Kodak, Kodak, Kodak…

Over the last few weeks Kodak has been on NPR several times.  Kodak invented digital camera technology, but never tried to push it – since it didn’t advance their core method for making money… selling film.  I’m reminded of this because I’ve finally come very very close to finally using up my 5 pound coil of black ABS that I’ve had since December of 2009.

I’m both excited and saddened at this prospect.  In the last two years I’ve run through 5 pounds of clear PLA, 5 pounds of black ABS1 , and another kilogram of clear PLA.  I’ve used a smattering of other colors, but not a whole lot yet.  Black has been my go-to color since I’ve had so damn much of it.

  1. Almost [↩]

MOAR CUPCAKES! Or, am I being a glutton?

MakerBot just announced they’re dropping the price on the MakerBot Cupcake CNC Ultimate kits to a ridiculously low $455.00.

I already own a Cupcake CNC, named “Bender.”  He’s been fully upgraded with an automated build platform, MK5, and a few printed upgrades as well.  (Right now it has a Unicorn instead of the MK5 installed.)  I already own a Thing-O-Matic, named “Flexo.”  My Thing-O-Matic is fully upgraded with a MK6 stepper extruder and a few minor printed upgrades.

Do I really need more plastic printing production capacity?  I don’t know.  Do I have a new name for a potential new robot lined up?  No, I really don’t.

Do I really want another 3-axis CNC robot?  Yes.  Yes, I do.

Back from Maker Faire SF Bay Area 2011!

I’m exhausted! 1  What a great time!

I got to spend time with my family, see some amazing stuff, meet some great people, and see some old friends.  I also ate some junk food!  Perfect weekend all around.

I got to meet several people for the first time – including beak90, DocProfSky, DNA.  A few people mentioned they liked my OpenSCAD tutorials, which just made my day.

  1. So exhausted I didn’t get to publish this post until just now… [↩]

On the road again

Early tomorrow1 morning I need to drive from the SF bay area up to Chico.  On a whim I checked out the MakerBot map to see if there was anyone around in that area.  Apparently MakerBot operator “RG MakerBot #853″ is out that way.

I think I need to burn a driving CD before I go.  :)

  1. Well, technically TODAY [↩]

Pick me! Pick me!

Okay, I’ve gotten the clearance from Pattywac to join in the United We Stand team design challenge.  Although I voluntarily take myself out of the running from every challenge, I love participating.  They’re just too much damn fun.  :)

I never participate in the judging on these things – but it would look a little odd to have me be both someone who blogs about something and a guy who is the subject of the blog post.  Blogging here at MakerBlock.com, I happily post about anything that comes to mind, even if it is ridiculously self-indulgent.  However, I really don’t want the posts at MakerBot to be about me – I want them to be about the awesome stuff people are doing in the DIY 3D printing community.

The potentially ethical problem I faced with this most recent challenge is that as a team design challenge, I wouldn’t want to disqualify an entire team of people just because I was on it. 1  So, my proposal to MakerBot and Pattywac was that as part of any team, I would agree to forgo any winnings of any kind. 2  This was acceptable to both.

So, are you interested in collaborating on this design challenge?  I’d be especially interested in getting collaborative help on any of my existing projects, going from my highest interest3 to lower interest4 :

  1. Clockwork spider5
  2. Open source disc shooter
  3. A printable clock that actually keeps time
  4. A sonic screwdriver
  5. A dalek that can rotate it’s head, roll, and move it’s gun, eyestalk, and plunger6
  6. A better Voltron
  7. A puzzle box
  1. And, really, having me on your team is hindrance enough. [↩]
  2. I just want to feel included! [↩]
  3. #1 [↩]
  4. #7 [↩]
  5. I’ve already had input and help from Dna on this [↩]
  6. Mad props to innovationbylayers for the existing dalek on Thingiverse [↩]

Men just don’t understand…

So, let’s say I was a tinkerer1 and you told me that you could show me a robot that could make things out of plastic that I would normally have to cobble together out of junk.  I would say that is awesome.

During the most recent Ask An Engineer Woz was2 talking about her knitting machine.  LIGHT BULB.

Honey!  Honey!  Guess what?!   Did you know there are such things as KNITTING MACHINES!?!  I mean, ROBOTS that would do all that tedious knitting FOR you!  We could just program it and it would just make stuff for us!  Isn’t this awesome?!  <Wait for squeals of glee>

.

..

…

Apparently there’s something about the act of knitting that is considered productive.  I don’t know.  I’m not convinced.

Isn’t humankind just all leading up to the point that we’re all like the Jetsons and I have a robot at work that pushes the single button for me.3 And jetpacks.  Can’t forget the jetpacks.

Where was I?

Oh, knitting robots.  Okay, here’s the thing – I may not be interested in knitting, but a knitting robot interests me. 4 5  I am not interested in knitting something myself any more than I am interested in actually building something layer by layer with a hot glue gun that shoots molten ABS. 6  But, I am interested in having plastic stuff just as I’m interested in having clothing.

Heck, if I had a super big and super fast knitting robot, I’d probably try to weave paper or cardboard into clothing and then wear it and then try to recycle it into something else. 789 1011

Also, this is what I believe a knitting robot would look like:

YouTube Preview Image
  1. which I am [↩]
  2. Was she? [↩]
  3. Reminds me of an old joke about a man and a dog and a data center.  Supposedly you only need one of each to run a data center.  The man to feed the dog and the dog to make sure the man doesn’t touch any buttons. [↩]
  4. Then again, a robot anything interest me. [↩]
  5. A robot carrot, you say?  Tell me more! [↩]
  6. I take that back.  Now that I think about it, a molten plastic gun might be kinda cool.  Bad analogy.  That’s not the point. [↩]
  7. And, I’d be all, *clap* *clap* Knitting Robot!  OoooooooooHHHhhhhhh Knitting Roooooobot!  Knit me a pony Knitting Robot. [↩]
  8. That pony doesn’t look happy enough.  Destroy that pony Knitting Robot.  Make me a HAPPY pony! [↩]
  9. Oh, this one is too happy.  Destroy this pony Knitting Robot.  Knitting Robot…  destroy all ponies. [↩]
  10. Knitting Robot, are you crying? [↩]
  11. Thanks to Dna for the link! [↩]