Monthly Archives: March 2010

Beco Block limitations

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Having printed up and played with a big pile of Beco Blocks, I have come to the conclusion they are only about half of what I was looking for.  Mind, they are probably the more difficult half.

The articulated joints you get with Beco Blocks are absolutely fantastic.  The connect well, disconnect well, are very moveable, and reasonably poseable.  Unfortunately, it is very difficult to build a rigid structure with them.  After you play with the parts a bit they become even more mobile and less poseable – but this is to be expected.

So, how would one go about building a system of rigidly connectable blocks?  There’s the Construx way – of side/slide/snapping parts together.  Then, there’s the snap/push the parts together Lego way.

Something to think about.

Skeinforge Multiply

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In order to step up production of my Beco Block collection (up to 30 pieces now) I ‘ve been using the Skeinforge multiply feature.  Basically you feed it the number of columns and rows and it will make that many of your object in the final Gcode.  For my own reference, and hopefully to help others, I’m putting down this little tidbit about Skeinforge’s multiply feature.

The “Multiply->Columns” feature creates additional sets of your object running from the front to the back of your build platform.  So, if you have “Multiply->Columns” set to “3” and “Multiply->Rows” set to “1,” you will have three objects in a line running from the front of your Y platform to the back of your Y platform.

The “Multiply->Rows” feature predictably operates in a 90 degree rotation from the “Multiply->Columns” feature, with the additional parts running from side to side.  So, if you have “Multiply->Rows” set to “3” and “Multiply->Colums” set to “1,” you will have three objects in a line running from the left to right of your Y platform.

This is a pretty handy feature for production.  One caveat – more is not always better.  In producing the Beco Block FF pieces I’ve discovered their combined warping is enough to ruin the entire print job (on my unheated build platform).  I was printing 2 columns of 3 rows for 6 pieces at a shot.  Unfortunately, with the additional warping I don’t have a single usable FF piece.

Beco Block Connections

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I really like the connection mechanism behind the Beco Blocks. 1  It appears to allow a wide range of movement and rotation in the joint.  There’s a lot of applications that come to mind:

  • Beco Block Voltron. ‘Cause, you know, I really really want a printable Voltron.
  • Beco Block Leonardo Robot. ‘Cause my robot’s hips keep breaking! 2
  • Beco connector Z axis crank. There’s a crank for everything, why not a Beco Block?
  • Beco connected printruder. Why not just snap the extruder together and hold it in place with fewer bolts?  Or, if that’s too fragile, why not a printruder that snaps into the printed dinos?
  • Beco connector dalek hinges. All that is stopping my dalek from ruling the universe (and time!) is some freedom of movement.

In furtherance of these possibilities, I’ve taken the smallest male/female Beco Block and sliced it between the male/female connector parts.  My idea is to start grafting these connector parts into other designs.  I need to fix up the files a little – but when I get them usable I’ll post them up to Thingiverse.

  1. Having only printed one block, I suppose I can’t really speak about it intelligently.  Then again, ignorance has never really been an impediment to me talking/typing before… [↩]
  2. I’m not kidding.  It’s pretty sad.  First his left shoulder, then his right hand, then a hip, then both hips. [↩]

New print: Beco Block!

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I printed up my first Beco Block today – and I can’t wait to print up more.  Nate True was kind enough to download the STL files, center, align, save, and zip all of the various pieces. 1

I’d like to see a new STL file out there that has several different types of these Beco Blocks all on one sheet (similar to Spacexula‘s Mendel production STL files).  I could really see myself cranking out these by the dozens.  In fact…  once I had a sheet designed with a good mix of the various parts I could put it through the MakeNBreak script to churn them out.

  1. Nate, if you’re listening – thank you! [↩]

Open Source Printable Building Blocks FTW!

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A few weeks ago I posted my criteria for an interlocking  building block system:

  1. The interlocking system should allow interconnections in three dimensions.
  2. The pieces should snap/interlock together reasonably well/easily.
  3. The pieces should stay assembled reasonably well.
  4. The pieces should snap apart reasonably well/easily.
  5. The pieces should not require additional tools to be assembled and disassembled.

Well, just yesterday r3becca of Robots and Dinosaurs posted designs for “Beco Blocks” on Thingiverse.  From the looks of things these Beco Blocks fit every criteria!  I can’t wait to print up a bunch!

Making passion

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ManDrake responded to my last post about MakerBot being a victim of their own success:

Do you think the expectations difference could be at all connected to Bre’s constant overselling of the product to anyone that will listen? He’s completely disconnected from reality in the way he talks about the Makerbot and what it can do. He’s got the look and feel of the sham dot com boom types, overselling in hopes of getting some bigger company to buy them up, so they could unload their utter mismanaged and badly organized start up. In probably under an year they’ll sell out and then a corporate entity will realize their mistake and kill the product like they did as the boom died.

Here’s my response:

  1. I’m biased.  I think MakerBot have a great product that really delivers.  Thus, I don’t think Bre or MakerBot are overselling anything.
  2. There’s no way to really address ManDrake’s concern about how he feels about MakerBot’s public persona.
  3. Having never seen their books, I can’t say whether they’re mismanaged – but I doubt it.  They’ve grown a lot in a year and hopefully will continue to grow.
  4. I sincerely doubt their plan is to hype themselves, get acquired, and cash out.  There are just so many easier ways to make money.
  5. Even supposing they’re acquired and the new company kills the MakerBot, I’m not left in the cold.  Building my MakerBot has taught me how to build MakerBots.  I can go out and build another one or repair my own.  There are plenty of people selling plastic.  From the day my MakerBot started working I was never going to be without my very own 3D printer ever again.

This may sound unrelated, but bear with me.  Tonight I had the good fortune to hear Dr. Zahi Hawass speak in San Francisco.  If you’ve ever seen an exhibit, TV show or documentary about Egypt, the pyramids, mummies, or King Tut you’ve seen him and heard his enthusiasm.  He gave a piece of advice at the end of his talk:

“If you like something, it is not enough.  If you love something, it is not enough.  Only if you are passionate about it will you make it big.”

When I see Bre and Zach and Adam talk I see people who are truly passionate about their goals.  This is the kind of passion scammers imitate and others wish they had.  Their passion is infused in their products and absolutely infectious.

Victims of Success?

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Devlin posted a comment in response to my last post which really deserves it’s own space:

Thank you! I share your sentiments. However, one would argue that we already have our MakerBots and have some kind of bias. I got mine about a month after I ordered and I was pretty excited the whole time I was waiting but I knew it was worth the wait.
MakerBot is starting to get hurt by its own popularity. It seems the userbase is getting more mainstream and there will be people that will be expecting this $750 machine to print the same stuff as a $30,000 printer, will want it to print things right out of the box with one click of the mouse and not contribute to making the machine better.
People that buy a MakerBot must understand that it is still in its infancy. To compare it to a previous revolution: the MakerBot 3D printer is at the same stage as personal computers when they were only available as a kit, programs had to be keyed in on 16 key pad and were displayed on seven-segment displays. If people can not deal with the problems this might entail, then they should wait the PC’s ten years for their own IBM PC/Apple/Atari/Commodore to come out or for someone to build the parts needed to make a RepRap for them (something I need to work on myself).
MakerBots are not a product that you go out to BestBuy and get because you saw it in some magazine or blog. It is a product that you buy to build and modify to make stuff. It is closer to a fruiting potted plant than a printer you buy at BestBuy. It requires tending, understanding and maybe even love.

There’s a lot to think about here.  Let’s take Devlin’s points in turn:

  1. I may be biased since I’ve already got my MakerBot.  I ordered my MakerBot on November 23, 2009, it was expected to ship about December 3, 2009, shipment was delayed until December 11, 2009, and I didn’t receive it until December 15, 2009.  Now, I chose to pre-order a MakerBot. Had I pulled the trigger a few weeks earlier I could have picked up one of the last kits from Batch 8.  Like me you probably waited to buy a MakerBot.  I was so excited about getting my MakerBot that I started this website, started designing things to print, and started stocking up on the materials I needed to build it.
  2. MakerBot is getting hurt by their popularity. More mainstream people probably are interested in picking up a MakerBot.  However, I don’t think anyone’s hopes are too high.  They may want a MakerBot, but there’s no escaping that the only way to get one is to get a kit and put it together yourself.
  3. MakerBots are not commercial yet. Not, not yet.  Then again, this MakerBot Industries’ end game – distributed manufacturing and a 3D printer on every kitchen table.  We’re not yet to the plug-n-play – USB port recognizing, “New device connected – 3D fabricator!”  In fact, the software is probably still some of the most frustrating part of using a MakerBot.  Skeinforge is a harsh mistress.  However, since everything is open source every one of us is just one alcohol, nicotine,  and caffeine intoxicated hacker away from this reality.

Winning for losing

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The poor guys over at MakerBot just can’t win for losing.

People just begged for pre-orders.  Now people are upset they have to wait because of pre-orders!  Without pre-orders everyone would be guaranteed a longer wait time.

  • When you place a pre-order you get a place in line.  Otherwise you just have to be the fastest clicker when they post the new kits.
  • When you place a pre-order they can use those funds to get your parts, get parts for the next batch (while they work on yours), or, heaven forbid, eat.
  • When they get to use your funds to get parts for the next batch, that means they used the funds from the prior batch to get your parts.  This means your wait time was shorter because of pre-orders!

If you pre-order a MakerBot it may feel like you’re waiting a long time for your kit – but waiting on a pre-order is so much better than waiting for a sold out product to be placed back in stock.  In the meantime, there are so many ways to get ready, participate, and contribute.

Seriously, get started right now!  There’s not a moment to lose!

Blender help?

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Ball joint thing

Ball joint thing

I’ve designed a new part for printing on Bender1 .  Here’s a picture of the part.  I’m trying to see if I can print a working ball joint.  Obviously, it needs to consist of  breakaway multi-parts.

If this works I’d like to try using it as a component of a larger more complicated object.  However, Skeinforge throws a fit every time I try to skein it.  I’m uploading it here in case anyone can help me fix it.

Printable ball joint v5

  1. If you’re just tuning in, that’s the name of my MakerBot [↩]