Category: MakerBlock

All things MakerBlock: RepRap, MakerBot, Cupcake CNC, open source, and plastic building toys!

What’s the best MakerBot sample you can think of?

Okay, what’s the best thing you can think of that exhibits the possibilities of a MakerBot or RepRap? 12 If y0u’re going for something that shows off the utilitarian potential, then a bottle opener or thin profile whistle might be it.  If you’re going for something that shows off what you can achieve with just printed parts – a Leonardo Robot or Rubik’s cube clone.  And, if you’re going for something that shows off the precision and detail that is possible, it’s got to be a Pink Panther Lady.345

When judging such things heavily weighted by print time, I suspect the thin profile whistle might be one of the best options.

What do you think?

  1. Yes, I know I ended the subject of this post with a preposition, but what the heck.  The first amendment protects “free speech” not just “correct grammar.” [↩]
  2. Amiright or amiright? [↩]
  3. And, really a bottle-opening-pink-panther-whistle-lady-that-transforms-into-a-dinosaur-and-voltron that shoots open-source-lazzors might just be the ultimate thing to print ever. [↩]
  4. Mind, it should shoot lazzors, not lazzor beams. [↩]
  5. Remember kids, lazzor beams can be dangerous. [↩]

Happy camper

Today was a long Long LONG day.  What was supposed to be an 8 hour round trip drive evolved, by means of persistent fog, traffic, accidents and road work, into a 10 hour round trip drive.  Oh, and I was at my destination meeting for less than two hours.

Upon my return I discovered two long overdue checks from clients at my PO Box, a PILE of e-mails in my inbox, and my Doctor Who Series 5 DVD set at my house.  It’s a pretty cool set with a lot of extras.  I’ve got the U.S. release which includes a shimmery motion cover, a Pandorica themed DVD holder, some pretty cool art all around, and three art cards.  None of this would have made me purchase the set, but they really are quite nifty.

When our old DVR was going bad and we replaced it, I lost several episodes of the fifth season I was hording like a miser.  See, some of those episodes were aired in their entirety – which meant the episodes were 1 hour and 20 minutes long.  But, after the premier of the episode they were aired in only edited formats such that they fit into an hour with commercials.  However, this meant that there are probably many episodes with several minutes that I’ve never seen.  I’m by no means a completist or collector, but it would be nice to see these bits as originally intended.  Or, at the very least, as those in the UK got to see.  :)

Imagine, if you will, the first episode without the fish custard???

7 hours, 16 minutes

I’ve got a work meeting tomorrow that will require round trip travel of 7 hours and 16 minutes over 426 miles.

I’m not looking forward to this.  I have to arrive at 10am, which means I have to leave my home at about 6:00 AM.

Believe me, I’m really not a morning person.  Not only am I not a morning person, I don’t really like driving over long distances.  I figure the meeting will take about two hours, I’ll get nothing accomplished, and then I’ll drive back.  I could probably get back to the office at about 4pm or so, but I won’t.  I’m going straight home.

Blech.

Scrapping for parts

Over the weekend I took apart two old DVD players for parts.  I found some interesting small motors, magnets, tiny precision rods, and some other assorted odds and ends.

Today at work our office manager mentioned that some e-waste recyclers were coming out to pick up some old printers and other stuff.  I suggested we pull out any left over paper, toner cartridges, etc from the assemblies.  I would have liked to have scrapped these machines for parts too, but:

  • There’s only so much time in the day.
  • I don’t have any screwdrivers and other assorted tools at work.
  • Hanging out in the middle of the office taking things apart might raise eyebrows. 1

As I did so I realized that the toner cartridges contain thin precision rods.  Those could actually be kinda useful.  I think the next time we have old printer cartridges at home (or work) I might take one apart to see what kind of magic it hides.

  1. “Um, did he forget his meds again?” [↩]

Added Flattr

The interesting thing about Flattr is that in order to be eligible to receive funds, you need to be willing to share funds.  In any case, I’ve added a Flattr button to this site as well as to my MakerBlock Thingiverse page.

Because I’m such an optimistic guy, I also just ordered an extra large wallet from Amazon. 1

  1. And tore up my ticket for tonight’s lottery.  Pretty sure I won’t be needing THAT… [↩]

Old DVD player – what should I salvage?

We own two DVD players.  Well, three.  Well, four – but one is a portable DVD player for trips and one is a replacement for one of the first two.   The first two are really old – and were just failing.  They had problems loading DVD’s or just even turning on.  I was curious what I would find inside.

Of interest I found a bunch of small motors, a few LED’s, springs, magnets, tiny mirrors, rubber belts and super tiny precision rods.

There are obviously lots of little capacitors and whatnot.  What else should I pull out of these things?

Note to self

If I could send a message to myself when I was a kid, to blow my own mind, here’s what I would tell myself:

One day you will own several computers known as “laptops,” the least of which is more powerful than the biggest most bad ass mainframe under the control of any company or government.  You will own a telephone/movie and music player/computer that can wirelessly communicate with anyone in the world who also has a similar device, which is pretty much everyone.  That telephone/computer will be so small you can carry it in your pocket.  It will have enough “hard drive” capacity to hold every song on every single cassette tape you own, more processing power than your IBM, and better resolution than your monitor or television.  It will be able to pinpoint your location anywhere in the world and give you real time directions to anywhere.  You will have cable TV that plays Doctor Who at least three times a day.  You will have a machine that will automatically archive those shows for you.  Your “laptops” and phone will be able to access something called the internet.  It’s like a BBS system – only nearly every computer in the world is interconnected.  You will be able to look up any fact about anything at all on your phone.  There will exist affordable robots that can make anything you wish out plastic, just draw it on your computer and send it to your robot.  You will own TWO of them.

Wibbly wobbly timey wimey.  (That will make sense one day).