Behold! The Thing-O-Matic!

Actually, I don’t think anyone was afraid to ask.    With the lead up to this last weekend’s Maker Faire in New York there was a lot of speculation and curiosity about the new Thing-O-Matic. ¹  After combing through the comments I put together a pretty big list of answers to your questions.

First, some tech specs on the Thing-O-Matic:²

• Interface: Print through USB or print from SD card
• Size: 300 x 300 x 410 mm (12″ W x 12″ D x 16″ H)
• Build Area: 96 x 108 mm
• Build Height: 115 mm
• Generation 4 Electronics
  • Supports up to 5 stepper drivers (XYZ + A/B)
  • Connect over USB (no more FTDI cable)
  • Optional LCD interface support (Not included)
  • Full mechanical endstop support
  • High current mosfets to drive heated build platform and extruder heater
  • Thermocouple support for more accurate temperature sensing
• Standard ATX power supply
• Works with both 110v and 220v power
• Theoretical XY Positioning resolution of 0.02mm (20 microns or 0.0008″)
• Theoretical XY Maximum Feedrate of up to 5000mm/minute (roughly 200 IPM)
• Theoretical Z Positioning resolution of 0.005mm (5 microns / or 0.0002″)
• Theoretical Z Positioning Feedrate of up to 1000mm/minutes (roughly 40 IPM)
• Capable of printing with ABS and PLA

And, your questions:

@James Taylor asked, “Any idea when you will be posting the bits in SVN?”

Bre: Yup, we’ll release them when we ship.

@Rob asked, “Does it ship with any plastic?  Is it compatible with the Frostruder MK2 and Unicorn?  Will it work fine with the filament spindle box?”

Bre: The Thing-O-Matic will ship include 1 pound of natural ABS and will be completely compatible with the Frostruder MK2 and Unicorn.  The Thing-O-Matic was designed to work with the filament spindle box and even has integrated holes to run the tube through the machine in the back.

Also, check out some more awesome photos of the Thing-O-Matic taken at the New York Maker Faire by I, Dioloid!

Ask your questions in the comment below and we’ll do our best to get them answered.

1. Photo courtesy of I, Dioloid [↩]
2. Mmmm…  Delicious stats… [↩]