Tag: drafts

Dear Anonymous [08/25/2010]

[A blog post about trouble shooting in the early days of MakerBot printers.  It was entirely possible for a regular person to build and operate a MakerBot 3D printer  – but if they weren’t already technically inclined, they’d have to really want it.  I really really wanted to have a 3D printer, and with the help of kind souls and absolutely stubborn pig-headedness, I was able to get mine working reasonably well.  Sure, I had to rebuild the extruder every now and then – but that was just part of the maintenance cycle back then.]

You have nothing to feel guilty about for your WAOE post.  You were frustrated with the time you were spending on a DIY kit and some of the limitations.  I really liked two of the points you made in reply to my post on your MakerBot woes.  First was that it may just be a matter of time before getting good Skeinforge settings isn’t as challenging. 1  Second was an analogy:

I’ve been thinking of MakerBot as ‘using linux before Ubuntu’. At first you had to build the kernel yourself and compile and manage your own packages, but eventually it got to the point where Grandma can use it.

As you note, this is an open source project.  If there’s something you don’t like, dive in and fix it!  I had a lot of trouble getting my X and Y axes tight, so I designed X and Y axes tensioners.

Drafts Zero - The Lost Blog Posts
  1. The Lost Blog Posts
  2. Plastruder! [Draft 12/25/2009]
  3. UNTITLED [Draft 12/25/2009]
  4. Preparing to print [Draft 12/27/2009]
  5. More prints [Draft 01/04/2010]
  6. Prototype Pricing [Draft 01/19/2010]
  7. MakerBot tuning [Draft 01/20/2010]
  8. Plastic Screw Anchor [Draft 02/02/2010]
  9. Magic [Draft 02/03/2010]
  10. How are you printing with PLA? [Draft 02/16/2010]
  11. Rebuilding my extruder [Draft 02/16/2010]
  12. MY robot [Draft 02/18/2010]
  13. more things i learned [Draft 02/20/2010]
  14. First commissioned piece! [Draft 02/22/2010]
  15. MakerBot: Toy or Tool? [02/25/2010]
  16. Idea for Skeinforge settings… [Draft 03/27/2010]
  17. RepRap and MakerBot alternatives [Draft 04/05/2010]
  18. RepRap Parts for Sale [Draft 04/07/2010]
  19. Where is the Othercutter? [Draft 06/08/2015]
  20. Mendel Parts – Printed, Cast, CNC’d, Lasercut or Injection Molded? [Draft 04/12/2010]
  21. MakerBot Operator’s Manual [06/04/20210]
  22. MakerBot on CBS! [07/07/2010]
  23. New Print: Soft-Pawed Albino Stoat of South Wales Cookie Cutter [07/07/2010]
  24. House calls [07/11/2010]
  25. Digital assistant? [08/05/2010]
  26. MakerBot + Junk = Stuff! [08/06/2010]
  27. Design choices in RepRap, Goals of RepRap [08/14/2010]
  28. Upgrades and obsolescence [08/25/2010]
  29. Dear Anonymous [08/25/2010]
  30. The ultimate in customer service [08/26/2010]
  31. Open Source Makes You Smarter [08/27/2010]
  1. I’m sure others would say difficult.  :)  [↩]
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