MakerBot Industries

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” [↩]

The Internet is a fascinating place, providing the creative, industrious and entrepreneurial with an equal and open platform from which to be heard.

Our elected Representatives have been misled to believe that the needs of a few increasingly irrelevant corporate entities outweigh all the great things a free and open Internet has brought to the world.

Join us in reminding our congressional delegations that by altering the rules to protect the few, they will close the door on so many infinite possibilities the future may have held.

The rule of thumb is that a letter is 100X the value of a phone call. If a 2D action gets a 100X multiplier, then a 3D action could get 1000X the multiplier.

Please go to Thinigiverse and print this coin, and mail it to your Senator and Congressman.

Find your representative here: contactingthecongress.org/

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

So without further ado, straight from the soundstage backlot of Annelise’s Replicator music video, The Right Heart, we present you with the MakerBot Fairytale Castle Playset and the Damsels!

The MakerBot Fairytale Castle Playset and Damsels

MakerBot Fairytale Castle Playset by MakerBotWorkshop

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.

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MakerBot Damsels by MakerBotWorkshop

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.

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1. We will be introducing new Thingiverse superstars over the next few weeks. [↩]

So, you’ve probably heard by now that we got a few awards while we were at CES last week, but what you may not have heard is that we were also giving out a few awards there. As a team we spent some time exploring the tradeshow and seeking out some of the raddest robots, the coolest companies, and the products we could really get behind to present them with MakerBot Awesome Awards. Here’s some pictures of a few of the honored recipients.

Will Smith and Norman Chan from Tested are definitely keeping it awesome – they do a segment on their show called the MakerBot Mystery Build.

Derek from iBallz is keeping it awesome too with his inexpensive and incredibly fun ipad cases.

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This triangle would be a little harder to explain (Penrose Triangle Illusion by chylld)

This morning I was helping my daughter brush her teeth.  As I was putting toothpaste on her toothbrush, she told me she had composed a song for me.  Her song went like this:

“I love making toys with my daddy
My daddy’s robot goes zoom zoom when it makes things out of triangles”¹

Several weeks ago I was trying to explain to her how my Thing-O-Matic converts our designs into physical objects.  I told her I save our designs as STL files.  I explained that any thing we see in the world could be expressed as a bunch of polygons.  I then explained that any polygon could be expressed as a bunch of triangles.  So, really, anything we could see or draw could be described as a bunch of triangles.  And, once we have our file that is comprised of a bunch of triangles, we give it to our robot² to build into our toys and tools.

1. It has kind of a Francis song sort of a tone to it [↩]
2. Flexo, the Thing-O-Matic [↩]

Three digit electromechanical Counter / Register 2.0 by Chris

Thingiverse citizen Chris…  Please post a video!!!  I’m dying to see this electromechanical counter/register by Thingiverse in action!

Three digit electromechanical Counter / Register 2.0 by chris

This is version 2.0 of a 3-digit, base-10 register for an electromechanical computer I'm working on. It is stepper-driven, and works like a 3-digit counter, counting from 000-999 before rolling over. When all three digit wheels read '0-0-0', 3 reed switches will close and a circuit will be completed to detect the condition. This one uses fewer parts and has at least been slightly tested. It also has larger digit surfaces for better visibility, and comes with printable labels!

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Wheel repair by mrbenbritton

Thingiverse citizen mrbenbritton clearly put a lot of thought into this simple toy stroller wheel repair.  While admitting up front that the entire stroller was probably not even worth $6, mrbenbritton designed and printed this replacement wheel for a previously repaired stroller. ¹  Even if this was a $6 toy, the value to a kid is sometimes entirely out of proportion to the intrinsic value of an object.

About six months ago I fixed a very small foam sailboat for my daughter when she lost the mast. ²  To this day she will come up to me randomly and thank me again for having fixed her boat with a piece of black ABS filament as a mast replacement.

I suspect that mrbenbritton will be happy to find out that his daughter will probably remember her dad would always fix her toys long after the $6 stroller is forgotten.

Wheel repair by mrbenbritton

This is my first thing. A new wheel to replace one that broke on a toy stroller. The stroller was only worth $6 and is already held together by bamboo and gaffer tape so not really worth repairing but I did it anyway and my daughter loves it!

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1. I love this so much that I think a new slogan for MakerBot may just be in order.
   • “MakerBot.  When duck tape and bamboo just aren’t enough.”
   • “Even Macguyver has an off day.”

   [↩]

2. Actually what happened was that she found a hole in one of her larger molded plastic toys, pulled the mast out of her sailboat, inserted it into the hole to see if it would fit, and it disappeared forever.  I wasn’t about to chop apart a large plastic toy to get a thin black plastic stick. [↩]