It’s here! Shipping Day of the MakerBot Replicator 2X Experimental 3D Printer. It’s sort of a holiday at MakerBot, like watching the baby leave the nest.
For those of you who have ordered this machine, hold onto your hats. Batch 1 is on its way out the door and we want you to be ready. Here are a couple housekeeping notes, and then some steps you’ll want to take to get set up.
First of all, go ahead and download the User Manual now. It certainly couldn’t hurt to read up a bit before your shipment arrives.
Speaking of shipments, make sure you keep an eye out for two boxes. You’ll be receiving your MakerBot Replicator 2X in a big box, and the enclosure lid that fits on top of your new machine separately (see below). Depending on the shipping service, these may arrive at the same time or at different times.
You can go ahead and get started printing without your enclosure lid. It’s probably not the best idea in the world, but it won’t break your MakerBot. Remember, you signed up for experimenting. Go ahead and see what happens when you make things with and without the enclosure lid. Try making things with kapton tape covering your build plate, and then try without. Take notes on what works and what doesn’t. You’re in the driver’s seat now, and everyone benefits from what you learn and share.
Oh, most importantly: talk to us! We built the MakerBot Replicator 2X for the people we knew would really test it out and experiment with the technology. If that’s you, we want you to share your feedback with us. We have a general feedback line, thoughts@makerbot.com, that’s just waiting for your good ideas.
While you wait, you’ll want to…
1. Make room! Maybe your new MakerBot will sit next to your current MakerBot. Maybe you should clear a space…on your coworker’s desk. Whatever works.
2. Make a profile at Thingiverse.com, if you haven’t already. This is where you’re going to find all the inspiration for what to make on your MakerBot.
3. Do some reading about dual extrusion, and check out some of the awesome dual extrusion designs uploaded to Thingiverse. Our very own Annelise has made a Thingiverse Collection to get you started.