I found a build your own mechanical kit in my Dad's wood shop over the weekend and decided I'd try my hand at mechanical pencil design with some ABS rather than wood.

The barrel is designed to be used with the "Executive Pencil Kit" from Penn State Industries.
pennstateind.com/store/PKEXEC-PCL.htm

I tried to make a geometic pattern that would be difficult (at least for me) to duplicate using traditional wood working methods.

They sell quite a few customizable wood working kits that I could see being repurposed for 3D printing (plastic working?).

Overall the pen looks cool and is a great conversation starter. More details and photos from my build are available in my blog post here: thenewhobbyist.com/2012/02/wood-working-on-the-makerbot-thing-o-matic/

A co-worker has a Traxxas JATO 3.3 radio controlled race car. He broke one of the struts and has ideas to make a custom setup. I worked with him for about an hour to sketch this up. It hasn't been printed yet but looks promising.

Notice the "JC" for his initials built into the structure. 3D Printing for the win!

There is a support peg included to hold the ball joint up. I suggested just using a bolt through a real ball joint, but the customer insisted we try it. Clip the support off and round off as needed.

I liked the idea Michael521 had in his "Minimalist Spool Holder for MendelMax" thing which this is a derivative of. However, I think I made some improvements on it.

1. These clip very solidly to the extrusions.
2. No hardware! Ok, you do need hardware (the bearing), but there are no bolts in this design.
3. These use even less plastic.

Two spirals protrude up from a smooth base. For decorative purposes only.

Another Filament Guide

This is inspired by the Slim from Human Republic.

I found an article on Gizmodo and saw this slick money clip. (http://ideacious.com/details2000000051.htm?S=4216720422&L=0)

I sketched this model up and now you can print it out and see if you like it. If you do, please consider buying it from the original designers.

After reviewign my original design of a sphere inside a cube, I decided to make a pyramid inside a cube. Simple design, but I appreciated it. There does seem to be one side of the pyramid that doesn't print for some reason. Sorry for that, but it at least gives it character!

I got sick of breaking other endstop holders when trying to mount it on the smooth rod. On a whim I decided to model a hinge. It printed a working hinge the first time!

This one fits my endstop switches which are 5.6x6.45x12.75. It clamps with one M3x10 screw.

v2 Update: The hinge pin wasn't printing all the way through because of an error in the model. This was making the hinge weaker. v2 Fixes this problem. I also added the gcode. It is 0.3mm layer height 0.5mm extrusion width, 0.35 infill.

Digital LED Light Strip to create images with long exposure photography.

Original project idea was inspired by TheMechatronicsGuy.

sites.google.com/site/mechatronicsguy/lightscythe/

The cartridges used in an old Dimension make great spools, except you don't see how much filament is inside.

After having put a PLA inside sign on it (http://www.thingiverse.com/derivative:21217), I thought to replace the useless chip instead :)

The text is a little too small, still readable but I'll improve it.
Otherwise, I may try to adapt or make something to just hold the spool alone (49-52mm dia. for the center).

Anyone who has ever owned a crock-pot knows that using one is a high energy event that can easily lead to knob destruction making frantic temperature selections between Off, Low and High. One can get caught up in the massive dial selections while mentally salivating over the to-be-crocked feast.

Or so I'm told.

This knob was to replace a broken one my parents brought me, they said it worked perfectly and sent me a picture...

Crock on I suppose.

UPDATED: Note that the design has been updated on 2/1/12. The improved design has proven much more reliable and sturdy than the original. Pictures of the finished product will replace the outdated first rivision shown.

This is a project long in the making. This was one of the very first things I thought of to make if I ever got a MakerBot. No one has coat hooks but plenty of coats. In my office these things are so rare you'd think you have to win them off a terrible Dread Office Supply Clerk in an epic boss battle. This in turn leads to a lot of rather interesting substitutions involving duct-tape and paper clips.

But I thought I could improve on that a bit. So here it is, an Adjustable MakerBot Cubicle Coat Hook.

I designed it with everyone in mind. I designed it to use 10-32-1/2" Screws with 3/8" nuts. These should be easy to find. I further chose the screws with the flat or Phillips head so there's bound to be a way to tighten it in the office. I also made the back stop adjustable so that it can be moved and secured to any size cubicle wall.

I'm really happy with the way this turn out. And I think it looks pretty slick too. Plus I think it could be used for other great things like, holding hats, hanging plants, and small orangutans who have inexplicably found they're way into your office and need a good hook to hang on to.

I hope my fellow cubicle drones can make great use of this.

What is the one thing you yet lack which will complete your quest for domestic bliss? A cylindrical clip to keep your fitted sheet cliped to your mattress. I saw these at a grocery store for $5 for 4. Figured I could design and print them for less than that.

And before you suggest it, yes this really should be a parametric all purpose cylindrical clamp. Then you could use it for clipping cardboard together to make a cheap cardboard planetarium. Feel free. :)

A quick and dirty sketchup text plate to test my new printer.

Works as a decent first test print, doesn't contain any tricky bits.

The size is 101.4 x 56.0 mm

This is a smaller version of the filament drive made by Jag. I made this from scratch in Sketchup, but based most of it around his design, because the larger 3mm version worked well. This, and the 1.75 settings were all I needed to immediately get the thinner plastic working. Requires no extra support, they are built into the model.

I play a collectible card game (CCG) called "Vampire: the Eternal Struggle". The V:tES decks have more cards in them than the standard Magic decks. 102 cards in sleeves don't fit in most available deck boxes. So I learned Google Sketchup and made my own.
It's not fancy, but it's solid and fits really well.

I also put the V:tES logo on the front of the box for added customization and opponent jealousy.

Hooray for my first uploaded design!

Yes, this is a fully functional 8-bit big money piggy bank! My 3yr old daughter need a safe place to keep all her high-stakes rock/paper/scissors winnings. She sat down with me in-front of a clean Sketchup session and we began to construct a piggy bank that Mario would approve of.

Check my screen shots, I uploaded a plethora of images including object dimensions.

I printed this in ~6hrs using no support on my Thing-O-Matic's ABP.

My RIG:
TOM # 4890
MK6+
1.75mm
.4 nozzle
ABP with aluminum plate topper and titanium belt covered in kapton

I found this in the Google 3D warehouse. (http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=74185a2d08af6707abb58fb59fbf1690)

Much respect to the designer. I tried to make them myself but just couldn't get it right.

GySgt through SgtMaj will be posted soon.

These walls can be used with this storage unit (Biltema): biltema.se/sv/Verktyg/Forvaring/Verktygslada/Sortimentskap-20628/

It also fits for a similair unit from Bauhaus. :)

Box for the Pololu USB AVR Programmer.

This is a single head taken from Rebel's Easter Island Moai Statues goo.gl/namKU found on Google's 3D Warehouse as a simple test for exporting STLs from Sketchup and processing models in Netfabb Cloud. The object has been printed on a Cupcake with Sanguinololu running Sprinter/Printrun/SFACT.

A Cup within a Cup within a Cup within a Cup within...

My first thing! It's a mount to attach an iPhone 4 to your MakerBot so you can shoot timelapses or stream video to remotely monitor builds.

* iPhone 4 or 4S compatible.
* Thing-O-Matic compatible (and probably Replicator and others)
* Snug enough to mount horizontally
* Slot for an iPhone cable

Make sure it doesn't obstruct the build platform!

It's a thingeo cookie.

I do a lot of shopping at IKEA, whether it’s for disposable apartment furniture or cheap mechanical parts to use for DIY projects. Whenever I leave the store I always end up with a pocket full of those little golf pencils they have all over the store. I’m not a collector, it just happens.

Well I’ve decided they deserve a better life. One where they are used and not ignored because of their size in the bottom of a drawer. Time to liberate my miniature writing implements.

I've created a golf pencil dispenser inspired by the straw dispensers you see in restaurants. It also has a lid to keep it tidy and holes for screws on the back so it can be wall mounted.

More info and photos are available on my blog at:
thenewhobbyist.com/2012/01/golf-pencil-dispenser/

this was supposed to be a AA battery, but I messed up in Sketchup and it came out as a D-cell.

The only reason I called it a "glow light" is because I made it out of glow-in-the-dark plastic. It's really more like a crystal.

A marble maze made from wood (1.1" x 0.20" Pine).

This is a model of the little plastic piece that connects the shade adjustment rod (the thing you turn to tilt the shade blades) to the actual shade. I find that I break these things all the time.

Note, this piece is untested as yet.

Kitchen cubboard door towel holder.