery below!

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1. 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! [↩]
2. 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… [↩]

Gear O’Clock by PrintTo3D

We’ve added 5 last-minute tickets for the clockathon this Sunday. It’ll be a fun day of sharing, hacking, and MakerBotting. Sign up at eventbrite!

The guys at Engadget got a sneak peek of The Replicator at CES, and liked it so much that they invited Bre to bring The Replicator to the January Engadget Show! Tune in tonight at 6pm EST to see a live interview with Bre and some new awesome objects printed on The Replicator!

MakerBot’s R&D all-stars have been printing up a PLA storm on our MakerBot Replicators and getting impressive results! Last night we did an overnight time-lapse of this skull and it turned out beautifully!

A remarkable message came into the support desk this week: the story of an active-duty soldier who went the extra mile to get and build his MakerBot Thing-O-Matic while on deployment in Iraq.

Here’s a bit more detail from Josh:

The story is taken from a publication called ‘Expeditionary Times’, it was a newspaper that was circulated in Joint Base Balad, AKA Anaconda in Balad, Iraq. It served soldiers assigned to Iraq during the Iraqi Campaign. My roommate just happened to work at the Newspaper and he was intrigued by my build, which took about five weeks (Sometimes you have to be patient!).

It took me forever to find a 240V Solder Gun. I eventually found one in a Iraqi Bazaar. It was obviously not for sale, but I tried anyways. At first the guy totally refused since they use it to fix nicknacks they sell soldiers, but I started haggling. Iraqi men love to haggle more than anything else so he sold it and I got robbed for the outrageous price of $12.00, I’m sure I could have gotten him to $5 but I wanted that iron bad. Keep in mind a dollar there is like ten here, probably 15 in Brooklyn!

My roommates didn’t complain but I didn’t use it quite as often as I’d like, sharing a 12×12 room with three other soldiers requires diplomacy that i wasn’t sure melting plastic could mend. I moved a couple of more places and the MakerBot was always the first thing out.

It generated a lot of interest. The motorpool Sergeant loved it, he even got me a donated travelcase for it. Those things aren’t cheap!

Needless to say, we are quite impressed with the lengths to which the Staff Sergeant went in order to build his Thing-O-Matic.  What’s more, it sounds like he’s got dome fever (a condition we share) — he’s using his bot to protoype geodesic dome connectors as a type of low-cost housing.

MakerBot Operators are generally pretty interesting, but this is definitely one of the best stories we’ve heard in awhile.  Staff Sgt. Rucinski: We salute you for vision and tenacity!

For the complete story, click here: Pdf

You’ve heard about Michael Curry’s Rocket Playset and the MakerBot Astronauts who live there. So you must know that these astronauts love adventure – over their lifetimes they will be traveling to the farthest reaches of Thingiverse to discover the unknown. Follow along on their adventures or take them on adventures of your own.

What lands will your astronauts traveling to? Take some pictures of your MakerBot Astronauts in the wild and show us what kinds of adventures they’ve been having!

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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

And keep your eyes on the MakerBot Playset tag for the furniture, moon craters, Astronaut accessories and more, appearing even now. Special shout out to Thingiverse superstar PrettySmallThings for creating, and printing, such models as the Captain Kirk-style chair, Sleeping Pods, and other delights. Check out Thingiverse veteran Emmett’s OpenSCAD models for the Apollo Mission lander, the Radar Dish, and the translation of his stretchy bracelets into treads for a Moon Rover.

MakerBot Moonbase Rocket Playset and Astronauts

MakerBot Rocket Playset by MakerBotWorkshop

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.

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MakerBot Astronauts by MakerBotWorkshop

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.

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1. Well, specifically referring to the ability to create “terrifying Lego Space Zombies” [↩]