The Teardrop are is a geometrical shape which is used whenever a horizontal hole is printed.
This avoids overhangs greater than 45° at the top of the hole, which are not (or at least not easily and clean) printable on FDM printers without support material.

The problem with teardrop holes is, that they need considerably more space. This can be a real problem, when the main object is limited in size for one reason or another.

Flat Teardrops solve this problem.
The solution is simple. Although overhangs > 45° are a problem in 3D printing, reasonably short bridges aren’t!
So why not just cut off the dead space in the tip of a teardrop?

See pleasantsoftware.com/developer/3d/2011/11/29/flat-teardrop/ for more details.

This is a bellow to protect the Y axis ways of my CNC mill ( thingiverse.com/thing:8527 )

The base material is office paper (80 g), coated with liquid rubber later in the process. The rubber coating not only improves the bellows stability, but also gives the bellow some basic protection for oil and/or cooling liquid.

This is a DIY CNC mill.

The z axis is kind of universal. Mine currently makes use of thingiverse.com/thing:8481 to attach a Dremel as spindle, but using other tools or even an extruder shouldn't be a problem.

This thing contains only the (mostly wooden) mechanical construction of the mill.

Electronics and software are not included. I use custom made electronics and software with mine, but both aren't ready for publishing yet. You might use a RAMPS board or even Makerbot PCBs to drive this mill.

For more information on the Pleasant Mill project, see
pleasantsoftware.com/developer/3d/2011/05/13/poor-mens-laser-cutter/

[Update] I already stated this in the above blog post, but since there was a complaint in the comments, I'd like to add attribution to David Carr (http://makeyourbot.org/mantis9-1) also here. He designed the Mantis Mill, which the Pleasant Mill's design is based on. However, I designed my own Z axis, use linear ball bearings, different (and metric) dimensions and a bunch of other design changes and additions. See above link for more info.[/Update]

Additional pictures are available here:
picasaweb.google.com/ZaggoPS/PleasantMill?feat=directlink

This is a bracket for attaching a Dremel to a mill.

For more information on the DIY CNC mill, I designed this thing for, see:
pleasantsoftware.com/developer/3d/2011/05/13/poor-mens-laser-cutter/

These are the designs for Mendel style linear ball bearings. The bearings are for use in a DIY CNC mill.

Since there isn't too much room for the bearings (especially at the Z axis), I designed the printed ball bearing retainers as low profile as possible. The "inner" ball bearings are halfway sunk in the base plate.
This not only keeps the assembly as low as possible, but also guarantees the same height reference for the fixed bearings (the axle sits directly on the plate). All upper bearings are adjustable.

See a video with a comparison of bush bearings and these linear ball bearings on the same rods:
youtube.com/watch?v=nL-CA5Fm8bk

For more information on the DIY CNC mill, see pleasantsoftware.com/developer/3d/2011/05/13/poor-mens-laser-cutter/

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 :-/

Eastern is coming and I'll be visited by dear friends and their children.
So I need some Easter attraction for them :)

The SphereBot can plot images on spherical objects like table tennis balls, golf balls, eggs etc.
It is inspired by the original EggBot by EvilMadScientist, but built from 2 old stepper motors and some steel rods (all cannibalized from old flatbed scanners), some MDF and plywood and a few 3d printed parts (printed with my MakerBot Cupcake).

The electronics are simply an Arduino and two Polulu A4983 stepper motor drivers (on the bread board).

The custom Arduino firmware directly interprets GCode sent over the serial port. So it’s no problem to print GCode from MakerBot Unicorn designs directly on the SphereBot.
Thanks to the excellent Inkscape plugin from Marty McGuire (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5986), it’s easily possible to convert all kinds of vector drawings (eps, svg, etc) to printable GCode.

The firmware is open source and can be found here:
pleasantsoftware.com/developer/3d/spherebot/

A video of the SphereBot in action is available on YouTube:
youtube.com/watch?v=v8KnW9AQ10E

[Update 04/09/2011]
Meanwhile I drew plans for the wooden parts (left & right side and the X-axis stepper motor retainer plate). See
SphereBotWoodenParts.pdf below.

[Update 04/10/2011]
I just uploaded STL and SCad files for the printed parts.

[Update 04/11/2011]
The SphereBotSender GUI is now also available in a Processing implementation, i.e. it runs on Mac OS X, Windows and Linux.
See 'SphereBotSenderBinaries.zip' below.

The Sources are available on GitHub,
see pleasantsoftware.com/developer/3d/spherebot/ for the links.

This is a perl script, generating gcode for monolith shaped test objects.

I used this objects to measure the rigidity and strength of objects, printed in different orientations.
The script is also capable of generating a new, experimental type of "interlocking" infill ("Mode 2").

For more information on this project, please see
pleasantsoftware.com/developer/3d/the-rack

[Update] This thing unfortunately was one of the victims of the recent “catastrophic hardware failure” at Thingiverse.com. It used to be "thing:4811", now it's "thing:4812" :)
I'm not sure if it's possible to recover the comments on the original thing (as far as I know, the comments section is outsourced and not part of the thiniverse servers).
Also, the "Likes" are gone... Do you still like this thing?

---

Since the original frame of my Gaui 330XS Quadrocopter was damaged in a crash, I built a new frame from scratch, using printed plastic parts.
The four arms are 10x10mm wood profiles (cheap, sturdy, light weight). The motors and electronics are cannibalized from the crashed Gaui Quadrocopter. But it should be no problem to use other motors and/or electronics for this.

This is the design for a wall socket cover, I printed in the new "Better Living with MakerBot" episode on YouTube:

youtube.com/watch?v=W9tnqHS2vFo

It's kind of specifically designed for the wall socket in my living room, but I'd like to share it anyway.

This is an episode of "Will It Print?" :)

I designed this almost 13 months ago, but back then, I couldn't manage to successfully print on my MakerBot. So I forgot about it.
Today, I found the files on my hard disk and tried it again...

Surprise: It prints! (sort of)

There's some serious oozing going on (see pictures). Also Skeinforge moans and groans when slicing this one...

What surprised me most: after breaking away the support parts and cleaning it up, it turns out that the three rings indeed interlock. There's no way to separate them without breaking at least one of them...

This is a derivate of the Z-Probe, using a micro servo and a minimalistic approach without any printed parts.

Besides a micro servo, you just need 2 paper clips, a M3x20mm bolt (16mm might be also ok), two M3 nuts and some electrical tape.

This is a retractable Z-Probe.
With a Z-Probe your Makerbot is able to "auto home" not only X & Y but also the Z axis. This is done by mounting the endstop on your Makerbot in a way it senses the build platform directly (and nearby the real nozzle).
In order to get out of the way during printing, the sense-pin is retractable.

Although this is a working thing, especially the software changes are still beta. Both, firmware and ReplicatorG/host software, need to be updated. The extended versions are available as source code on GitHub.

For more information (and a sample video), see
pleasantsoftware.com/developer/3d/2010/09/14/finding-home/

These are the printable parts for a filament spindle box.

The housing is build from wooden parts without need for a laser cutter (only rectangular parts, easily available in most hardware stores/home improvement stores).

I wrote down the whole project in detail in my blog post at
pleasantsoftware.com/developer/3d/2010/07/29/chipboard-screws-are-the-new-nuts-and-bolts/

[UPDATE] I slightly changed the design to have a window in the front. I also added detailed drawings for the box itself to this thing (see below).

More details on the new box design at
pleasantsoftware.com/developer/3d/2010/08/14/boxing-round-2/

Ever stood on a golf course and ran out of tees? Well, never again! Just drag your MakerBot (or MiniMendel) out of your golf bag and print one.

ABS seems to be great for this. I was able to play 18 holes with one tee and it's still intact :)

Use this thing to mount a Printruder II on a Mendel's X carriage.

This is the second incarnation of my Mecanum wheel design. It's a derivate of thingiverse.com/thing:2348 which I accidentally designed based on the wrong ball bearings (80034 instead of 624).

This design is now based on the (originally intended) 624 ball bearings. I was able to shrink the whole design, so the center wheel now fits on a standard Makerbot build platform and can be printed in one piece.

See my blog post at pleasantsoftware.com/developer/3d/2010/04/23/its-printable for more information on the project. This post also contains a video showing the assembly process.

[UPDATE 1: Sorry, I just realized, that I accidentally used 80034 ball bearings, not 624 ball bearings for this design. I'm already working on a updated, new, better, nicer and prettier design, using "real 624" ball bearings. I'll publish this new design on thingiverse shortly. For more information on this, see
pleasantsoftware.com/developer/3d/2010/04/22/the-power-of-reading/.]

[UPDATE 2: The new design is now available: thingiverse.com/thing:2473 ]

Ok, RustySpoon1121 beat me on this one ( thingiverse.com/thing:2318 ), but since my design is different (only 8 rollers, centrally mounted) and already finished anyway, I publish it as an alternative approach.

I use 624 80034 ball bearings to mount the 8 rollers on the center wheel.

For more information on the project (and more detailed build instructions), please see my blog post at
pleasantsoftware.com/developer/3d/2010/04/18/the-power-of-vacuum/

This is a model of the Taipei 101 building in about 1:3750 scale.

Although it's not the highest building of the world (since the Burdsch Chalifa building was finished), in my opinion the Taipei 101 is still the most beautyful skyscraper on the planet.

The real thing has a height of 509.2m (1,671ft). The model is printed with the awesome height of 135mm, which makes it currently the tallest build for the MakerBot (http://wiki.makerbot.com/hall-of-fame-tallest-print )!

Be sure to check the possible build height of your MakerBot before starting this print...

After the success of my first printable extruder design (the Printruder, see thingiverse.com/thing:958 ), I wondered, if there would be an even simpler and better design for a Printruder.

This is what I came up with.

Please note, that there are two flavors of the main part ("Motor Block"):

Motorblock_v7_TimerBeltPulley.stl
This design is for use with the standard timer belt pulley, which comes with the MakerBot Extruder MK3/MK4.
Motorblock_v7_WormGearPulley.stl
This design is for use with a 10mm worm-gear style pulley

You only need one of both. Be sure to print the correct one!

The PCB holder parts are optional.

There's a post on my blog on this with more detailed information and step-by-step build instructions:
pleasantsoftware.com/developer/3d/2010/03/08/printruder-ii/

In order to mount the Printruder II in a MakerBot, you might want to print also a pair of Printable Extruder Holders: thingiverse.com/thing:1912

This are printable extruder holders for the MakerBot. They are a replacement for the standard Dinos.

These holders are a little bit lower than the original dinos since I need them that way for a new Printruder design (coming soon). But they should be still usable as drop in replacement with a standard MK3/MK4 extruder.

This is a pen holder for the MakerBot.

I did this new design, although there already exists at least one other pen holder design on thingiverse (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:790).

The main difference: It's only one simple part.

There are two stl files:
- Stifthalter_1part.stl: This contains the part layed out at a 45° angle. That way it easily fits on the MakerBot build platform. This file is best printed without a raft.
- Stifthalter_1part_horizontal.stl: The same object but layed out at 90°. That way a raft would be much smaller, but the object uses almost the complete width of the build platform...

I designed this a few weeks ago, but I wasn't able to print it successfully because of massive warping of the printed ABS.
Since I've recently pimped up my MakerBot with a heated build platform, warping of ABS isn't an issue anymore!
That said, be sure to print this either with a very strong raft, with PLA or with a heated build surface...

You'll need a standard iPod/iPhone 30-pin-connector/USB cable for this.

Ok, this is a tough one.

This treasure chest is printed in one piece!
You definitely should be good friends with your MakerBot when printing this. ABS warping is a big problem. The few lucky ones with PLA on their desk definitely have the advantage here...

Anyway, you might give it a shot.

As usual with my quirky objects, Skeinforge is moaning and groaning when processing it. But if you configure "Carve" to use "unproven meshes" and ignore all warnings, you should get a printable gcode file :)

The attached gcode is the one I used for printing the treasure chest on the photo. It's suitable for MakerBots with a .5mm nozzle.

There's also a short video on this on YouTube: youtube.com/watch?v=wtoLPj_YOkA

This is a handle for the Z-Crank ( thingiverse.com/thing:975 ).

I designed this a couple of weeks ago. The pulleys look good when printed, but at least when using a standard .5mm nozzle, the teeth are not "sharp" enough and the timer belt slips too easy.

When MakerGear published their z pulleys ( thingiverse.com/thing:1081 ) I asked how they managed to avoid the slipping. Well, they use a .4mm nozzle...

Since MakerGear asked for my design: Here it is.

Again: These pulleys print nicely and also kind of work. The only thing is, that the timer belt doesn't get enough grip on its teeth at .5mm printing.

The gcode file contains the object, processed for .5mm nozzles!

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 small piece to mount a neon lamp.
It's a replacement for the original mounting clamps which were way to weak to hold the lamp.

Just for fun, I also produced a little documentation movie for this: "Better Living with MakerBot"
See: youtube.com/watch?v=LBzyZSVK_Gs

Although the size of the clamp is probably very specific to the lamp I mounted, it should be quite simple to adjust the object for your needs. I included the model as OBJ-File (Wavefront), which can be opened with Blender and AOI.

This is part 3 of "Pimp my MakerBot" (see thingiverse.com/thing:973 and thingiverse.com/thing:958 for part 1 & 2 :)

I was tired of dragging on the Z belt multiple times to upper or lower the z stage of my MakerBot.

With this crank mounted on one of the 4 M6 threaded rods, I can now easily adjust the height of my MakerBot.

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.