You can customize this awesome cube right now!

Chances are you’ve been following along with the newest developments over on Thingiverse and have seen people uploading “Customizable” versions of their OpenSCAD designs.  ((For the latest information on how to make a customizable thing using the Customizer you’re going to want to check out the documentation for this Thingiverse app.  Since you have to authorize the App to be able to use it, there’s no way at the moment for me to provide a direct link to the documentation.))

If you’d like to give the Thingiverse Customizer a shot but aren’t sure where to begin, this tutorial is for you.  Before you get bogged down in the details, just know that I’ve created a “Customizer template” you can use as a starting point for creating your own customizable Thing.  I would suggest first playing with the settings in this template to see how Customizer changes the object.  Then, when you’ve gotten the hang of it, read through this tutorial on how to make a Customizable OpenSCAD file.  Finally, download and check out the template itself in your favorite text editor or OpenSCAD.  Add your own designs and see how you can make your own customizable Things!

• Design!
  • Create your OpenSCAD thing just as you normally would.
• Create Options
  • In order to give Thingiverse users the option to customize your designs through the Customizer App, you’ll need to create options for them.  There are three kinds of user-definable options you can include in  your OpenSCAD file: text boxes, drop down boxes, and numerical sliders.  I’ll discuss each in turn.
    1. Text Box
       1. Simple Text Box.  To add a text box, all you need to do is create a variable.  Like so:
          1. text_box = 10;
       2. Text Boxes with Explanation.  Options are very nice and well, but without an explanation they may be hard for a user to interpret.  Here’s how you would create a similar text box with an explanation:
          1. // This is the explanation text
          2. another_text_box = 10;
    2. Drop Down Box
       1. Drop Down Box of Numbers.  A drop down box can be included by simply including a “//” to comment out the space after a variable and list options like so:
          1. // This creates a drop down box of numbered options
          2. number_drop_down_box = 1; // [0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10]
       2. Drop Down Box of Text.  A drop down box can also include text as possible choices, like this:
          1. // This creates a drop down box of text options
          2. text_drop_down_box = “yes”; // [yes,no,maybe]
       3. Labeled Drop Down Box.  Sometimes it is useful to show the user text labels, but have a numerical value for each text label.  You can do so in this manner:
          1. // This creates a drop down box of text options with numerical values
          2. labeled_drop_down_box = 5; // [1:small, 5:medium, 10:large, 50:supersized]
    3. Numerical Slider
       1.  Once you’ve mastered the text box and the drop down box, the text slider is almost trivial.
          1. // This creates a slider with a minimum and maximum
          2. numerical_slider = 1; // [0:10]
    4. Notes
       1. Not every single variable you reference inside the Customizer start/end section will be included as an option.  If any of your variables use any mathematical operators or other variables in its value, it will not appear as an option.  This can be useful for including “hidden” options within the customizable section – by just multiplying a given variable by 1.¹  For example, the following will not appear as an option:
          1. // This option will not appear
          2. hidden_option = 100*1;
       2. Neither will this:
          1. // This option will also not appear
          2. // another_hidden_option = 101;
• Optional Libraries
  • Thingiverse’s Customizer allows you to include three of the most useful OpenSCAD libraries available – the MCAD library of usual mathematical and mechanical parts, Tony Buser’s pin connectors, and Write for including text.  Here’s how you include each one:
    • include <MCAD/filename.scad>
    • include <pins/pins.scad>
    • include <write/Write.scad>
• Upload to Thingiverse
  • Once you’ve finished your OpenSCAD file, you just need to share it on Thingiverse.
  • Once it has been uploaded, just tag your Thing with the word “customizer”, publish your Thing, and you’re done!
• Limitations
  • Right now there are a few limitations for Customizer.  They are:
    • Your Thingiverse entry can only include on OpenSCAD file.
    • Your OpenSCAD file can’t import any external OpenSCAD code, STL’s, or DXF files.
    • Your OpenSCAD code can only be compiled to a single STL file.

The MakerBot team is continually improving the Customizer, so check back with the documentation frequently so you can find out about the newest features!

1. Such as:  ”this_will_not_appear = 30* 1;” [↩]

Background: Red Bull has become the patron saint of hackers and makers, so it makes total sense that they host the 72-hour Red Bull Creation contest. Selected teams submit functioning entries which have to make use of the Bullduino.

The Hack a Day team’s entry is an ingenious Red Bull delivery system, for those weary troops in the field. No, literally. It’s a cannon that shoots Red Bull cans, which gently parachute down to the ground. How do you get a skinny Red Bull can to fit into a 3-inch diameter cannon?

You MakerBot a custom sabot for it. (Duh.)

MakerBot’s Tony (IWorkInPixels on Thingiverse) joined up with the Hack a Day team recently to help the creation, and designed this piece, including the Hack a Day logo on each bottom piece. He’s shared the design with some detailed instructions on attaching the parachute and an LED for nighttime location.

This is insanely cool. Watch the video above to see the whole system in action and hear an explanation of the contest entry.

Tomorrow is a big holiday in the United States and this app is the perfect way for anyone with a MakerBot to make it special. And delicious.

The company dreamforge has put up a genius custom cookie cutter app for all to enjoy. Introducing Cookie Caster.

It’s web-based, and sits right inside the homepage. You can draw your cookie cutter freehand, or trace an image that you upload from your computer. As you work, the app lays down two end points to each line that you draw, with one point in the middle that you can drag to create curve. That means you really don’t need too many points in your shape if you’re tracing. Just get the basics down and add curvature later.

Once you’re finished, you can save the file to the Cookie Caster gallery (you can see my test triangle, labeled “Pelkertron” because I don’t understand naming things, or my truly terrible Dollar Sign shape). But even better,  you can download the .stl for free and make it right away. If you have a MakerBot, this means you can make custom cookie cutters in minutes. If you don’t have a MakerBot, you can pay a fee to have the Cookie Caster folks send you your finished product. Sweet!

Let’s be sure to give credit to the awesome cookie cutter work of Guru, which inspired Cookie Caster. They say in an email that their app has just made some simple updates to Guru’s and put it on the web.

One possible enhancement to Cookie Caster that stands out would be the ability to add interior shapes to my cookie cutter, like the hole in the middle of a doughnut. Try out the app and throw your feedback in the comments below.

If you come up with any good 4th of July designs, or designs for your own country’s holiday, share them in the Cookie Caster gallery and on Thingiverse!

Sundial by tatsuya

With loads of simplicity and elegance, Tatsuya’s sundial is just plain awesome.  I love the clean lines, thoughtful place for a tiny compass, and the almost seashell like appearance.  Given the small size, this might even make a really good give-away to demonstrate the utility of a 3D printer.

An interesting thing about horizontal sundials is that they need to be customized to the latitude of its location.  There are two ways to do this – either by angling the gnomon¹ or by tilting the entire sundial back or forth to compensate for the differential caused by the latitude of its location versus the latitude for which it was created.  The simple math involved in customizing makes it a perfect candidate for an OpenSCAD model.

Untitled by tatsuya

This thing brought to you by

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:9082

1. The triangular bit on a sundial that casts its shadow [↩]