MakerBlock – MakerBlock

Design choices in RepRap, Goals of RepRap [08/14/2010]

[The early 2010’s were a wild time for 3D printing. It felt like there were two separate tracks of printers. There were the RepRap enthusiasts, the true innovators, building and inventing things to push hobbyist 3D printing to new heights. Then there were the companies making 3D printer kits and robots like MakerBot and Ultimaker (and a few others). At this time I was basically wondering… what will future RepRaps look like? Will they look more like a pile of aluminum extrusion and 3D printed parts? Lasercut panels? In the 16 years since this post, the answer is… there doesn’t seem to be one single RepRap that’s leading the field and there are a pile of different RepRaps that have all kinds of different shapes. Perhaps this is for the best. There are so many functional 3D printers available that range from very DIY to point and click that there isn’t nearly as much innovation in the open source RepRap movement. I suppose, this is a kind of success for the RepRap dream. Some excellent fully featured printers are available today for as less than $500 that would have left crowds stunned in 2010. And all of these machines can easily produce the parts necessary to build the various RepRap models out there. Gone are the days of resin cast copies of 3D printed parts. If companies stopped producing 3D printers (perhaps because of some new bullshit misguided legislation…), people could turn to building RepRaps again.]

After looking at the Ultimaker, I have to wonder if the ideal of RepRap for a purely printed machine is non-optimal.

Actually, come to think of it – I wonder if it might not start to push RepRap in a slightly new direction.

Drafts Zero - The Lost Blog Posts

MakerBot + Junk = Stuff! [08/06/2010]

[In my earliest days of working with my MakerBot, I used it interchangeably with the term “3D printer”. I think the point I was going to make here was that you could take some everyday stuff, perhaps even waste products, and with a few 3D printed parts turn them into something new or useful. Unfortunately, whatever thing that did this is now lost to time. I suppose by scrolling through this blog, looking at the last Thingiverse item number I referenced and the next one I reference, it might be possible to narrow down the universe of things I could have been inspired by. This is assuming whatever thing is still in the Thingiverse system and wasn’t wiped out by the Thingageddons¹ or some of the mass boycotts / exoduses that have happened over time. Anyhow, all this seems like a lot of work to get into my headspace from 16 years ago. If I don’t think it’s a worthwhile endeavor, I can’t imagine anyone else would either.]

Yay! Math! +=

Drafts Zero - The Lost Blog Posts

More than once something happened to the MakerBot / Thingiverse website / server and a lot of things and/or stats were lost. [↩]

Digital assistant? [08/05/2010]

[I remember this time in my life. My eldest was only about 3 years old. I was still getting established in my field as a [professional man of mystery]. However, I don’t think there’s any way I actually needed a digital assistant. I think what I may have been starting to write was something about how a 3D printer could be a “digital assistant” in that it could make things for you while you were off doing other things. But, I never did anything with this beyond just… this one single line.]

I think I may need a digital assistant.

Drafts Zero - The Lost Blog Posts

House calls [07/11/2010]

[I’ve been a fan of Doctor Who ever since I was a kid. In the 80’s it just hit that sweet spot for humor and sci fi, more interesting than Star Trek, only slightly less funny then Douglas Adams. But, I have no earthly idea what I was thinking when I started this post.]

Do you make house calls?

This country has been sick, this country needs healing, this country needs medicine – in fact I’d go so far as to say that, what this country really needs, right now, is a Doctor. – The Master (The Sound of Drums)¹

Drafts Zero - The Lost Blog Posts

Screen cap courtesy of Themindrobber.co.uk – a super awesome Doctor Who web site. And, you know, the BBC. [↩]

New Print: Soft-Pawed Albino Stoat of South Wales Cookie Cutter [07/07/2010]

[It’s been a fun ride going through my backlog of drafts. I’ve published several and have literally hundreds more to go! Early 2010’s was a wild time for MakerBot, 3D printing, and the associated communities. There were several people who were regulars on the MakerBot forums as well as in the comments section of this blog. Before I was using OpenSCAD, I was making use of Sketchup which was an incredibly user friendly interface, was great as a “surface” modeling program, but kinda meh at making watertight solids. Back in these days you could literally read every single 3D printing related blog post, article, and watch every news piece in just a few minutes per day and even go a few days between any kind of major updates. Someone coming up with a new printer, completing their build, or just developing something new was big news. And, if you published some kind of nonsense blog such as my own, the comments and models that spin out of them would be a bit of fun for a few days. Essentially published as-is, with the exception of one grammatical correction.]

Designed in California, printed in New England a few hours later.

I actually learned a fair bit from my llama cookie cutter. This time I designed in Sketchup, ran through a polygon reduction plugin, exported through a Sketchup STL exporting plugin, and fixed the STL in NetFabb before uploading to Thingiverse.

Drafts Zero - The Lost Blog Posts

MakerBot on CBS! [07/07/2010]

[This was an entire blog. I changed one grammatical fix, but it’s otherwise the same exact post I wrote 16 years ago and abandoned. While I’m still very nostalgic for the days of the MakerBot-that-was, I’m probably even more glad that 3D printing went so mainstream that every farmer’s market across America has multiple stalls selling 3D printed flexi-dragons and keychains. We’re well past the days of 3D printing operators creating makeshift nozzles from drilling out nuts and wrapping nichrome wire by hand and more into being able to pick up a roll of filament somewhere in your neighborhood. Yes, it means more 3D printed garbage sitting on shelves, but it also means regular people have a chance to actually innovate and iterate things without significant tooling and manufacturing barriers.]

In case you missed it, here’s the CBS piece on MakerBot and a “web extra” that didn’t make it to air during the televised interview.

I didn’t realize this, but apparently all the press from MakerBot hitting CBS evening news was enough to crush their website. As best as I can tell at least some portions of their website are hosted on the Amazon cloud. That’s a LOT of traffic. As they say, success is a good problem to have.

As a purely self-interested person I really like the idea of more and more people having access to a MakerBot or RepRap. The more these technologies are available, the easier it will be to get replacement parts and extra plastic. Perhaps more importantly, the more people using personal fabrication technology the more designs and upgrades and developments we’ll see.

Just imagine – someone who watched that CBS episode or those video clips has an amazing idea right now and the only thing holding them back is getting their paws on a MakerBot. Did you notice the little poll box on one of those CBS pages? When asked, “Do you plan to buy a 3-D printer within the next year?” 82% of respondents “Yes”, 12% were undecided.

Did you also notice NO ONE voted for “Screw this, I don’t want to live in the future!”

Drafts Zero - The Lost Blog Posts

MakerBot Operator’s Manual [06/04/20210]

[This post had no content – except a link to a Google Groups post under the MakerBot Operators group. Since I use this website as a lab notebook, this would have been a good place to preserve this kind of basic “start up guide” information for a MakerBot.]

operators guide ?

Drafts Zero - The Lost Blog Posts

Mendel Parts – Printed, Cast, CNC’d, Lasercut or Injection Molded? [Draft 04/12/2010]

[This draft post is over 16 years old. Back in 2010 RepRap was exploding. People were cranking out 3D printed RepRap Mendel parts, then people started selling parts cast from 3D printed parts, then selling the actual molds?! I think I was going to discuss the quality of 3D printed parts, their molded counterparts, and other options. Back in mid-2009 the MakerBot was launched with zero 3D printed parts, everything made from lasercut pieces of thin plywood.]

quality of molded parts

comparison of cnc, molded, etc parts

Drafts Zero - The Lost Blog Posts

Cardboard Everything

I’ve always loved working / building with cardboard because it is easy to work, basically ubiquitous and free, and as flexible or durable as you need. Each of the following videos are ones that I return to over and over again because they’re interesting ways to build from cardboard.

Building a Cardboard Cutter Table With Cardboard

I hadn’t heard of a cardboard table saw before seeing the Chomp Saw at Maker Faire and Kickstarter several years ago. ¹ During their run on Shark Tank they disclosed it took $73.81 to make each one.²

When I originally saw the ChompSaw, I had no idea how the thing worked and assumed it was some kind of custom made invention. It wasn’t until much later I learned it was basically a drill + a sheet metal nibbler + plastic box. A maker named Alejandro Leguizamo entered something called the “Builder Box” for the Rocklin Maker Faire in 2025. The description was “Experience the Builder Box! The Builder Box is a power drill accessory which cuts various materials, like cardboard, fabric, and plastic, in a safe manner, perfect for young makers. Test prototypes, share your thoughts, and be part of its evolution.” but I wasn’t sure what it was or how it worked since the only picture was a kind of a logo. I reached out to the maker and it turned out that he couldn’t make it to the event that year, but he explained the project was, as suggested above, a drill + sheet metal nibbler + a box. Suddenly, the logo made sense!

Builder Box Logo

Once I knew what I was looking at, it instantly became easier to find more resources. I found piles of nibblers / sheet metal nibblers for sale online for ~$30-40, several pictures and an unlisted video from ChompShop, and two Instructables,³ One of the instructables indicated you could use a foot peddle to act as a variable speed controller for the drill. While an interesting idea, I’m not certain the additional incremental benefit is worth the complexity. The ChopmSaw is able to operate at a single speed, so why not this? While an on/off toggle switch is obviously helpful, I’m not going to go out of my way to add this for my own simple prototype/home use. The unlisted maintenance video shows the ChompSaw’s disassembly showing a motor, a nibbler end, bits of wire and such, in a plastic housing, with a fan and tray for catching the cardboard bits – exactly as one would expect.

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Before I go on, a word about their work station. I got to see one of these at Woodland’s Square One makerspace and thought it was fantastic. It’s cheap, lightweight, sturdy, and attractive. I’m not sure where someone would get the cardboard for these tables, but ChompShop has a guide on building the workstation and an accompanying video. While I would love to have the plans to be able to make one, it’s child sized, would need to be scaled for adult use, and at that point, I really might as well design my own.

I’m reminded of a a guy who invented a simple and attractive business card that turned into a cell phone stand. He went on to create a cardboard furniture / homegoods design studio called “Out of the Box.”⁴ Like many other people, we accumulate a lot of cardboard. It sure would be great to have plans to draw out designs on cardboard, chop them up with a drill + nibbler, and then fold into furniture.

My understanding of the Gingery lathe is that as you build the device, the portions you’ve built help you build the next pieces. How cool would it be to pick up a nibbler and cheap drill, slap them together, start slicing up parts to make simple mount, then use that to keep building up into a workstation, then desk, then cardboard workshop?

In any case, given the entire project could be basically put together with:

Cheap drill (Harbor Freight has some for less than $20)
Nibbler attachment ($30-$40 at the hardware store or online)
3D printed part to clamp drill in place
Box of some kind
Zip ties to hold drill and clamp in place and hold the drill trigger down or at a certain speed
Extension cord or power strip to turn the drill on and off

Now, I could put my regular corded drill into this, but for an extra $20 I could also have a small dedicated cardboard cutting worktable which seems like a fair investment to me.

Making a Makerspace

Unfortunately, the Maker Faire website regularly wipes out maker entry pages, so I can’t easily link back to the 2023 entry as I would much prefer. [↩]
It’s unclear whether this is the per unit cost from their Chinese factories, to just build a unit, or actual landed cost. I’m guessing landed from their manufacturer. [↩]
Those instructables posted about 9 years ago and 3 years ago, respectively. [↩]
Though, possibly renamed to Creative Cardboard Company now? [↩]