Resized to fit on a Replicator with each part seperated from the original multi-part stl.

With a few tweaks, I bet this could be printed all in one using water soluble support...

Rotated and given a flat bottom as well as decimated in blender to reduce file size.

While looking for new interesting things to print using water soluble PVA support, I decided I want to try to make a Hilbert Cube: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilbert_cube

After trying and failing to do it in openscad, I worked around it's limitations by writing a ruby script that generates openscad code. This ruby script can create a 1-3 iterations of a hilbert curve in 3d. I borrowed code from a Processing script by Thomas Diewald at openprocessing.org/visuals/?visualID=15599

Unfortunately after doing this, I realized it wasn't really a hilbert cube as the shape is not one continuous curve. :( Still it looks cool and is pretty much impossible to print without dissolvable support. It would be awesome if someone smarter than me would make a proper parametric hilbert cube generator, plz!

I also found a really nice and proper curved hilbert cube by Carlo H. Séquin at cs.berkeley.edu/~sequin/X/Hilbert_Cube/ I resized it and made a support model for it. I don't know what the license is on it, hopefully he won't mind me reposting it here. The problem with this model is that it is curved in a way that makes it a more difficult print.

See also this hilbert cube print from shapeways: youtube.com/watch?v=9cdWpQ2D-O8

With dual extruders on a ToM, there isn't much space for some of the other nice cooling fan shrouds like thingiverse.com/thing:15430 So, this thing holds a 60mm wide fan out front and directs the air flow down under the nozzles pretty effectively.

I also threw in an awesome-tastic r.Maker face. :)

It works great, however I don't like how it obscures the view of the nozzles while it's printing. So I might re-design it so the fan is vertical instead... but then I might lose that sweet r.Maker head...

Optionally, you could just use the r.Maker head without the fan to add some style to your MakerBot and keep your fingers from hitting the extruder fans.

Here's a before and after picture of how a cooling fan can improve print quality (especially with PLA): flickr.com/photos/tbuser/6709804997/

Build plates for the full sized turret chess set suitable for printing the whole set, with both colors, all at once with a MakerBot Replicator with dualstrusion. If you're feeling extra ambitious, I've also included a version with the entire chess board (split in half) as well as all the pieces!

This hasn't been tested yet...

Supersized version of the dualstrusion two color world suitable for printing on a MakerBot Replicator. 145mm tall. The inside is hollow to save plastic because it's so massive. There's two versions, one totally hollow and one with a support column through the center which it turns out isn't really necessary.

This is how I write OpenSCAD. OSX only unfortunately.* If you're using OSX, why aren't you using Textmate? macromates.com/ *(apparently this will also work in the Sublime text editor that works in windows and linux sublimetext.com/ )

Put the OpenSCAD window on your second monitor, hide that ugly code editor, and turn on Automatic Reload and Compile so you can enjoy programming bliss in TextMate with color coding and lots of tab triggered code snippet macros and shortcuts.

Look around the bundle, there's some handy stuff in there. Type 'cu' then press TAB. Select some code and press Ctrl + or open a script with a ton of modules and click cmd+shift+T and be amazed that you lived without it this long.

This is a modular Dalek that uses pin connectors from thingiverse.com/thing:10541 to make dalek mashups. It also has a version of the legs with a slot to fit a MakerBot windup walker! I've made the slot deep so that the legs are enclosed inside the body. This "skirt" around the legs of the walker makes it MUCH more stable (at the expense of not being able to walk as far) when you attach tall things on top. Without a skirt, these walkers tend to fall over very easily. Even when I attach my big fat head on top, it shuffles along and doesn't fall over: flickr.com/photos/tbuser/6609202223/

The Dalek body is from: Doctor Who New Series Dalek Body by InnovationByLayers thingiverse.com/thing:1600

I just made a few changes to this awesome scan - making a flat bottom, resized, and repositioned it.

Would make an awesome chess piece...

An example of how to use the walker negative space object to attach windup walkers inside a model. This is a simple shell with a pin peg hole on top that can be used to mashup other things. I've included my head and the stanford bunny head as examples.

Uses my pin connectors v2 library: thingiverse.com/thing:10541

Here's a video of it in action! youtu.be/_cIV555TPW4

This is a negative space object that can be used to do a boolean difference on other models to cut a slot and attach windup walker legs.

On every other episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine anyone sitting at the Replimat is always holding a cup of replicated Klingon coffee in this blue mug. (not to be confused with the purple one used in Quark's which I'll try making later because it's a little more complex) Since I started re-watching DS9 on Netflix, I kept seeing this mug and thought it would be a good excuse to try making something with Sketchup for a change.

More info on the Raktajino Mug: trekprops.de/raktajino-mug-replimat

I wasn't too happy with the quality of the mug so I also uploaded a smooth version that I loaded into Blender and decimated/subsurface divisioned a few times then used Meshmixer to smooth it some more.

I can't make Picard's favorite drink, but I can make his favorite song.

Uses mid2cnc from github.com/michthom/MIDI-to-CNC and a midi file from vic-fontaine.com/tng.php

Ressikan flute song from Star Trek: TNG episode The Inner Light en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/The_Inner_Light_%28episode%29

Original song: youtube.com/watch?v=i5EluFlra2A

Video of my MakerBot playing this song: youtube.com/watch?v=g_StFSqE8LY

That's F for Flower. A PVA water soluble weapon of mass foliation. Otherwise known as a Seed Bomb deployed by ninja gardeners to sew seeds in hard to reach places. See Also: guerrillagardening.org/ggseedbombs.html

Sure, there are cheaper and more efficient ways to do this... but... pfft... The idea is to stuff it with some compost and seeds and then throw it somewhere that you think could use some color, but you either can't get to it or it's where people wouldn't appreciate seeing you digging around. Then wait for mother nature to dissolve the shell and make some magic.

This of course requires water soluble PVA makerbot.com/blog/2011/02/21/makerbot-introduces-water-soluble-3d-printer-filament/ since you don't want to wait a thousand years for ABS to go away. I'm not even sure this will work, however PVA is supposedly bio-degradable eliteanglingproducts.com/PVAEnvironment.asp and is used as a seed coating celvol.com/sekisui/sek_seed-coating.htm so hopefully it's safe. However, I will assume it's not safe, I'm stupid, and advise you not to do this. Also, I am not responsible if you get arrested for defacing someone's private property with beautiful flowers. :)

However, I'm going to test it anyway (did I mention I'm an idiot and you shouldn't do this?). Unfortunately it's not the best time of the year to try it, but I loaded one and sat it in a pot outside. I also sat one in a pot indoors that I'll run some water over whenever I water my other plants to see how it dissolves naturally over time and if anything grows out of it. I also threw some of the seeds into another pot just in case these old seeds are no good and to compare the growth. SCIENCE!

Alternatively, you could print this in something other than PVA and just use it like a little box to store things in...

Kneel before Zo... I mean, hey look what you can do with experimental dual extruders on a MakerBot - grayscale vector art. This is an attempt to show how by designing your model so that you vary the number of layers between two colors, you can do some simple color mixing.

This is a simple demo object. It has gears on shafts inside a shell and would require internal support structures that would be pretty difficult to remove without support that dissolves.

Update: It worked! I've had trouble getting PVA to stick to ABS, however it sticks pretty well to PLA when you extrude both at around 210c. Here's a video:

flickr.com/photos/tbuser/6733182253/

By carefully adjusting the geometry in a model so that a darker color is under a lighter color by a certain number of layers, it creates a simple color blending effect. With black and white ABS plastic, this allows about 3 or 4 shades of gray between all black and all white. Unfortunately, the effect is minimal on the sides of objects, but on top and bottom it's quite clear. On the side you get about 1 shade of gray between black and white.

This openscad script lets you generate test patterns. By default, it's configured for 0.3 layer height and 1.6 width/thickness. You'll need to modify it based on your skeinforge settings. I bet at higher resolutions with smaller layer heights, you could achieve a greater range.

I bet you could do some really interesting blending if you used translucent PLA! Unfortunately I don't have any 1.75mm PLA filament to test... also, I've only tried this with black and white ABS, but I'm pretty sure it would work with other colors so long as the lighter color is on top.

Note: this test object has an extra layer on top because there's currently a bug with repg dualstrusion where it doesn't print the top layer.

Data Matrix bar code goes to my website tonybuser.com Picture shows top and bottom of single object printed simultaneously with dual extruders, no midprint filament color swapping.

Data Matrix created with Data Matrix Dualstrusionator: thingiverse.com/thing:12104

Face and text/logo created in inkscape and converted to dxf using this process: tonybuser.com/2d-to-3d

Yes, quality is a little rough at the moment with dual extrusion... but it's mostly a software problem to work out how best to keep nozzles from drooling between colors, skeinforge bugs with stl files with shapes inside shapes causing bad perimeter/infill, and there's a bug that causes the top layer not to print... That's why it's experimental - living on the edge!

Now a MakerBot can print virtual holograms. :) This is a 2 Color Dualstrusion Hiro Augmented Reality tag. 2D to 3D to virtual 3D!

I tested it with the flash demo of the dancing anime character at flash.tarotaro.org/blog/2010/02/02/flar-mmd-dancing-ar

Video: youtube.com/watch?v=pdaS0IWwdcY

This script lets you create a positive/negative Data Matrix[1] Bar Code suitable for feeding into your experimental dual extruders. Or if you just want a negative space object barcode to cut into another model.

You can encode the whole thingiverse url in your barcode, but the result will be pretty big. Probably too large to stamp into another model. However, you can just encode the Thingiverse thing number to get a pretty small code!

1: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Matrix

2 Color Dualstrusion version of the classic MakerBot Coin. Parametric and written in OpenSCAD. It can generate a coin with just an M on both sides or an M on one side and an I on the other for MakerBot Industries.

Uses a slightly modified version of Parametric Makerbot M by br3ttb thingiverse.com/thing:11105

I just converted the solidworks files from github.com/makerbot/Stepstruder-MK7 to stl. Hack away!

It works!

While working with Cymon (who doesn't have a MakerBot) and NYCDESIGNER to try and get Cymon's Recorder design to work thingiverse.com/thing:11796 I decided I needed a little more SCIENCE! So I wrote a parametric OpenSCAD script based on the Whistle/Flute from ggwhistles.com/howto/ that allows you to experiment with different hole placement, size, window and lip angles, etc. This flute is much simpler then a recorder (and not nearly as pretty as Cymon's) but it is able to play 6 notes quite clearly and loudly. Now if only I knew how to play the flute...

This is still a work in progress because I think I can get the mouthpiece/lip to print a little easier. It's kind of fiddly to get it just right.

Cut up into sections to be printable on a ToM (with an HBP, an ABP probably won't have the height) Also repaired some geometry problems with the model.

Unfortunately, it doesn't work too well. If you close all holes (including the end) and blow into it - it does make a sound, then again I don't know how to play a recorder. :) So I think there is hope for a MakerBottable recorder...

Mashup of the Sign of the Horns thingiverse.com/thing:9541 for the Turtle Shell Racer thingiverse.com/thing:10526 Rock On!

Skeinforge didn't like the original gears and I was having trouble getting them to print completely solid resulting in fragile gears that break easily. So I split them up into separate STLs, repaired the normals, and fixed a few geometry problems using NetFabb. Now you should be able to print them with 0 extra shells and a high infill for nice strong gears.

This is the best quality scan I've been able to get out of spinscan so far. I'm amazed that it picked up the texture in his beard because those indentations are barely 1mm deep. The main issue now is with the right side of his body which I think is due to friction in my turntable causing some jerky rotation.

Scanned using Spinscan from thingiverse.com/thing:9972

A scan of a printed scan. Watch as the Tiki God deteriorates with each generation! Taking bets on how many generations it will take before it devolves into an indistinguishable blob.

Tiki scan with and without cup cut into it using the attached OpenSCAD script. Tiki Cup should make a cool pen holder.

Scanned with Spinscan thingiverse.com/thing:9972

I got this at Obscura Antiques obscuraantiques.com in NYC. ( because I'm a huge fan of the show Oddities dsc.discovery.com/tv/oddities ) I went looking for something I could do a 3D scan of and print on my MakerBot. This was the creepiest, cheapest thing I could find that I thought would scan well. It also made me laugh when I pulled the string and found the mouth still moved.

It appears to be a 1930's Walt Disney Dopey Dwarf from Snow White, see: royaleaffairdolls.com/Repairs.html

I scanned it with Spinscan thingiverse.com/thing:9972 Which now supports color textured scans. The dimensions are still a little off causing scans to be squashed slightly... Math is hard. Let's go shopping!