MakerBot Industries

The folks from CBS News came by the BotFarm last week and took some photos for this awesome slideshow! Scroll through to see a collection of some of our favorite MakerBotted objects and the Replicators and Thing-O-Matics in action.

X Buckteeth Leader parametric by timmytool

If you’re rockin’ a Thing-O-Matic, consider installing this clever upgrade from timmytool.  This little plastic part allows you to customize the belt height in your X axis to the height where your X belt naturally rides.  If the place where the belt is held in place on the X carriage is too high or low, it can create additional vibration and noise.

Plus, it kinda looks like a wacky robot face.

X Buckteeth Leader parametric by timmytool

I've found that the x idler pulley tends to ride up against the top y carriage wood. This creates noise and other problems. There are bearing and belt holders and all manner of x axis improvements but I've yet to see one to fix this. The idler rides up due to the belt being pulled up to mesh with the x carriage belt teeth. My solution is to customise the teethes position to match the belts natural path. This is based off of Joakim's x follower openSCAD file so it can match its customization for a perfect x axis sliding action, print his and mine as they replace 2 separate parts. All comments and suggestions welcomed, heck just comment

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Colin Butgereit – one of our Bot Assembling All-Stars – has been assembling Thing-O-Matics for customers from the moment we began offering them eight months ago. He’s gotten faster and faster with each build and can currently build a TOM in a little over an hour. If you’ve assembled a Thing-O-Matic on your own you know that this is pretty impressive! Our production workshop is currently in the process of making the switch from Thing-O-Matics to Replicators so we made sure to spend some time this week documenting one of Colin’s last Thing-O-Matic assemblies. With the simpler, cleaner design of The Replicator there’s no doubt that he’ll be building them at top speed in no time.

Also, pay close attention to the music in used for the video. It’s a song made ENTIRELY FROM MAKERBOT NOISES created by MakerBot Support Wizard Mike Battaglia. Check out more of Mike’s awesome music here.

TheNextWeb knows that no robot gift guide would be complete without including MakerBot. Just posted yesterday, their Ultimate Robot Gift Guide features the Thing-O-Matic, alongside some awesome gifts like this Robot Tea Infuser and these Recycled Robot Ornaments. Don’t forget – Thing-O-Matic kits, and fully-assembled models, are $100 off through the holiday season, so get yours now!

ESPN is the latest outlet to include MakerBot  in its holiday gift guide! The Thing-O-Matic is a featured tech pick and is heralded as the “gift that keeps on making.” Thanks, dudes!

Popular Mechanics has chosen the MakerBot Thing-O-Matic as one of the top gifts for this holiday season! Pick up a copy of the December issue (on newstands now) to see MakerBot in print, or check it online here.

Image from the New Museum Holiday Display!

Did you miss our stupendous Black Friday deal?  Here’s a little something for those of you who weren’t quite ready to buy: $100 price drop on the Thing-O-Matic Kit and Fully-Assembled Thing-O-Matic for the rest of the holiday season!

There’s still time left to order for Christmas delivery, so here’s your chance to get a Thing-O-Matic at a great price.

Check out this book trailer for bestselling author and Internet pioneer Steven Johnson‘s The Innovator’s Cookbook (on sale October 4, 2011).  Helen Yentus, the designer of the book cover (featured in the video), worked with our team to 3D print the letters on a MakerBot Thing-O-Matic. This video documents her process from first sketch — to MakerBotting the letters — to photo shoot — to printed book. Cover photo and video are by YDESIGN.

Here are some details about the book from the video description.

The Innovator’s Cookbook is an essential book for anyone interested in innovation: the key texts on the topic from a wide range of fields as well as interviews with successful, real-world innovators, prefaced with a new essay by Johnson that draws upon his own experiences as an entrepreneur and author.

Thing-o-Matic Alternate Front Panel by dougkeenan

Sometimes a simple hack is all it takes.  Just look at dougkeenan’s “Thing-o-Matic Alternate Front Panel.”

Why would you want a front panel that has a little divot in the left side?  Well, if you’re rocking a MakerBot Automated Build Platform, you already the know the answer.  The MakerBot ABP has gears that advance the conveyor belt so that it can keep printing part after part.  However, those gears on the side rob the operator of a few precious millimeters of build space in the X direction.¹  My making a little cut out, dougkeenan has effectively increased the build area for his Thing-O-Matic.  One of the cool things is that you could even just cut this little piece out of your front panel and gain the extra build area too!

Thing-o-Matic alternate front panel by dougkeenan

panel outline is slightly trapezoidal, with a notch for the ABP gears

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1. Left and right. [↩]

Toy Robot Toolkit by tbuser

There are now 21 entries in the MakerBot Mascot GrabCAD Challenge with just 9 days to go!  You can check out the hopeful robot mascot competitors here.  There’s still time to design and upload your own!