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Entries in makerbot (27)

Wednesday

Sep012010

MakerBot Extrudes The Mk5

Wednesday, September 1, 2010 |

At long last MakerBot has finally released their new extruder design: the MK5.

This design incorporates a number of learnings gathered from MakerBot operators' experiments. Key features:

Greatly simplified filament drive that completely eliminates the troublesome idler wheel and replaces it with an easily adjustable chunk of Delrin, as well as a custom designed contoured gear for reliably grabbing input filament.
Redesigned heater core, which incorporates a pair of power resistors that provide even, predictable heat (unlike the hap-hazard every-time-unique Nichrome windings of the MK4 that assured no two MakerBots were the same). The new core is extremely tight and should prevent troublesome leaks.

We're really excited about this development, since the plastruder seemed to be the weakest point of the MakerBot, where most operators spent their time rebuilding after various failure modes. The new MK5 should do away with most of the problems. Well, done, MakerBot!

Via MakerBot

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Wednesday

Aug182010

Calibration Mojo?

Wednesday, August 18, 2010 |

Quebec MakerBot operator Nicolas Gravel ponders better ways to calibrate his personal 3D printer. While he's overcome all of the mechanical and technical difficulties in constructing his MakerBot kit, he's stuck getting the calibration just right to permit great printouts. His idea:

Why not having a couple of test pattern related to some important settings to help us doing it right? Like with a inkjet printer where you print a sheet and you need to tell the printer which line is the best one. For the 3D printer maybe a couple of simple print with a small guide that tell you if you need to change a couple of values in skeinforge. " If part #2 look like this, put a smaller value for setting X". Yes that will took Us to print many time the same test pattern to have a fully calibrated printer, but it will help to not loose our head in all the settings.

Further, he'd like this function integrated directly into ReplicatorG, the software driver for MakerBot printers.

We think this is a great idea, as the number of possible settings in Skeinforge (where the calibration knobs exist) is simply staggering and well beyond the time limitations of casual printer operators. But would it be possible to do such a thing when every printer is built slightly differently?

Via TekBlog

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Friday

Jul092010

MakerBot Calibration Hoedown

Friday, July 9, 2010 |

Members of Kansas City's Cowtown Computer Congress had an unusual event: 3D Printer Calibration Night. That's right, members brought in their MakerBot 3D printers in an effort to properly calibrate their heater barrels, which are notoriously tricky to set right.

Half a dozen MakerBots and a couple of RepRaps appear to be present in the images, where members shared tips on how to get their heater barrel thermocouples properly calibrated.

A great exercise, to be sure, but it does suggest an issue in the world of home 3D Printing: standardization. MakerBots, RepRaps and the like certainly have common designs, but there is variability in the components used, configuration parameters and in the manner of assembly. These minor differences result in differences in the resulting printed objects. This suggests that objects printed on one printer may have issues fitting with those from other printers, as shown in the image above.

What's the answer? We're not sure, but it probably will involve more standardized components, more assembly-tolerant designs and perhaps even calibration objects specifically to test compatibility between printers.

Via The Cowtown Computer Congress

Image Credit: Nadya Peek

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Tuesday

Jul062010

MakerBot on CBS Evening News!

Tuesday, July 6, 2010 |

They've hit the big time, hopefully. Last night's CBS Evening News featured MakerBot's Cupcake CNC printer and a very brief segment with 'Bot mandarin Bre Prettis (left), who explained:

A MakerBot is this magical device that turns ideas into objects... It's a new way of thinking about how we get objects.

The report went on to explain to viewers the basics of extrusion-based 3D printing and showed several cool examples of printed objects, including the famous whistle - tested by Bre.

A 15 year old student maker was interviewed, apparently demonstrating how simple it might be to use a MakerBot. Then the reporter further explained how inexpensive the device is (under USD$1000) and said that after shipping more than 1400 units "orders are arriving faster than they can ship out."

This is indescribably fabulous publicity for MakerBot, and we expect them to be swamped with new orders today. We're somewhat concerned, however, that some viewers may underestimate the skill level required to build and operate (and rebuild, and rebuild again) their new MakerBot. Hopefully they'll be able to hook up with a help-community, either nearby or virtual to get them through. Perhaps MakerBot should provide the necessary connections to the appropriate help groups, local maker communities, etc. with every shipment?

Best part: A very cool time lapse of the Statue of Liberty being printed.

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Friday

Jun252010

MicroManufacturing with a MakerBot?

Friday, June 25, 2010 |

MakerBot operator Pete Hinzy asks an interesting question:

who else out there is using their MakerBot or other type of low cost manufacturing equipment as a part of their business? What is your business model? Pricing structures, etc.?

For certain, the MakerBot and similar low-cost 3D printers don't offer typical commercial capabilities, such as reliability, high-volume capacity or onsite service plans, even though they are massively fun to build and use. But Pete's question makes us ponder the possibilities.

If one had such a printer in operation, could it be used commercially in a microManufacturing manner? What niche markets in your neighbourhood might be served by a simple manufacturing center?

We recall the famous video ("Better Living With MakerBot - Episode 1: Kitchen Lamp") in which a lamp is reattached by replicating a broken fixture in less than an hour. This clearly illustrates a need that all of us have from time to time: we need a small part and it would be nearly impossible to find it at the local hardware store. Typically we improvise, give up or replace a much larger item for the sake of the smaller part. Could that be the scenario that neighbourhood 3D printers could address?

What other commercial uses have you managed to successfully perform using your low-cost 3D printer? Tell us in the comments below.

Via Cloud (Distributed) Manufacturing

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Friday

Jun112010

MakerBot's Hiring

Friday, June 11, 2010 |

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"We are looking for a highly talented electrical engineer to head up our new electronics engineering department" is the opening line of a job description from an employment listing by MakerBot, producers of one of the most popular hobbyist 3D printers. They're looking to expand their Brooklyn NY based operations by having someone focus on the electronics portion of MakerBot's products.

The job description seems fairly straightforward, barring the 3D printing angle: "This job will involve designing, developing and testing both new and existing products for the mass market", and there are few clues about any secret developments underway in the MakerBot warrens. If you're qualified and located in the NYC area, this could be a very interesting role.

Best line: "We would like you to have forgotten more about electrical engineering than we could ever hope to know."

Via EngineerJobs

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Monday

May102010

The Infinite MakerBot

Monday, May 10, 2010 |

On your 2D paper printer, the print job is usually complete by the time you get your butt out of the chair and stroll over to the printer. Not so with a 3D printer, where you often must wait for many minutes, or even hours for a job to complete. When it's done, you've probably gone for dinner and the newly printed model sits patiently in the build chamber, waiting for you to remove it so that the next printout can commence.

But this may not be the case much longer, if experiments by NYC Resistor member Charles Pax succeed. He's designing a conveyer belt system that overlays the normally calm build platform. In other words, when the build is complete (and sufficiently solidified) a software command triggers the conveyer belt to shoot the model out of the build chamber into a hopefully conveniently placed basket. Sounds much like the output tray on your laser printer, doesn't it?

The implication of this could be huge; it means that a MakerBot could run continuously printing several items unattended, if all goes well. You'll wake up in the morning and fish seventeen flanges from your model basket, ready for use. Just make sure you have a sufficiently large basket and one heck of a large spool of ABS.

Via MakerBot and Charles Edward Pax

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Tuesday

Apr202010

3D Print and Design Workshop in Seattle

Tuesday, April 20, 2010 |

Wulf Design owner and 3D print blogger Larry James is offering a "3D Print & Design Workshop" on April the 24th, for any readers in the Seattle vicinity. The session is being offered through the Seattle Free School.

In the four-hour session, Larry will provide an introduction to 3D printing using a MakerBot printer (perhaps his own, #214, pictured above?) He'll go over the history of 3D printing, focusing on the open source projects. The plan is to have the class collaboratively build a new 3D object and even print it out on the MakerBot.

If you're near Seattle, this sounds like a great session.

Via Seattle Free School and A Wulf's Perspective

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