A battery holder that fits one AA battery, uses stripped wire as terminals. Use it in series, parallel or how you want.

The "CS" version is with two countersunk M3 mounting holes.

// ("Daily earring" will be back soon, stay tuned)

Assembly picture, thingiverse.com/image:87926

Here's a quick thing I whipped up today:
We have a few winter house deco things infront of the window, but they have a few issues:
-The lamp's low lifetime
-Several Watts for dim lighting
-The cable is not very decorative (see picture)
+gets HOT!

So I thought about LED lights on rechargeable batteries. I modded my fiancee's mother's winter city with commercial LED light-bulbs last december, but for ours I wanted it "wireless".

I did see thingiverse.com/thing:9805 after I sketched my idea, but I thought I could save some material.
So this is what I came up with. Very stable!

+Note that it looks asymetric, but as both ends are, the contacts work fine.
+No glue, no solder, no screws. Pull apart after christmas, re-use parts.
+Slim design will fit into most places
+Could easily be modified to use 3 batteries (most white LEDs) or to attach cells in series
+I was able to get this designed and printed within about 30 minutes
+buying was no option, all stores are closed today.

On the picture I only showed the holder outside of the house as I only have these LEDs at the moment and they will not be bright enough on 2 cells. I plan on using yellow or 3 cells for white LEDs.

Well, the obvious happened. I liked StefanHH's ball and socket (5578), but was astonished to see no actual helping hands design on thingiverse, (my apology if I somehow missed an existing design). So I decided to design one.

First: Some history.

I found this cheap wifi pan-tilt camera on ebay. It's a Foscam knockoff, and I bought it for about AUD$60 delivered. I strapped it to the top of a cheap RC car chassis, compiled an application for the camera, wrote it into the ROM, banged out some python, stuck on an arduino and had a bit of fun:

youtube.com/watch?v=UcSHahwmB0A
youtube.com/watch?v=1wuCoz7Y2VY
youtube.com/watch?v=Qv-Fi1xO2k0
youtube.com/watch?v=6vcNZrvgPe0
youtube.com/watch?v=ovcEQWTNXWE
youtube.com/watch?v=nKPFiUtFl9E

The car was fun, but unusable over high-latency links due to its high speed and fairly unpredictable trajectory. It also had a terrible turning circle.

I've just finished designing a printable tank chassis for the camera. I re-jigged the control system to be wholly contained within the browser, using poorly-documented cleverness to send data straight to the camera's serial port. The result is a remote-controlled tank that can point a camera around independently of the body, that works anywhere there's wifi reception and behaves well enough to control over a 500ms internet connection:

youtube.com/watch?v=Z53KcBvMl48
youtube.com/watch?v=U-rNHdH7mmU

I have successfully driven it through medium-length grass, over, under and around my house. It's a bit top-heavy at present, I need to move the battery lower to lower the centre of gravity. I predict about half an hour of usage from a 2200mAh 3 cell lipo battery, but I can't say for sure since I've never flattened one.

Does the world need another earbud holder?

Well, this one fits Apple earbuds and stores the cable neatly.

Updated Design
Change Log - 12-04-2011
-Updated Spindle Base Design to Make Pockets Faceted for Easier Printing
-Updated Masters to Include New Spindle Base
-Added Counterbalance Hardware
-Removed WIP, Design Complete!

Change Log - 11-25-2011
-Yarn Guide Added
-Ball Winder Base Drawing Added
-Spindle Updated to Remove Mtl
-Spindle Base Updated to Remove Rounds & Add Support
-Carriage Updated to Remove Mtl & Add Spacer
-Spindle Updated to Add Support
-Updated all STL Files
-Added Creo (Pro/E) Native CAD Files
-Added Exploded Assembly Views
-Updated Parts/Fastener List

This printable wool winder creates center-pull balls from raw hanks of yarn, it must be used in combination with a yarn swift, I will work on a printable swift in the future.

I designed this winder for my mother who was having troubles with her current ball winder, a new equivalent winder was priced around $50. I felt like I could design and make a better winder for only a few $ in purchased parts (most I had around) and plastic. Plus I know how it works so if it breaks I can fix it.

The winders function is pretty simple but really fun to watch. The motion of the winder can be explained as such. The hand crank, when turned causes the center carriage mechanism to rotate around a stationary cone. The motion of the carriage in combination with the stationary cone causes the winding spindle to rotate about its axis. The winding spindle completes one rotation for every nine rotations of the hand crank. The dual spinning motion of the carriage and the spindle is what causes the yarn to take the form of a cylinder.

Video of the winder in action. youtu.be/iS2732Mlz7k

To build the winder you will need a few non-printable parts.

Qty 4 - 624ZZ Ball Bearings
Qty 2 - 606ZZ Ball Bearings
Qty 2 - 608ZZ Ball Bearings
Qty 1 - Compression Spring, McMaster-Carr P/N 9435K93
Qty 1 - O-Ring Size -237, McMaster-Carr P/N: 9396K226
Qty 1 - O-Ring Size -254, McMaster-Carr P/N: 9396K245
Qty 1 - 1/4" PTFE Tubing, McMaster-Carr P/N: 5239K12
Qty 3 - M3 x 30mm SHCS
Qty 3 - M3 Hex Nut
Qty 1 - M4 x 40mm SHCS
Qty 1 - M4 x 30mm BHCS
Qty 2 - M4 x 16mm SHCS
Qty 3 - M4 Flat Washer
Qty 2 - M4 NyLoc Hex Nut
Qty 2 - M5 x 25mm SHCS
Qty 2 - M5 Hex Nut
Qty 1 - M6 x 40mm SHCS
Qty 1 - M6 Flat Washer
Qty 2 - M6 Hex Nut
Qty 1 - M8 Hex Nut
Qty 1 - M8 Threaded Rod (65mm Long)
Qty 2 - M10 Hex Nut
Qty 2 - M5 Acorn Nut
Qty 2 - M5 x 35mm FHCS
Qty 4 - 1/2" Tall Rubber Bumpers

Magic Rub Erasers are great but they get dirty in my bag. So I used the electronic box script to make a handy little holder. Perfect!

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.

While I was waiting the 4 weeks for my Thing-O-Matic to arrive, I was thinking of all sorts of improvements for it before I even built it. One thing I knew I wanted to do was to integrate the Gen4 Interface directly into the machine. So I designed a new mounting for it so it is on a hinged panel that swings out the front when needed....and closes back up into the bot when not used. There is plenty of space in the electronics area for the interface parts to fit, even with the 2 stepper drivers mounted right behind it.

I used the original Gen4 Interface PCBA and LCD panel, and just remounted them on parts I printed with the Thing-O-Matic. I designed the hinge to have detents so it holds the panel in place when pushed all the way in or pulled out. I am using blue tape a pull handle until I decide what kind of permanent handle to print and mount.

I think it just gives the bot a more finished look, but does not change any actual functionality.

Yoda Bust

This is a 100% printable filament spool based heavily upon randyy's design.

Changes:

Added webbing to arms for strength.
Modified dovetails for better fit (the original required a lot of sanding to get to fit well - for me).
Increased arm thickness for strength.
Increased mount size for strength and more solid connection to MakerBot.
Changed geometry of birdmouth slightly.
Increased size of filament holder so that more filament could be wound on spool.
Added hole in the filament holder.
Beefed up the filament clip on the filament holder.
Enlarged the conical pieces that press fit into the arm for more secure fit.
Added a filament guide for use with Cupcakes.

I wanted a small box to hold a few pills that would keep them clean and safe from crushing. But this box could be used for anything small with some adjustments to the cavity shape. The lid uses a dovetail joint for tightness and fit tolerance.

This model is fully parametric, but some of the parameters need some work so that the adjusted box always works. Some of the walls may be thicker than necessary.

The first design holds 4 pills in two stacks. The second design holds 5 pills on their edge instead.

The second version of the lid has a square indention (which bridges nicely) to make opening the box easier.

The outside dimensions of the two boxes are identical.

Inspired by thingiverse.com/thing:1501 this is a camera mount to fit on the handle bars of a bike. I remade it in openSCAD as I needed a countersunk hole for the M6 bolts I had.

UPDATES:

* The original 0v0 zip did not have all the needed files in it.
The current MiZ_Rider_0v0_fixed.zip corrects this.

* There is now 0v1 uploaded. This corrects some fiddly stuff I
found when I assembled the thing. MiZ_Rider_0v1_No_STL.zip
has this latest OpenSCAD code but I have not had time to generate
the STL.

MiZ is a complete Z-Stage replacement for the MakerBot Cupcake. Almost all the parts can be printed on your MakerBot. It will work with many extruders: MK5, MK6, MiseryPusher ( thingiverse.com/thing:7129 shown) as well as any other extruder that is designed to attach to the standard MBI MK5 style extruder base plate (such as: thingiverse.com/thing:5684 thingiverse.com/thing:6713 thingiverse.com/thing:7113 thingiverse.com/thing:7037 ).

The goals were to have very few modifications to the MakerBot, and to have a rigid structure that would yield good quality prints (like:
thingiverse.com/derivative:8582 )

With my setup I can get 550mm/minute Z-travel rate:
youtube.com/watch?v=K-9MwgUz1v0

Here is a longer and more boring video:
youtube.com/watch?v=Fuudemoq2MQ

And yet another showing stability during a high-vibration fill:
youtube.com/watch?v=_Z8G90gfEYI

Excluding nuts & bolts, re-used parts, and shipping the non-printed cost is as low as $26:
* 2 of 12mm x 13 rods: $5 each
* 8 of 623 bearings : $10/10 (shielded) or $20/10 (sealed)
* ABS glue: $6
Links to the parts are in the instructions PDF.

I do have some tweaks and improvements in mind. Please watch for updates.

Heritage -- This design owes a lot of inspiration to these two things:

Z-Rider by twotimes thingiverse.com/thing:4740

Type A Z-Rider. v3.2 by TheRuttmeister thingiverse.com/thing:5586

Suggestions:

whosawhatsis recommended his "Minimalistic X-rod mount":
thingiverse.com/thing:6884
instead of the version in the file. His is a nice design and should work well, it is lower profile and easier to open/close.

This is an alternative Z-Stage for Makerbot/Cupcake with MK5/MK6 extruder. It's heavily inspired by MiseryBot's "MiZ Rider" ( thingiverse.com/thing:7954 ). I even copied MiseryBot's stepper motor coupler verbatim.

I was considering building MiseryBot's Z-Rider and was looking for a source for the small ball bearings. Turned out that for my neck of the world, those bearings would have been significantly more expensive than real linear bearings, so I designed this Z-Stage based on linear bearings.

As with all other solutions of this kind, it gets rid of the Z-Stage wobble. It even has a springy suspension on the threaded rod end, to dampen the last bit of wobble.

The extruder mount has an integral fan and air ducts. The airflow cools the extruder motor, the thermal barrier tube heat sink and the object being printed. It also cools the load bearing ABS parts from the inside, because I'm a little paranoid about the ABS right next to the hot end.

The achievable build height with this Z-Stage is about 150mm with the standard Cupcake build platform.

Parts recycled from original Z-Stage assembly:

    * M3 screws (M3x16, M3x12, M3x8) and nuts

    * 1 x M8 threaded rod

    * 3 x M8 nut

    * 1 x NEMA17 stepper motor

Additional parts (vitamins):

    * 2x precision rods, 8mm, >270mm long

    * 3x linear bearings, 8mm / 15mm outside, 24mm high

    * 45mm 12V fan

I figured it was time to build a project box. (as apposed to buying them from RadioShack)

A palm-sized heart container with a sliding dove tail lid.

Files have a support structure modeled into them for easier printing. This requires some cleanup after the print.

UPDATE
Rev2 has a stronger connection with a better fit.
flickr.com/photos/nickstarno/5446315732/

Adjusted the parameters for my 67mm lens cap and the 25mm wide portion of the BlackRapid R-Strap. I've also split the buckle portion to make it possible to clip the holder to the strap rather than feed it through the buckle (The R-Strap has a clip on the free end which makes it impossible to slide on).

I haven't stress tested the buckle, but it seems pretty secure.

This is an edit of "Money Clip" by Bre. I made a few edits to the original to fit my needs.

1. I tapered the clip to allow it to hold fewer items. It has a nice solid pinch now.
2. I flared the lips on the outside to make sliding cards/cash into the clip easier.
3. I increased the clip height to keep it from sliding around quite so much.

This is my first derivative, I had a lot of fun tweaking an existing model to suit my needs. I posted the evolution of the clip on my blog here: thenewhobbyist.com/2011/07/with-thingiverse-youre-never-designing-alone/

Now someone download this and make it even better!

Edit: Added v4, This is taller and has an even more extreme angle on the top clip. This is a huge improvement for me. Try this one first if you're looking for a really solid clip.

New Museum Challenge notes:

This money clip is a derivative of an original model by Bre Pettis. My v4 clip is the fourth iteration of Bre's design. The Money Clip v4 is a simple wedge clip that can accommodate 5-6 credit/business cards as well as a small fold of cash. The clip also features a curved outer lip to simplify returning cards to the clip. The printed ABS allows for enough flex to firmly hold the contents of the clip while also allowing for expansion when necessary.

I believe it is a great example of collaborative design. I have been using this 24/7 since my derivative was uploaded and it has proven to be very rugged and sturdy showing no signs of wear. So in addition to the money clip showing how collaborative editing can improve the design process it also makes a good case for the day to day functional use of a home 3D printer.

I've taken to printing the top of Wizard's jewelry box as a good way of testing surface finish, since it is a demanding shape that shows up many of the difficulties, without taking too long to print.

I designed this a few months ago, but my machine couldn't print it until now. Sort of inspired by basalt column rock formations. Might look nice printed in Pencil Yellow

After having to relevel my platfrom after severla builds due the pressure applied getting parts off. Also being fixed to the TOM makes it hard to get Kapton Tape without air bubbles. So I decided to make the HBP so I could take it on and off without messing up the Z height. What i did is use a previous printed leveler I posted before buhttp://www.thingiverse.com/thing:9094 ) I added four (4)flat head 3mm screws and four (4) super magnets JB weled into the wood plat form. It works great maybe some one else would like it so i posted it.

I added the a STEP file of the complete design for those who want to modify it for changes.

Scott

This is the 5th version of my printable linear rail, I've gotten everything to finally work correctly. This can be used as a drop in replacement for a 3d printer's X or Y axis. It's rail system is designed to connect together to form any needed length.

This machine hopefully will be my entry for the Gada prize.


Update 06/16/2011:
I worked out a few modifications to the shuttle. Now the lower half of the shuttle can be printed as well, this removes:
4x 5/16(8mm) nuts
2x 5/16(8mm) bolts
2x 5/16 washers

-The next to go is going to be replacing the front 5/16(8mm) hardware with all printed parts. I'm trying to pare this down just the motor and the printed parts.

-I also redesigned the Large helical gear to incorporate the 608 bearing embedded inside of it. think this is an advantage of trying to use 2 bearings in the pillow block. The large helical gear is also now held in place by a printed 8mm bolt 40mm long. This removes one additional piece of hardware.

-The shuttle top now has 4 mounting holes, although I'm just securing the motor with 2 at this point.

-I printed 2 new 3-segment rails, redesigned lower half of shuttle to be printed.
-I also added 2 new pics of the x/y gantry system and uploaded all new parts - I should have another video.


Here is a youtube video of it in action:
youtube.com/watch?v=ScJMPw6UPtw

Comments and feedback are welcome.

This turns standard square-pin breakaway headers into latching headers. The standard 4-pin size will fit the CD-ROM audio cables like the ones used for the Gen 4 mechanical endstops. I designed a version to print horizontally and one to print vertically. This has nothing to do with mounting options, but you will probably find that one of these is easier to print on your machine than the other.

NEW! as of June 17.

This is now a complete modular rocket system!

Pick a nosecone, body tube(s), fincan, nosecone coupler, and voila! A semi custom printable rocket!

I plan to be adding new sections on a regular basis so check back often! Feel free to leave feedback if there is some feature you'd like to see that isn't up yet :)

Important dimensions to make compatible modules:
Tube Outside Diameter - 1.75in
Tube Inside Diameter - 1.667in
Coupler Tube Outside Diameter (tight): 1.663in
Coupler Tube Outside diameter (looser): 1.659in

NOTE: The designs are closely based on the Legacy design and should work well, but many of them are still untested. I'm working on it, though.

This is a modification to the wonderfully simple design by nicgravel found here: thingiverse.com/thing:7484

This design is based on a 60mm LED ring. I loved the original design and actually had an 80mm ring mounted to my bot for a while, but I liked the 60mm ring better because it is closer to the extruder and highlights the extrusion better while printing. It is very easy to see how close you are above the part surface with the smaller ring.

This is for mounting three boards -- such as the EC, relay, and extruder stepper driver boards -- to the side of a cupcake. It replaces my "Cupcake Gen3 Extruder Controller and Relay Board Mount" ( thingiverse.com/thing:6780 ), adding a mounting point for a fourth stepper driver for the extruder (or another board of comparable size, because it is fully parametric).

A while ago i saw the 8163 Xfollower - and i became interested.
I have designed a replace of the "idler" side plywood for the Xcarraige.
It uses two Ball Bearings (Outer = 8 mm,Width = 4mm,Inner = 3 mm).
The bronce bushings has to be taken out.

This is a reversible modification as you can go back if you need it.

The definition is in SCAD and VERY parametric, so you can trim the device as you need.

After installation it might be nessary to re-shim the buildplatform, using the calibration script.

I have no time for doint the extensive performance measuremnts for the MOD, i hope that others will do something about that.

I hope the Thing will do some good.

Kid's jump rope handles.

I have this ‘Third hand’ thinkgeek.com/gadgets/tools/a4bb/ I never use the magnifying glass but would love to have a PCB vise. So I made this adaptation. It’s not the sturdiest of vises due to the Third hand base, but good enough for my work. I might make a full vise later on.