This is the Quantum ORD Bot. It is 3D printer mech platform made from MakerSlide linear bearing. It is extremly ridged and very easy to build. The design can easily be scaled in X,Y and/or Z by simply changing the Makerslide lengths plus belt and leadscrew lengths. This is the mini or 'Quantum' version. The parts other than MakerSlide are either off the shelf standard items or easily fabricate with a laser cutter, 3D printer or CNC router. There is a blog post giving a lot more detail.

buildlog.net/blog/2012/01/the-quantum-ord-bot/

As a reference point, this size uses less than $15 worth of Makerslide extrusion. You also need about $45 worth of MakerSlide wheels, spacers, etc. The Makerslide parts are available at the MakerSlide store. Be aware the rail is released in weekly 'production batches' and sells out very quickly. It is 'restocked' on weekly basis.

I have attached the complete 3D design in STEP format plus a DXF of the flat parts. If I can generate enough interest, I may have about 50 sets of parts fabricated and offer kits. That would be for the mechatronics platform only. The extruder, electronics, etc would not be included.

Why spend $200 for a set of printed parts when you can have everything you see here, including motors, belts, pulleys for about $200?

Planned changes.
1. I plan to change the crossbar handle thing to an extrusion to make it more scalable.
2. The 'quantum' design currently uses NEMA14 motors. I plan to tweak the parts to be compatible with NEMA17. This just adds a second pattern to some parts.

This is a slightly more challenging variant of Dovetail Triangle that only opens when held in a certain orientation.

Watch the video for a demonstration:

youtube.com/watch?v=JnMRREjfPyc

The module holds a flash capacitor, copper coil and IR transmitter receiver pair. Stackable using 6 mm copper tubing as a barrel.

I needed a battery box for 3 AA batteries for a 3.3V micro processor project. Uses #6 nuts and has holes for 1/4" #6 bolts. The holes are not need but are there if you need to use them for the bolts. The batteries will have a tight fit, but after you insert the batteries a few times, it will push the nuts into the holes. I found that the bolts were not needed at all after I had printed it, but makes for a clean wire connection. Also, if you can get away without using the bolts, you will not have exposed battery contacts to the outside of the box.

The "lightbulb" is a 5-sided spiral that forms the general shape of a lightbulb. I made this a few years ago as a test piece and I've updated it just for you.

I've included two sizes:

Full size: about 4.8 inches tall
Half size: about 2.4 inches tall (...yep, that's half...check!)

I've also included each STL file in two resolutions.

A derivative of the PCB Gator Vise and Hobby Clamps thingiverse.com/thing:12616

This one has been modified so that it will print on a TOM and will hold circuit boards in such a way that you have better access to the edges of the board.

A few years ago I was interested in Penultimate Modular Origami by James S. Plank cs.utk.edu/~plank/plank/origami/penultimate/intro.html folding paper into geometrical spheres.
Now there's a rapman in my stable and paper turned into polylactic acid. This is my first printed object, I hope you"ll enjoy it! Can be pressed, stretched, thrown, twisted, and the bow-connectors could be basic elements for connecting rubbers into anything!
In TwistinTheCube.skp I tried to reveal how you get a Qball by twisting a cube, before it becomes a cuboctahedron.

Wanted some visepads that would allow me to grab a PCB more easily. I have a helping hands, but that's too small for doing multiple piece batches. These pads are smooth with a 2mm channel near the top

Overall width: 110mm
Space between holes: 60mm
Hole dia: 6mm
Hole cap dia: 10mm
Hole countersink depth: 5mm

A grille over a fan looks nice and helps keeps junk from falling inside your device (and keeps fingers out too). I never seem to have grilles sitting around and seldom bother ordering them so I wind up with naked fans. Now I can just print one up.

Can be used to cover ventilation holes in cabinets as well.

Features a recessed vane area so the blades don't hit the grille. You can set the number of vanes, number of circles and all sizes including vane and circle thickness and center circle thickness.

Because thingiverse can never have enough bottle openers...

Here's an openscad wall mountable penny bottle opener.

The scad file is parametric though you'll have to play around to see what works. It's not commented at all and rather poorly written...

There is now a first attempt at a version with a tongue and eyes. I haven't printed it though. You can turn it off and on with a boolean in the scad file.

to use an external power supply. there is a small rubber cover in the hinged door of the camera. underneath sits a 6mm hole where the cable can go trough. Use a VERY small connector. i strip the cable for about 5cm and tin it completely. then I begin on the bottom and bending them around the edge. negative/black goes near the corner, positive/red to the center. You have to measure a few times so the stripped part ends near the big hole. there you can make a knot. bond the tinned wires to the case with a soldering iron. then apply 4.3 volts, 1A minimum to the wires and you are up and running.

ver date comment
1.0 03-09-2011 initial version
1.1 03-09-2011 increased curve resolution
1.2 04-09-2011 used union() initial print
1.3 10-09-2011 corrected round holes. output hole smaller, bottom of big hole thicker, increased small hole size for the contact wire

A motorized version of Emmetts' Cube Gears.
I built it (Emmett's that is) and was showing it around work. One of my favorite collaborators (Brian C.) and I were discussing motorizing it. I had visions of a tiny motor in the center, and was fussing over battery size, etc. when Brian suggested blowing a hole through one of the big corners and connecting a drive shaft to the center to an external motor. A quick look on Ebay found a motor, and when it came in the mail I started in on the design. I designed the parts in Alibre, sorry, OpenSCAD is a very impressive tool, but I am too CAD oriented). I did import the stl of the gear into Alibre. The zip file has the Alibre files and STEP AP203 exports as well.

I think we can all agree, life would become much more interesting if I launched a turtle shell at you every once and a while.

But it’s no fun if I’m the only one with a shell to launch. Therefore…

Turtle Shells for Everybody!!!

All you have to do is print it out and assemble!

The Turtle Shell Racer is as fully 3d printable as I can make it using my Makerbot Cupcake CNC and its MK5 Extruder. The pdf file contains full assembly instructions and a parts list. This is a very ambitious project; expect to spend some time on it.

Video of the Shells in action at CCCKC:
youtube.com/watch?v=YAd3e_UTW4c
youtube.com/watch?v=wA-wY-Q_onU

UPDATE Sept 26th

I have uploaded the modifications I made to the shells for the NYC Maker Faire.

Wheely Bar.stl - This replaces the rear axle brackets.stl with a wheely bar, which allows awesome wheelys!

New stearing Link.stl - This new link replaces the old steering linkage.stl. It is designed to capture one of the servo horns and allow a better connection between the servo and the steering.

On this part: thingiverse.com/image:57507

You can see some damped oscillations after the logo. I made this thing to try to get a better look at them.

The photos were taken of a part built on MiseryBot which has a lowrider.

Printing was at 40mm/sec

Someone with mote math skilz than me might be able to draw some conclusion as to what the waves mean.

Alternate footprint of thing:7100 which in turn is a derivative of thing:7064, Thermocouple sensor, single sided carrier board by moleofproduction

This is a replacement clamp for the Y-axis drive belt. It allows the belt tension to be fine tuned without removing the bed.

One end of the belt is clamped to the Y chassis "squashed frog" with the standard clamp. After threading the belt around the motor and pulleys, the other end passes under the gap in the new clamp, loops back over the top of the clamp and is held down with the cap. The whole thing is held the carriage with 2 3mm cap screws and nylocks just like the old bracket. The ram is placed into the loop where the belt doubles back. A 4mm cap screw goes through the back of the clamp and pushes the ram forward. By turning the cap screw, you can change the tension on the belt.

This design might work just fine without the ram and be a little easier to assemble. I haven't tried it.

This is still a bit of a work in progress but I think it's mostly workable now.

Warning! There be overhangs here!

I have yet to see what sort of torque this can handle but it seems like it will handle quite a bit. I'm able to stop it if I grab two of the screws sticking out of the planet carrier. Hopefully I'll measure the torque soon.

This is intended to be used with another bearing somewhere on the output shaft. I can't imagine that it would handle any load with only one bearing on there. A different cover could easily be made with a spot for another bearing.


The current design adds 38.5mm in length to your stepper, it could be less but the makerbot supplied stepper that I have has long shaft so I had to make it longer to stop it from interfering with the bolt for the output.
It could probably be 5mm or so shorter pretty easily with a shorter stepper shaft.

Change Log

5/11/2011 Initial Upload
5/12/2011 Switched to 2x 683ZZ bearings for planets, shortened planets a bit, increased backlash and clearance, added list of some possible ratios
5/13/2011 Added addendum/dedendum adjustment to gear library for internal gear.
Removed most of the constants at the top and switched to arguments with defaults
Added multi-stage capability, now you can stack multiple stages in one case
5/20/2011 Added a way to get a screw in to bolt to the stepper and nuts in so that you can bolt it to something (I didn't think it would be too easy to find screws to go through the whole thing into the stepper)
Added a relief on the underside of the cover to clear the screws in the carrier.
5/25/2011 Uploaded separate STLs and modified involute_gears library

This is a solution if you have z wobble because of poor coupler alignment.

The pictures of the sky blue coupling are the first prototype. The design has changed slightly since then.

For the source, go to github.com/GregFrost/PrusaMendel

On request, here's the current design of my printed Tricopter.

I'm still working out some problems with the current design.
It might have to do mostly with my terrible piloting skills, but the current Tricopter center plate get ripped in pieces much too easy. I never had that much problems with my Quadrocopter design ( thingiverse.com/thing:4812 ), which seems to be much sturdier.
Of course, the Tricopter design is foldable, which means that the construction is a bit more complex. Also the Tricopter has a much larger diameter and is heavier than the Quadro, which might also cause problems with my (very) rough landings :-/

This is an update to my Accessible Wade's Extruder.

The idler is now hinged using an M3 screw.
I have also added support for the central part of the 608 idler so that there is no need to use washers to space the bearing away from the plastic.

I have been using this design for a while now and love it.

Changing filament is a simple as compressing the spring then whipping out the old filament and poking the new one in.

UPDATE: 6 Aug 2011 - Add arcol (cory75 thing:10532) and wildseyed hotend mount options. Im not overly happy with the asymmetry of the arcol option.

I've been working with Greg Frost's gear generator. Getting the gears to mesh requires some math, or trial and error. As a programmer, I don't like doing either one more than once. :-)

This script lets you specify the axle spacing and gear ratio and get the circular_pitch parameter. It simplifies fitting gears together.

This is a stand-alone Public Domain model of a Wankel Engine in OpenSCAD. This is intended more as an example of an interesting mechanism than as a useful engine.

See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wankel_engine

The file uses code appropriated from
Leemon Baird's PublicDomainGearV1.1.scad
which can be found here:
thingiverse.com/thing:5505

I purchased Makerbot #182 and for a long time just made improvements based on forum and thingiverse posts….. until I started meeting with other Makerbotters in the Madison area (thanks to MBI for the push on this one). I was inspired by how much better my Makerbot prints are turning out since discussing it with others face to face and so I thought…. What better way to make designs better than to get people working on them together in the “United We Makerbot” Design Challenge.

The prize will be $60 cash (xferd via paypal from me) split between the team members and $100 in Makerbot store credit also split between the team members.

Any Flattr money sent to my account will be added to the prize pool. Last time around it was approximately $6...... I think you guys can do better than that.

Here are the rules :

1. Needs to be printable (at least partly… Unicorns and Frostruders included) on a Makerbot
2. Each design needs to be the combined work of two or more people (one person will submit the design and anyone that helped will post a comment on that thing)
3. Post submissions on Thingiverse by 8pm CST on May 1, 2011.
4. Multiple entries are allowed, but they must be distinct from one another.
5. To enter be sure and tag your Thing with the word “MakerbotUnited”


The entries will be judged using the following criteria (each category is weighted):

-Number of Likes on Thingiverse
-Number of times it has been made by someone else
-Average Thingiverse rating
-Printability (not just fitting it in the space but also how many separate prints are required)
-Effort put into design (based on testing and revisions (if at all needed), how well does it fit the challenge)
-Mechanical design (based on # of pieces, possible modes for failure, etc)
-Does it build on previous challenge winners?
-Future for use in other Thingiverse designs
-Are multiple (editable) file formats provided?
-Number of Thingiverse citizens that took part in the design and implementation (no more than 7 people on a team…. I’ve seen first hand how quickly larger teams can turn to frustration)

A probe that can make Z measurements and then retract itself out of the way. It was designed for HydraRaptor but can probably be adapted for other wooden machines like Makerbot.

See hydraraptor.blogspot.com/2011/04/auto-z-probe.html

This is a 6-Pin Shrouded Male Connector which accepts an IDC Connector. I bought some Polulu Carrier kits and only a 10-Pin Connector was included. Unfortunately, I don't have any electronics suppliers in my town and I didn't want to wait for a delivery, so I built my own.

Update: Openscad Parametric Version coming soon.

I keep meaning to learn some OpenScad so I can easily make these types of things parametric, but every time I start, I end up thinking, "Man I could get this done in like 20 seconds in Sketchup".

This two piece device allows you to get a firm hold on any type of textile without puncturing them. The first part of the device, which we will call the lock (shown in blue), fits closely into the base, which we will call the star because of its resemblance to a ninja throwing star (shown in red). This device has numerous useful applications around the home no matter where you live.

The project webpage is here: appropedia.org/Printable_non-puncturing_textile_fastener

1. Stretcher – 6 fasteners, a blanket and 2 poles
2. Hammock - 2 fasteners and a blanket
3. Emergency Tent – 4 fasteners and a plastic sheet or tarp
4. Greenhouse or row guard – Use a number of fasteners and clear plastic to create a greenhouse
5. Food transport - Use some form of fabric and 4 fasteners to make flexible box for carrying things like vegetables
6. Improved Tarps:
* You can use a fastener to fix a grommet that has popped out of a normal tarp.
* You can also use a number of fasteners to join multiple tarps together into a bigger tarp
* You can create a custom waterproof cover
* You can use the fasteners to hold the tarp in a custom way for another function – such as rain water collection or roof leak or boat protector.

this is a prototype connector design for assembling geodesic domes and spheres. rather than using preset strut angles, it uses a flexible ball joint strut connection that allows the structure to adapt to a variety of configurations. therefore, all that's required to build a dome of any scale or frequency is the proper strut length calculations, available from: simplydifferently.org or desertdomes.com

the design is based off of william adams' yazzo disc joint openscad script, modified to include a shape language of hexagons and pentagons for the six- and five-way connector types. the strut caps used in this prototype should fit 3/8" diameter dowels (but they might not)

update 3/16 — added strutcap.scad. other code forthcoming.

This things will keep your RAMPS from flopping around until you get a proper enclosure printed. It clamps onto the bottom threaded rod of the frame and will fit 5/16" or m8. It also includes two little brackets for mounting a fan above the board to keep your pololus cool.

UPDATED.

An option to replace the X carriage on Mendel RepRaps.

*Variable length between bars.
*Variable width for extruder mount, or other tools.
*No more need for fitting things in the X carriage holes.
*NO GLUE, but you can use glue instead of set screws if you like.
*Hole for an LED to point down towards your print, and a channel to run the wire.
*Less Plastic than anything I've seen so far.
*More visibility where the extrder filament drive meets the hot end.

Pictures show the finished replacement installed and lit up. I have it connected to the blue toggle switch.

Also show the intermediary step of changing it out.