MakerBot Industries

Thanks to vik for the image!

To all of you who are celebrating the popular winter holiday today, from all of us at MakerBot: Merry Christmas.  We hope that you all are enjoying it in health and prosperity.

If you’ve just unboxed a brand-new Thing-O-Matic kit, welcome to the MakerBot community!  You’ll most likely want to have a look at our build instructions and Quick Start Guide to get started!  I know it’s all very exciting, but make sure you read and understand those instructions before starting your build.  If you do have issues you can’t resolve on your own, make sure that you email us at support@makerbot.com and we’ll get back to as soon as we can.

And to all of those who have just given the gift of MakerBot: enjoy a nice, quiet day, and make sure that your loved one doesn’t forget to feed him or herself.

Happy Holidays!

So you still haven’t gotten anything for Dad?  Have a 3d printer?  Even though there time for shipping has past, you still don’t need to hit the mall.  Here’s your solution: a 3d-printable tie!

Thingiverse user Nudel_P was no doubt in this very situation just a few days ago, before he created this ingenious 3d-printable accessory.  The advantages are obvious: easy assembly, high resistance to soup drips, and a handsome, vaguely 8-bit aesthetic.

Fire up your MakerBot and print one out today in your favorite color — your dad is sure to love it!

Tie - Print and wear - Parametric by Nudel_P

I present to you, the RepRap tie!Update 12.30.2011: Added minecraft stl one one 20x20cm build plate and individual pieces in zip file. Yet untested! Don't know how well the holes will print when laying flat, please leave feedback if you try.Update 12.30.2011: Added a stl file of a tie made from a stl file. Check out tie_stl.zip for source code. Not yet printed! For years people have made ties out of wood, and I adopted the principle for 3d printing. Could it be a world first? The basic idea is to take a 3d model, cut holes in it for string and then cut it into smaller pieces so the tie will bend. I'm not overly satisfied with how the ties sits around the neck, perhaps someone has an idea for a better solution? Also, any special ideas for a tie, just make a comment and I'll give it a go. :)

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Ye Plastic-hungry masses: we have good news!  We’ve just received a shipment of 1.75 mm plastic and it just so happens that plastic will be delivered by Christmas (aka day 6 of Channukah or the day before Kwanzaa) if you order today and choose one of the overnight shipping options!

Even better, we’ve received another small allotment of one of our new favorites, silver ABS in 1.75 mm.

If you’re still doing last-minute holiday shopping, there’s still time: just choose one of the next day delivery options.  We hope that this makes a few holiday seasons just a bit brighter.

Final pre-Christmas ship dates:

Ground Shipping: Too Late!

3-day service: Too Late!

2-day service: Too Late

Next Day Air: Today!

Thing 14222 -- thanks jimcook for the photo!

We are getting right down to it here, people.  This is do or die time — when the men are separated from the boys.  This is where we winnow the wheat from the chaff, gift-giving-wise anyway.  It’s where the going gets tough, and the…yeah, well, anyway the point is there’s not much time left to order gifts.

If you want any amazing items from the MakerBot store to arrive by December 24th (or as I like to think of it, day 5 of Hanukkah) then the shipping schedule will be as seen below.

There are some great things in the store right now for your favorite makers, including MakerBot Projects like the Windup Walkers and Dynamo, as well as amazing prices on kits like the evergreen MintyBoost and LOLshield, and the epic Ostrich Egg Bot kit!

Final pre-Christmas ship dates:

Ground Shipping: Too Late!

3-day service: Too Late!

2-day service: GLORZOMG!  TODAY!!!!

Next Day Air: order by December 20th

Must-have print: R. Maker Christmas ornament!

That’s right folks — the days are counting down to the big day with boxes under the tree.  There are a few more days to get some of those great kits, or one last spool of plastic for some holiday printing…or perhaps a MK6 upgrade if your favorite MakerBotter still doesn’t have a stepper-based extruder. We even have a few colors of 1.75 mm plastic in stock right now!

So if you haven’t scratched all the names off of your “nice” list, it’s time to get cracking!

Final pre-Christmas ship dates:

Ground Shipping: Too Late!

3-day service: TODAY!  ZOMG!

2-day service: order by December 19th

Next Day Air: order by December 20th

Have you already decorated your DIY non-specific winter Holiday tree?  If not, I humbly submit for your approval not one but TWO complete winter solstice holiday tree topping solutions!

Firstly, cheerioboy has crafted a very traditional (and very beautiful) 5-pointed star of the type commonly found…well, atop trees inside people’s homes at this time in the winter.  While the above image is a mockup (he unfortunately does not yet have a 3d printer) it certainly would look very nice printed in PLA with a light source inside!

Nextly, Weldingrod1 boldly offers a star format with more than 5 total points!  This design, while breaking from tradition, exploits the multi-dimensionality of the medium.  Brilliant! (Get it?)

So once you’re hone hewing the celebratory bough with your DIY chainsaw, fire up your MakerBot and top it off!

Holiday Star / tree topper by cheerioboy

I bought my first Christmas tree this year, so to celebrate I designed a digital star topper to go on top. Unfortunately I don't have a printer to make him :(. But I bet it would look great if it was printed with a translucent material so a light could shine from within! Let me know how I might improve on this and make it easier to print.

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Christmas tree topper/star by Weldingrod1

This is a stellated dodecahedron to fancy up your tree!

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Due to an overwhelming response, I’m sad to report we have accepted as many orders as we can for Thing-O-Matics for Christmas arrival. You can still order them, but you won’t be able to put a big box under the tree. We suggest giving your MakerBot-craving loved ones a card on the 25th that says “You’re getting a MakerBot delivered in a few days.”

Our shipping crew has been working long hours sending out the high volume of orders we’ve taken in this holiday season, and today’s day-long outage at our colocation facility has not made their job any easier.  We’ve used the time to double-check our numbers and we’ve had to make the call — no more guarantees about December 24th delivery.   We are waiting on several parts shipments, we simply cannot guarantee delivery before Christmas.

Order placed prior to December 6th should still ship for Christmas arrival.

Additionally, we will be accepting orders for only more 10 fully-assembled Thing-O-Matics this year, so our bot-building team can catch up with previously-filed orders.  These fully-assembled units have a 4-5 week lead time and will be shipping in January 2012.

We still have Thing-O-Matics to sell, and these will be available for order as soon as we get our servers moved to the cloud. While we can’t guarantee that the box will be under the tree on December 25th, you should have your kit orders soon thereafter.

Finally, we’d like to take the time to say thank you to all of our amazing customers.  This year has been an intense, exciting journey, and you, our customers, have made it possible.  We really wish we could give all of you everything you want instantly.  Thanks for your patience as we go through these growing pains.

Update: Since we’re not going to be able to get these under the tree, we’re dropping the price for Thing-O-Matic kits by another $100 for those of you who are ordering now.  This is a thank-you to those of you who will have to wait a bit longer for their MakerBots!

Just a reminder: there’s still time to order Thing-O-Matic kits for Christmas delivery!  Stocks are good and we’re shipping out steadily, so you’ve got all week to place your orders. Give the maker in your life the gift that keeps on giving!

Here are our final order-by dates for delivery by December 24th:

As the dust settles from our epic Black Friday sale-tacular, we’ve been able to take stock of the situation and re-evaluate some estimates for ship dates.  And there’s some very good news: most previously-ordered bots have already shipped, and this weekend’s order should be out in time for holiday delivery!

Furthermore, we’re now estimating that the Thing-O-Matic will ship with a 1-2 week lead time – which means there’s still time to order for Christmas delivery.  Here are our best estimates for the order cut-off dates for each type of shipping:

Ground Shipping: order by December 12th

3-day service: order by December 16th

2-day service: order by December 19th

Next Day Air: order by December 20th

Note that these estimates are for domestic orders only — as customs times vary greatly for international shipments, we can’t offer estimates for foreign delivery.