My girlfriend challenged me to make a hand soap dispenser that is cooler than anything we could buy at Crate & Barrel (or similar stores). The result, after a number of design iterations, is this bottle which now inhabits our bathroom.

This dispenser is designed to reduce waste in a number of ways. First, it is easily refillable, and so can be used for many years. Second, as the pump is turned, liquid soap spills from the spout back into a hole in the bottle, thus recycling any drips. Third, this design makes it easy to get as much or as little soap as you want, while commercial soap pumps often dispense more soap than necessary with a single squeeze.

This is a set of scripts that uses Golly (see golly.sourceforge.net/), a cross-platform cellular automata engine, to create objects that represent the evolution of a pattern over several generations on the Z axis using the rules of Conway's Game of Life.

The scripts generate OpenSCAD (see openscad.org/) programs, which you can use to create STL files for printing.

The demo object represents eight generations of evolution of a glider.

For years I emptied my pockets of change into a 5 gallon jug, and collected about 65 pounds worth of coins. I didn’t want to pay the 10% fee to the supermarket coin counters, but the mechanical sorter/counters I found on the web got terrible reviews on their functioning and durability. Sorting trays are available on the web, for about $10 plus shipping, as are counter/roller tubes, for about $18 plus shipping, but they were also frequently reviewed as unreliable.

The sorting tray set and counter/rollers here work quickly and reliably.

This bracelet has no clasp; instead you can stretch it over your hand and onto your wrist. It was inspired partially by the Springamathing: thingiverse.com/thing:12053. The design on the outside was inspired by MakeALot's link bracelet: thingiverse.com/thing:7354.

UPDATE: At the request of nycdesigner, a couple of alternate designs are now also available.

This is a working zipper mechanism. I printed it as an experiment, inspired after the zipper on my wife's coat broke. (I don't think I can print a replacement, yet.) There might be applications to join small sections of a structure to make a large object, but mostly it's a toy.

To those who have emailed me about the lack of files.. I'm updating the files please be patient no one is paying me to do this so progress is slow. My printer is also under repair and it will take some time to test my mods. The reason for the mods are to corrects some problems and to back out changes made for the museum challenge as the entry was unsuccessful.

My redesign (derivative) upgrade of a classic toy from my childhood, the original one still can be purchased in shops but they do NOT fly horizontally. This one does, in fact it can even fly over houses and get lost! Lucky we can print another! It improves our world because when you pull the cord and it flies off horizontally the gyroscopic effect tracks it straight and level and gives you a big grin. Smiling people are happy and happy people make the world a better place. It takes advantage of the accuracy with which a 3D printer creates parts to produce a very precise aerodynamic and balanced flying toy that only works well due to the precision of a 3D printer. I'm designing different Prop Rockets for it say tuned :-) bigger faster further!

Updated to identify the aspects for the new museum challenge

This is the first iteration (third internal) of my attempt to make printable Velcro. It is pretty nice to hang things, probably this small piece will resist much more than a kilogram of weight (hanging weight) and it is very easy to remove.

3d printing revolution is just starting, I don't say this is a flawless piece but I really consider it is a very good example about a very sweet future about us modifying our brains from "search-buy-adapt" (frustration included) to "think-design-print" (self-pride included :D ).

Quick demo video: youtube.com/watch?v=BtLSMI3xVDY
Quick demo #2 (perpendicular): youtube.com/watch?v=eLehgIfjmpA

This was an object that did not exist in our 3d printing world, so I like to think this is an "upgrade" from real world to a better virtual&teleportable world ;)

Many bracelets exist already here on thingiverse (one of my favorites is MakeALot's: thingiverse.com/thing:7354), but most are rigid shapes. This design bends smoothly around the wrist and clasps in a secure, yet smooth and unobtrusive way. The intent is also to show how any bas relief design can be turned into a unique flexible bracelet. The pattern shown here is simply a pleasing combination of sinusoids.

There are several levels of personalization available, depending on how much effort you want to put in. The easiest is to scale the file to fit your wrist (the current design has a circumference of 17.1cm with two pieces). Any number can be joined to form a larger circle. By adding M1 commands to the Gcode you can switch colors at different heights to highlight certain features (as shown). And finally, you can modify the OpenSCAD file to turn your own design into a segmented, flexible bracelet.

This is a spring designed for 3d printing.

Watch the video to see it in action!
youtube.com/watch?v=UxwbQSMbEIA

The more you scale the spring, the smaller the spring constant.

Increasing your filament width increases the spring constant.

The spring can be used in tension or compression, but it must be fairly short with comparatively thick filament width to be used in compression.

It can be made extremely flexible and it is very fun to play with.

It's form was discovered by accident, as it was originally auto generated support for the middle of a hollow cylinder.

I'm still perfecting the design but it works quite well in it's current state.

I will be uploading different sizes (and source files shortly) over the next few days.

The spring was prototyped on a Fablicator.
Fablicator.com

A while ago I wrote a program to read and solve the Professor version (5x5x5) of the Rubik's cube.
I then decided to build a robot to actually do the reading and the moving...

My first prototype was built in plywood, but then I decided I wanted to build something that was less prone to defects , so I got my first Makerbot, redesigned most of the components, and started printing!

This is an ongoing project, and I still have my plywood components working, waiting to be replaced by their ABS counterparts.

The electronics is based on an Arduino that reads the input from an external PC where the Solver software runs; it then drives the 12 servos that manipulate the Cube.

Warning: DO NOT PRINT THIS THING! As it is this does not play. This was made based on the look of a recorder and best guesses based on illustrations and went through several iterations to attempt a fix, but in the end has several mistakes that renders it... not as good. In other words it looks the part but it doesn't sound the part. Use thingiverse.com/thing:12168 for one that works.

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.

This magnet toy is great for exploring geometric shapes and the awesome power of MAGNETS. It is inspired by natural geometry and buckyballs, which are way too much fun. Unless you eat them. DO NOT EAT THE MAGNETS.

What started off as a section of straight train track has turned into a large train set. To be honest this was a great project during Hurricane Irene weekend. Was also my birthday when I did this, so something fun to do on my birthday. My kids have gotten a kick out of them. The ones in the photos are straight off the printer, no cleanup needed, some tips on that below. This stuff all pretty much snaps together, so not much in the way of post printing work required. These train works great without tracks. I was excited that the body design worked as well as it did and suprised that the Makerbot did so well printing the tall axle towers. Would be fun to modify the wheels for more of a monster truck look. Maybe during the next hurricane...

I drew this stuff in Sketchup and then exported to the stl file. If it is useful to anyone I happy to post the Sketchup files. The curve track was tricky to draw, for some reason it tends to warp up a bit on one end when printed. I think probably due to by build platform being sort of warped (need to replace the belt on my ABP...).

Update 9/24/2011:I just replaced a large number of the stl files with new versions that are a lot cleaner, and should print a lot better. I also removed earlier versions that I didn't think were worth printing because the new versions were much better. All the files I've loaded here have been tested and should print well on a Makerbot.

Thank you, all of you who've made cube gears and posted pictures. Since tbuser made these lovely pin connectors, thingiverse.com/thing:10288, I figured it was high time to make a fully printable cube gear set. Now you needn't bother buying any more screws: this one snaps together.

UPDATE: For anyone without access to a 3D printer, you can now buy these from caesia on her Etsy store: etsy.com/shop/PlasticFusion

UPDATE: New version uses tbuser's new pin connectors V2: thingiverse.com/thing:10541, is much stronger, and prints right-side-up. This is practice for making a heart-gear version.

This design also incorporates a couple of tricks that others may find useful. The center block has two very narrow slices through it, which cause interior walls to form, which help keep the tops of the holes from sagging during printing. Likewise, a cylinder is cut out of the interior of the gears, which serves two purposes. First, it makes a strong internal support for the pin. Second, it makes for less stringing between parts when you print four gears at once, because Skeinforge makes the head go from the center of one to the center of the other, so that the perimeters wipe off the nozzle.

UPDATE: By popular demand, a new version of the center block has been uploaded (BcenterFlat.stl), which doesn't have any internal slits and is oriented to print on a large face. This one is significantly easier to print, though the top and bottom holes do end up a touch tighter than the rest.

This is a 3x3 snake cube puzzle done with a 3d printer. After assembling the snake don't cheat on solving the puzzle. :) well maybe you should, just think of how long you could spend solving it if you had a block in the wrong position. LOL

Hope you have fun with it.

A simple tri-blade boomerang.

Look anywhere on the web for throwing instructions, e.g.: rediboom.com - this is an actual returning boomerang!

Hello World,
The last couple of days my life has mostly been revolving around Impact Sprinklers! I think that Impact Sprinklers might be the coolest things since sliced bread. They are also most certainly printable. And, given enough work, probably actually useful.

My fascination started when I saw: thingiverse.com/thing:10127
I have never been in close contact with an actual Impact Sprinkler, but believe me when I tell you that I have seen many YouTube-clips of them in action. I still can’t figure everything* out thou. I have not yet fully understood the concept of how you get the sprinkler to reverse the cycle so this is a 360 degree sprinkler.

This is my first thingiverse upload – it’s a scetchup file of mainly 2 parts: a sprinkler head and a spoon-arm (or whatever the technical term is). In addition to these parts you would need a rubber band** and a bolt. The bolt in order to get the two parts to stick together. And the rubber band to force the spoon-arm against the head (thats what the nob on the arm is for). You will also need the tubing to connect the head to your water.

I do not own a printer yet – so there is no way for me to try printing this. It’s just a raw sketchup file and I imagine that there are lots of tweeks to be done in order to print this – if that is even possible (?) - I have not learned that part yet. Sorry.

On a sidenote – I don’t have a lawn either.

My hope is that someone out there finds this helpful and all comments are welcome!

Links to cool stuff and inspiration:
thingiverse.com/thing:10189
thingiverse.com/thing:9596

Closeup-Slowmo:
youtube.com/watch?v=p6g7OSvI5GQ&NR=1

Commercial 3D Printed Impact Sprinkler in action:
youtube.com/watch?v=suHpg082Tc0
(Please note, this is not my design, only a link to someone who have successfully printed a Impact Sprinkler)


*not entirely sure that I have understood anything..
**Strong I imagine. (or a spring)

=====================================================

Updates:
Some stuff you learn the hard way: makerbot.com/blog/2011/07/22/google-sketchup-design-tip-fix-flipped-faces/

So, I have reverced the facets and touched up the head and arm and cleand off that other stuff and saved to two separet files (they still dont render - here on thingiverse - dont know if they are supposed to - being sketchup files.

Anyone concidering printing probebly want to redsign the neck before doing so.

=====================================================

Mark 2 in progress.
Realising now that im not going to have time to finish it anytime soon. so here is a flat image for your inspiration! See attached preview.

=====================================================

Snap together 3D printable truck-like robot. Unlike the cool-but-ultimately-non-functional Tank designs ( thingiverse.com/thing:6554 and thingiverse.com/thing:8080 ), this bot actually works. Sadly the motors could not generate enough torque to actually move the tank robot due to the amount of friction introduced by the worm gear and tank treads. Encouraged by the success of my 27 to 1 Reduction Gearset thingiverse.com/thing:9414 I designed this bot from the ground up to be low friction, snap-together and almost entirely 3D printable. The only non-printable components are the motors, the motor mounting screws, the batteries, the wire and the nuts that serve as contacts in the battery holders. I hope to upload some PCB mounts soon so you can easily add the electronics necessary to make this bot autonomous, but if you are impatient I recommend looking into NBitWonder's awesome DC Motor Driver thingiverse.com/thing:7618 which was designed for the tank-bot.

I used this script to design the gears: thingiverse.com/thing:3575 (You will need to download the scad to use the attached truck.scad file). I also used this script to generate the battery holders: thingiverse.com/thing:5079

VIDEO:
youtube.com/watch?v=F-qvDO9QZV4
As you can see from the video, the left rear axel isn't spinning freely and needs some sanding/filing.

UPDATE:
I fixed the drag on the left rear axel by replacing "axelholder.stl" with "wheelholder.stl" in conjunction with "axelend2.stl".
youtube.com/watch?v=o3SWtk4X-1Q

UPDATE #2:
I uploaded design files and instructions for the electronics:
thingiverse.com/thing:11055
youtube.com/watch?v=ZA7mihbLalw

UPDATE #3:
Parametric oversized snaptogether 3d-printable wheels:
thingiverse.com/thing:14347
youtube.com/watch?v=9cWYPE-cpFg

NOTE:
This design is based on the tolerances of my cupcake 3D printer. As several folks who printed out the 27 to 1 gearset pointed out, the Thing-O-Matic has much better tolerances, so some of the snap-together parts may need some glue (or openscad tweaking) if your printer is better than mine!

Articulated, snap together, Mars Rover! No screws, glue, or support structure needed (although some glue in a few places wouldn't hurt). All the parts can be posed, turned, twisted. The wheels turn and the legs even pivot like the real thing to go over obstacles! Unfortunately, it is not autonomous.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Exploration_Rover

2011-07-19 Update: V3 fixes a problem with plate 5 that was causing some pieces to be too close together and get merged, makes the axel holes in the body a little tighter, half the panels in the plates have been flipped so that the shiny side of all pieces printed on a HBP can be on top, I made the dimples on the panel tabs larger so they hold together better, and I also added squares to the panels to make them look more like solar panels.

2011-07-16 Update: I uploaded a new version of everything with a few changes like dimpled tabs for the solar panels (thanks to gpvillamil) and slightly larger holes to make it easier to snap bolts into. I also added a variable to the openscad script called tolerance that you can use to make those holes slightly larger. If you print the tolerance_test.stl you can use it to help find the right tolerance for your printer. The holes range from a tolerance value of 0.0 to 0.6 in 0.1 increments and the files I uploaded are 0.2

After 16 iterations, and inspired by a Bruce Sterling story (Kiosk), I've designed and printed a working hair clip.

Length: 8.4cm
Height: 2.2cm
Depth: 1.2cm
Weight: 7g

Printed in ABS, and utterly dependent on its mechanical properties, it features a working ABS hinge, three kinds of springs, and a snap fastener.

This version is plain - the Sketchup file is included for those who want to go on and adorn their hair clips. Failing that, you can use the gently curved outer surface as a base for gluing on your own additions.

Versions:
hairclip-mk15 = This version has four embossed stars on the outer bar (as seen in blue in the photograph).
hairclip-mk16-final = The flat backed version, easier to modify on your own.

(Personal blog post regarding the Bruce Sterling story and other influences, here -
myriadwhimsies.wordpress.com/2011/07/11/jovanicas-hair-toys-3d-printed-hair-clips/)

After a visit to the Museum of Science & Industry (in which a disproportionate amount of the trip was spent in their Space Center) I felt like making my own little contribution to thingiverse's Space Month with a little Space Ship One model.

I had plans of mashing this up with thingiverse.com/thing:8754 to make an actual flying SS1 model, but since I am not a rocket surgeon, I leave that to someone with more experience.

A tiny toy dump truck, no assembly required.

Captive wheels and dump box.

Inspired by toy tanker truck by jag thingiverse.com/thing:5273

The picture shows the series of intermediate designs.

This is a Makerbot printable Dan Moi*, which is similar to a Jew's Harp**.

I modeled it off of a brass bass Dan Moi, but the sound is much closer to a bamboo one. While this will not replace a nice brass Dan Moi, you can print this on a well-tuned Makerbot!

Here is a YouTube video of the Dan Moi in action: youtube.com/watch?v=enHMpn5SC5w

Since I can't seem to do links properly:
* en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%90%C3%A0n_m%C3%B4i
** en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews_harp

Winner of the Pattywac Makerbot United Challenge for collaborative design: makerbot.com/blog/2011/05/16/pattywac-makerbot-united-challenge-winner/

Thank you team! :-)

Video of the first ticking powered escapement mechanism:
prototribe.net/vidplay/testjig2.html

___________WARNING_________

Several bugs have been fixed since this release, and the current tip-of-the-spear for development is a simplified 2-gear clock with only minutes and seconds.

Current development version to be found on git hub here:
github.com/syvwlch/Printable-Clock-Project

Current version of the 8-Gear Clock (revision D):
thingiverse.com/thing:8284

Current bleeding edge development version of the test jig:
thingiverse.com/thing:8275

Current repository for the latest version of the clockwork library:
thingiverse.com/thing:8155

Thanks to RustedRobot for his continued assistance debugging the clock!
___________WARNING_________

This is both a derivative of the printable clock PoC, and of my escapement library: thingiverse.com/thing:7822 . The involute gear profiles are from the MCAD library.

(EDIT: The clock got a mention by Cory Doctorow on boing boing!
boingboing.net/2011/04/23/model-files-for-a-wo.html )

I cleaned up the code so it would render faster, moved all the gear work into the library, and created a laidOutToPrint() module to facilitate creating the STLs of the individual parts. I included an optional print volume visualizer, so you can check every part doesn't exceed the printer's capabilities.

The assembled() module is still fully animate-able, and I've added colors to help see if everything meshes properly.

The clock itself now has clip-on hands, front & back frames, and most importantly, I switched to a different set of gear ratios (3.2, 3, 2.5 & 2.5) which allows for bigger shafts by keeping the ratios small.

Assuming an 80x80x80mm printing volume, you now have a bit more than 12mm (almost half an inch!) available for the overall diameter of the shaft, the two sleeves that slide over it and the necessary clearances.

I think this configuration is close to final, except for the escapement, which will need fine-tuning... but without re-printing the rest of the clock.

This puzzle is similar to the rubik's cube and is currently massed produced and can be purchased from the producer, Meffert's. However I wanted to design a smaller, flat faced version. It also has a different mechanism than the massed produced version. It should work perfectly in theory, though finding the right size screw might take some work. I could always add pins that you could just glue in place if anyone wants. I also split two of the parts in half because of overhang problems. This way it should be able to be printed without support material, and then the two halves would have to be glued together.

Unfortunately I don't really know how to orient the pieces, so hopefully you guys can do that yourselves.

With that being said I hope someone attempts to make this, and I am sorry ahead of time if it doesn't work


Edit 1) 4/21/11: Changed the instructions to make it more clear.

Extended the previous Proof of Concept for the printable clock to include the entire gear train.

I had to use a total of eight pinion wheels, four to gear down from the escapement/seconds wheel to the minutes wheel, and another four for the hour wheel (5,3,2,2). Two would make for high gear ratios (10,6 or 8,7.5 typically) which are hard to print, and three would make the minute hand run counter-clockwise.

I wrote the OpenSCAD script so that all the wheels are equidistant (by adjusting the tooth size pair by pair) and so that the gear train can be bent at each wheel in order to stack the second, minute and hour hands on top of each other (e.g. with four wheels between hands, you need to fold by 90 degrees between each wheel).

It is all fully parametric for that distance, the fold angle, the gear ratios, and number of teeth for each wheel... and you can animate the gear train, they will all rotate at the correct speed and mesh.

The only thing I was not able to do is to make the code recursive, because OpenSCAD does not support that. Booh!

This caterpillar track is the first step towards designing and building a printable mobile robot. My finished robot will have four of these modules, but many other designs are possible. A single caterpillar can function on its own as a simple robot that can move forwards and backwards; two modules can be joined together to form a tank-like machine, etc.

This thing is designed to work with a Futaba 3003 servo (modified for continuous rotation) and uses O-rings to make up the transmission and the caterpillar itself.

Transmission O-ring: 3mm thickness, 60mm diameter
Caterpillar O-rings: 3mm thickness, 124mm diameter

This O-ring system was chosen because it was easier to prototype, but it has evident drawbacks. In future revisions I will change it to a "solid" rubber track.

Note that the pictures of the printed robot at the bottom of the page are missing the reinforcement parts. I will upload new pictures as soon as I modify it!

Video of the robot in action!!
youtube.com/watch?v=efXHjjU-yYg (Simple test)
youtube.com/watch?v=mVgXtljqaAQ (Highest inclination: 36º)

Update! (17/4/2011)
Uploaded an HD artistic rendition of the UniTrack created by my brother Hasier Goitia. Expect more images and videos after the Easter Break!

This is a fully functioning Rubik's cube that's printed in one piece (no assembly required). I extruded the letters G, E and B through its faces so that when the cube is solved, you can see through the cube on its corner pieces. It's a riff of the cover to Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid.

I designed this project in OpenSCAD and made the letter extrusions independent of the cube itself. I've also uploaded the .scad code so you can design your own extrusions, or just print the cube. Enjoy :)

A 3D printable hand-held vacuum cleaner.

Youtube video of it running:
youtube.com/watch?v=ofGIOl1vMG4