It’s Day 4 of Madiverse, and the Thing I want to post, tbuser’s model of the Mad Men falling man image, has apparently yet to be printed. This may be a problem if your office isn’t packed with 3D printers, but in my case it’s a relatively simple situation to fix.

But here’s the catch: I’ve never printed anything. I have marveled at the design and engineering going on around me, and the incredible ingenuity on display at Thingiverse. But I have secretly worried that there was a something I didn’t know – a code or a handshake I hadn’t been brought into yet – and that diving into my first print would be more of a weekend project than a task between tasks.

I was way wrong. This is a user-friendly, relatively quick process. I saw my Thing on Thingiverse, clicked download, opened the file in ReplicatorG, followed a few simple steps, and saved it to my SD Card. Certainly the entire creation process can be a thousand steps more complicated, but as a first time user, the timeline from finding to holding was pleasantly simple.

After my first attempt, the Falling Man was looking less dapper Madison Avenue culture maker, and more pile of black spaghetti.

Calibration to the rescue! A small adjustment to the platform, and my print was on the way.

So without further ado, here is my first addition to Thingiverse. I’m taking him home and lining his back with magnet strip. Who better to hold my doodles to the fridge door than Don Draper himself?

Untitled by tbuser

This thing brought to you by

todbot with Cupcake #0002 and Replicator #7523

The Replicators are among us. And one way you can keep up with this unfolding story is by following the #MyMakerBot project on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, a way for MakerBot Operators to share their MakerBot Numbers and first prints with the world.

The serial on the back of our bots is not a set of random digits. Each new bot joins a continuity of unique MakerBot numbers that carry forward from the handwriting on the first CupCake, to the laser-etches on the back of The Replicator. MakerBot Operators can often be seen proclaiming their MakerBot Number with pride when their bot accomplishes a print they are excited about.

Check out maker Tod Kurt of ThingM pictured above, better known as todbot, proud owner of both the first CupCake purchased by the public, CupCake #0002, and recipient of the first Replicator shipped out from our facility, Replicator #7523. Talk about early adopter! He has been sharing images of his bot and first prints via flickr and has also introduced his new bot over to the Los Angeles-based hackerspace, Crash Space. His first set of prints is below!

Todbot's first things printed on his new MakerBot Replicator!

Getting a New MakerBot? Here’s How You Can Participate!

Claim your spot in MakerBot history by snapping a photo of yourself next to your MakerBot and upload it to MakerBot Flickr group. You don’t have to have a Replicator to play along — all MakerBots are welcome! After your photo is up on Flickr, share your photo with the rest of the world via Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook with hashtag “#MyMakerBot” and your MakerBot Number!

Once you’ve got your MakerBot calibrated, you’re going to want to start making things. We created Thingiverse.com to be a place where you can share digital designs. Scroll through the thousands of projects and consider the infinite possibilities suggested by your own design imagination — what will be the first thing you make with your MakerBot?

Take a picture of your first thing — tag it with “#MyMakerBot” so we can follow along!

Recent #MyMakerBot Photos!

Here are a few of the dozens of photos that have been going up — where is yours?

A father-and-sons team of MakerBot Operators have just put together their first bot — and completed their first print. Jeremy, Ishan, and Akash sent in the video they made of this experience to the Customer Support team.

Watching the video this morning reminded me of my first day interning at MakerBot, watching an idler pulley print on a production CupCake with a MK4 toolhead. Pure magic. I particularly enjoy how this team keeps busy during the entire print, experimenting with spool holders and doing their best to keep their fingers out of the machine, despite overwhelming curiosity.

Congrats to Jeremy, Ishan and Akash!