this is my mod of the other green lantern ring by itchyd but bigger, face down, raftless and placed in the printing area using netfabb.

p.s sorry bout the no caps, lack of punctuation, but my makerbot machine is a dell without a shift key

This is a "Neko Mimi Girl" 3D model data.
"Neko" means a cat, "Mimi" means a ear in Japanese.
I made a cute model for study.
If you like it, let's print it.

So this is a project I've been thinking about trying out with my robotics club here at Tufts. I played with sumobots a while back in highschool but it turned out to be sort of boring because everyone was using the same kit robot and the same code. The Makerbot is a game changer here. The ability to totally customize a sumobot from the ground up with relatively little effort is awesome. I can't wait to see whole Makerbot sumobot tournaments.

Full disclosure.... this is a relatively difficult print and really pushes the limits of the build size. My makerbot was up to the challenge of the 2.5hr print and resulted in only minor warping but it was definitely a little stressful to watch.

I'm working on another (maybe better, maybe worse) version with multiple parts that slot together which would ensure more uniformity across makerbots.

The Frostruder MK2 is a radically different approach to frosting extrusion. Instead of using a motorized plunger approach such as with the Frostruder MK1 and Fab@Home paste extruders, we've switched to air power. The result is a Frostruder with excellent characteristics: nearly instantaneous start/stop capability, vastly simplified design, a high pressure capacity, and an awesome steampunk aesthetic.

The way it works is pretty simple: The frostruder is basically a syringe connected to a pressure source, typically an air compressor. There are two solenoid valves to control the pressure: a 'Pressure' and a 'Relief' valve. When the Pressure valve is on, the syringe is connected to the main pressure source and that pressure forces out whatever paste material is in the syringe. When you wish to stop the extrusion, the Pressure valve is closed, and the Relief valve is opened. This part is critical because even after the Pressure valve is closed, the syringe is still pressurized. By opening the relief valve, the pressure is released and the Frostruder stops extruding almost immediately.

The frostruder is capable of extruding nearly anything with a paste-like consistency. There are many materials to possible, from food based items to awesome engineering resins. So far, we've had success extruding the following materials:

* Frosting
* Peanut butter (creamy)
* Jelly / Jam
* Nutella
* Clay
* Silicone
* Epoxy

For those whole like to ban things, this is a printed speldge hammer with the word BAN reversed out of the face.
Post about it on my blog: eagleapex.com/2009/11/01/ban-hammer-3d-printed/
Made at hive76.org

This is a thermal barrier retainer block I designed for my plastruder to replace the stock retainer washer, steel washer & m3 screw stack. I also use this block to mount the plastruder to my z-stage so that's why the block is kind of long. One surface of the block is flush with the back of the plastruder housing and has two M4 threaded holes.

This is one I've been tinkering with for a while. Way back in the 70's my Dad had some neat little eggcups that had a teensy compartment for salt and an area to put the shells in. I can't remember exactly how they went, but mine go a lot like this.

Here's a peek at what MakerBeam looks like!

We were hoping to get this printed awhile ago, but people get busy, things happen, and apparently boards fry on neighborhood MakerBots, so here it is: a 10 cm long mockup of MakerBeam.

We call this a mockup because the beam profile will not be this exactly. This should be easier to print, and we're not quite done revising the tooling documents with our manufacturer. It's got the basics down: a 10x10mm beam with a 3mm slot. It won't hold circuit boards or other thin panels as well as the actual extruded beam.

Many connectors one might design based on this profile will work no problem; some might have to be modified slightly. Have fun playing around!

The original file has multiple problems for printing and is included as a reference. The 10mm standing file and the 15x15mm file print fine according to Erik de Bruijn, who made the modifications. I recommend printing the 15x15mm model to end up with something you can play with.

kickstarter.com/projects/701662757/makerbeam-an-open-source-building-kit

Makerbot-printable pliers for light-duty uses. Designed to be useful for holding small things during inspection, or simply doing things fingers can not.

There is a male arm, a female arm, and a printable nut. The female swivels around the male, and the nut constrains the assembly. The geometry of the threads are based on the connections seen in the toothbrush holder and originally in the screwable jewelry box. ( thingiverse.com/thing:899 , thingiverse.com/thing:413 )

Alternatively, if the design is too optimistic, you can try printing two female arms and use a small screw and nut to hold it together.

All three pieces combined use a total of 1.24 cubic inches of material.

This bracket is intended to be a printable replacement for the laser-cut brackets used for the threaded z-axis rods.

The side-mount bolts pass through captive nuts to lock the bearing (608-style skate bearing) in place, removing the need for precisely aligning the nuts holding the bearing in vertical position on the threaded z-axis rods. It also may allow for easier removal of the z-axis rods themselves when combined with the revised U-shaped z-platform Small Makerbot Parts (thing:926).

Note 1: My test ABS print is quite tight around the bearing so the inner radius may need to be increased by 0.1mm or so.

Note 2: The 20090928 variant increases the inner radius surrounding the bearing by 0.5mm. A 1mm ring has been added to the top to strengthen the tear-drop, side-mount bolt holes.

Note 3: Download the LaserCut variant if all you have is a laser cutter.

Parts of the Cupcake design were used to design this part so License is inherited GNU GPL.

Better Living with MakerBot, Episode 2
You probably all know this situation:
You're supposed to ref a soccer game in less than 1/2 an hour and you cannot find your whistle. You're screwed!

But from now on you're out of trouble: Fire up your trusty MakerBot and print a new whistle in 26 minutes!

This object prints the pea right inside the whistle. Since the pea is connected to the rest of the object only at one tiny point, it's quite easy to break it loose after printing with a small screw driver or tweezers.

I probably pushing luck a little bit with bridging the top layer. So far I printed the whistle twice without problems.

As always, I added the object as .obj file (wavefront), which can be imported into AOI and Blender.

The gcode file is the one I used to print the whistle on the image. The gcode file contains an experimental raft with additional "blobs" on the second (interface) layer.
You might want to generate your own gcode file with skeinforge settings, tested with your MakerBot. Be sure to setup Skeinforge to create an (almost) watertight object, since the whistle won't whistle if it's full of holes...

[Update]
I added a second version of the whistle. "Whistle_v2" is an attempt to fine tune the object a little bit. My brother (he's a pipe organ builder) gave me some tips how to optimize the whistles mouth. Whistle v2 should start whistle with less airflow than v1 and thus be (somewhat) less loud. I also downsized the pea a little bit and changed the shape of the lanyard loop.

Whistle v1 is still available for reference and also since it's more "tested"...

Since you blow the whistle with your mouth, be aware of possible problems concerning "food safety" of printed plastic. See the blog post "For foodies out there" ( blog.thingiverse.com/2009/09/13/for-foodies-out-there/ ) for more information.

This is a drag chain for the MakerBot extruder cable (or any other cable/wires).

It keeps your extruder cable out of the Z-stage belt and let your MakerBot look professional (kind of...)

The objects need very detailed printing in order to work. You definitely want a good tuned MakerBot and Skeinforge settings to print this (don't say I didn't warn you!).

The ZIP file contains GCode files for all objects, including 6 or 8 chain links on one raft. It might be the best to skeinforge the gcode with your own, tuned settings. The included GCode files worked for me (resp. my MakerBot), but (again): these are some really hairy objects to print.

"Brass" Knuckles made with ABS plastic using a Makerbot and Blender.

In response to the remake challenge, blog.thingiverse.com/2009/08/26/remake-challenge-iphone-tripod-mount/, a portable media tripod mount. The adapter will fit many different handheld devices, and is reconfigurable to have either the single or double support block on top and bottom.

Smallest clamping size: 1.75in
Largest Clamping size: 3in.
Ideal fit: iphone

The two clamping arms fit into each other to prevent lateral movement. The female attachment has a press fit for a 1/4-20 nut, acting as the tripod mount. To eliminate the lateral movement between the female and either clamp arm there is a modeled "peg" and complementing features; however, there is probably a better solution.

Adding a low durometer material to the clamp fingers would make a nice grip without damaging the phone surface.

Howdy. I know you all yearn to wear something sweet, metal, and culled from the oceanic depths of the oilpunk masterpiece Bioshock. This is your brass opportunity as I've converted its officially kickass logo into a 3d file for which to use, abuse, and hold up pants. It's a belt buckle. The versions I've done are in bronze from a cnc cut wax model (carved with a 1/8in 15deg inc taper profile tool) and a Zcorp 3dprint. It's pretty fine on the detail end of things so you might want to scale up if you're gonna go for a FDM.

I also have to thank the lovely and talented Meredeth Wrinkle of TechShop fame for photographing the Zcorp version of this project and being an essential supporter. I couldn't be holding this lovely little trinket without her constant support.

I was inspired by zignig's Printable Desk Clamp thingiverse.com/thing:683 . I used hex nuts instead of square nuts because hex nuts are more common. All the parts are easily available at hardware stores and hobby shops. The total cost is about $4.50 for this clamp compared to $50 ones. It is used for holding circuit boards at comfortable angles, hobby modeling, and holding stuff. Enjoy.


The picture of all parts does not show two nuts that I had already hammered in but I did not want to take them out. Also it does not show 20mm brass tubing as I already hammered some of them in.

It's a monkey... AND it's a classic model. It's the Blender Monkey!

You can find it in blender under ADD and then MONKEY.

I take no credit for this design, I just turned it and scaled it for MakerBotting.

My mom needed a laptop stand so I decided to make this for her Birthday tomorrow.

I really like how it came out and I love the interaction of the wave and the wood grain.

My process went something like this:
My mom's always liked Japanese prints (she grew up in Japan) and so I knew I wanted to do a Hokusai wave.

I found a creative commons image (http://nickpoint.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/the_great_wave_off_kanagawa.jpg) and imported it into Gimp. I adjusted the levels and threshold-ed it to make it just black and white. From there I played with it a bit in Inkscape using the trace bitmap tool. Eventually I ended up with what you see there.

Back in July Switched.com challenged us to design and make a set of salt and pepper shakers, all in one day! We took care of the design end, and the shakers were made by awesome 3-D printing technology from MakerBot.

We've always wanted to design a set of salt and pepper shakers to match Egg Pants, one of our most successful products. This finally gave us the chance to do it. We bring you Salt and Pepper Hats! We're so happy with how they turned out that we will be taking them one step further and turning them into a product for our line, which should be available by winter 2009.

In the meantime, we're offering up the files for our prototypes - download away and make your very own! Want Egg Pants to go with them? Get a pair here: designglut.bigcartel.com/product/egg-pants

Cupcake constructed from 40-50 year old douglas fir plywood. Named tyger based on the grain color and pattern. Tiger outline cut into mirrored bronze acrylic visible in the rear window.

I know people have already experimented with this a bit but I thought it would be nice to have a slightly more elegant solution to the problem of mounting a pen or pencil or brush or whatever to the Makerbot (before I had just hot-glued a marker to my extruder).

*Just updated it with an extra piece that you can print and strap on with rubber bands that allows the pen/tool to travel slightly, allowing better contact with the surface. It does this while still allowing the pen to be picked up off of the surface when you need to start a new line.

I tried to print this one, but I scaled it to big... and it was warping a lot.
Perhaps printing a mini version?

UPDATE: Today I printed a smaller one, and it works like a charm!

When I was a child I made slingshots out of wood... Living in a city nowadays (Ghent, Belgium) I can relive my youth by printing them. I hope one day my children will use tools like this to explore their creativity :-).

Here is the current final version of the butterfly knive/comb that i made at NYC resister in the Fire the Laser Class.

Toy car with wheels that move, but requires no assembly. Here is a short video:

youtube.com/watch?v=eWW5DFWcvhE

The wheels took some effort to loosen up after printing, but they now roll quite nicely on the right surface.

Other problems:

There is definitely some warping from the plastic cooling/shrinking (I used ABS).

The transition from the wheel to the axle is a bit steep for the makerbot.

This is the design we used for the first batch of MakerBots. These are the lasercut design files you will need to make your own if you have access to a laser cutter.