“Tea” – a retrospective

Tony Buser has posted a set of pictures on his blog showing MakerBot #481 “Tea” from box to building to printing to Mendel parts.

It has a high school graduation montage feel to it – in a good way – like watching your little robot grow up.  When I saw the cracked insulating retainer, cracked idler wheel, and busted extruder I could almost hear the auditorium around me going “oooooohhhh” that that special pain only another RepRap/MakerBot operator has known.

I’m still continually amazed that a box of plastic, metal, and electronic bits has been assembled by my own clumsy fingers to build all of the crazy amazing things I can dream up.

Tea cups

I designed and printed some tiny tea cups to go with my tiny teapot.  Unfortunately the two models I tried to print (one in PLA and the other in ABS) turned out very very badly due to the clogged extruder barrel.  However, I rather like the design and look forward to printing it properly.

Tea anyone?

Tea for two

Tea for two