Tag Archives: 3d printer

New MakerBot upgrade!

Posted on by

This most recent Z-Woggle arrester/eliminator is one of the most interesting.  Unlike the super-fantastic Z axis crank, this part does more than just make the MakerBot easier to use – it will almost certainly improve the quality of your prints.  Also, unlike it’s predecessors it does not require the installation of a second set of Z axis rods.

It’s pretty amazing how quickly upgrade parts can evolve.  The first version of this upgrade was posted on April 7, 2010 and this pretty nifty version was posted on May 10, 2010.

Another thing I like about this part is it easily made with a 3D printer, but much more difficult to manage with just a laser cutter.

One possible issue I could see with this part is that it may cost you a slight bit of Z axis resolution.  Since the part doesn’t appear to fit snugly in the Z stage, the Z axis rod will have to rotate a little before it will “catch.”  (Or, so I suspect).

A bargain

Posted on by

The cheapest commercially available 3d printer on the market is the Dimension uPrint Personal 3D Printer, clocking in at $14,900.  The media cartridges run $250 – and consist of coiled ABS in a plastic box.  I can’t tell from their website how much plastic is in each cartridge, so I don’t know how cost effective it is.  I’m not positive exactly how their cartridges operate – but I would not be surprised if they were tamper resistant, not able to be refilled, and contained special chips which authenticated them as being untampered and coming direct from the manufacturer.

Am I jaded by inkjets?  Probably.  I’m tired of buying printers with 1/3 full cartridges and expensive refills.  The warranties are so much worse:

“Expensive manufacturer refills only!  Only use paper made from unicorn tears and the hopes and dreams of orphans!  Only power your machine with live baby seals.  Using reasonably priced alternative supplies, making disparaging remarks, failure to properly maintain your machine, or printing will destroy your machine and void your warranty.”

My MakerBot came with more plastic than I can print in two years runs just barely over $1,000 with shipping.  If something were to happen to MakerBot Industries, I can always find new filament elsewhere, adapt my ‘bot to a new source, or even a new material entirely.  Or, I could just toss in a Dremel and have a mini-CNC/drill press.

Full RepRap for sale

Posted on by

A complete1 Mendel for sale?  That’s incredible!

There has been a truly amazing progression2 in RepRap parts lately.  While I’m not crazy about eBay as a way of selling3 , it’s a very democratic4 way of disseminating RepRap parts.  The first few parts and sets of parts were all printed, then molded, now MOLDS are for sale?!

Yes, the Platonic ideal of RepRap is that a machine makes the components of the next machine.  But, is it not also part of the RepRap ideal that these machines be disseminated as far and as widely as possible?  It’s really great you can use a RepRap to build another – but that doesn’t mean it’s the best/most economical way.

These RepRap mold are advertised to be good for roughly 50 pourings.  It is advertised to create 9 vertexes at once, but they all appear to be 1/2 vertexes.  The posting also suggests it takes 12 vertexes for a full RepRap.  So:

  • 12 vertexes per RepRap / 0.5 vertexes halves = 24 vertex halves required
  • 24 vertex halves required /9 vertex halves per sheet = 2.67 sheet uses per RepRap
  • 50 uses per sheet / 2.67 uses per sheet = 18.75 sets of RepRap vertexes

Admittedly, this is only a set of molds for the frame vertexes, not the entire set of parts.  However, it’s really only a matter of time before a set is up for grabs.

This makes me wonder – is there a different market value to printed parts rather than molded parts?

  1. ish [↩]
  2. transmission?? [↩]
  3. having sold things on eBay myself [↩]
  4. fair? capitalistic? [↩]

Making passion

Posted on by

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.

11 year old builds 3D printer

Posted on by

Um.  Wow.  Justin, you rock.  This 11 year old kid apparently designed and built his own 3D printer.

Forrest Higg’s vision has just come true!  He’s written several times about how he wants to design and build a system that a reasonably bright 12 year old could build.  I guess we should have known it would have taken a 12 year old to design such a system in the first place.

Thanks to Fabbaloo for the link!

Looking forward

Posted on by

This website for documenting my attempt to build a MakerBot Industries CupCake CNC 3D printer.  I’ve got just about no experience working with electronics and no experience building robots.  So, its going to be a wild ride.

It is named “Bender.”

Here’s what I’d like to see happen:

  • Documenting everything inside the CupCake Deluxe CNC kit
    • Right now I’ve only documented the unboxing
    • I’d like to document all the bits inside the various boxes/kits as well
  • Documenting each step (and misstep!) of taking a box of parts to a fully functional 3D printer
    • As I’m a total and complete novice, this should be educational for everyone involved
    • Since the guys at MakerBot suggest two people could assemble a CupCake CNC in leisurely weekend, I suspect it would probably take me about a week or two
  • Printing crazy plastic things for myself and others

Why did I name the website MakerBlock?  Well, if when I get this robot operational, I’d really like to design and print custom blocks that are compatible with various toy construction sets.

Frivolous?  Undoubtedly.  But, a man’s got to dream.