MakerBotNumberNine
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| ** It's a bootstrap process. Once you have a starter MakerBot, it's relatively easy to come up with improvements along the way with the ultimate goal being a fully-printable future generation MakerBot. | ** It's a bootstrap process. Once you have a starter MakerBot, it's relatively easy to come up with improvements along the way with the ultimate goal being a fully-printable future generation MakerBot. | ||
| - | == My Process == | + | = My Process = |
| - | === Make Mistakes === | + | == Make Mistakes == |
| I love making mistakes! I learn so much more from a single mistake than a multitude of successes. Early mistakes are better than those late in the game, mind you. I do try to be prepared for my mistakes though. I assembled the extruder myself; it gets very hot; there is a nice big fire extinguisher within reach at all times. | I love making mistakes! I learn so much more from a single mistake than a multitude of successes. Early mistakes are better than those late in the game, mind you. I do try to be prepared for my mistakes though. I assembled the extruder myself; it gets very hot; there is a nice big fire extinguisher within reach at all times. | ||
| - | === Calipers Are My New Best Friend === | + | == Calipers Are My New Best Friend == |
| I find the easiest place to start capturing my own ideas around the house. | I find the easiest place to start capturing my own ideas around the house. | ||
| * Lego was a natural target - it's made of ABS too - but smaller dimensions and tolerances do make it tricky to fab just right. | * Lego was a natural target - it's made of ABS too - but smaller dimensions and tolerances do make it tricky to fab just right. | ||
| Line 40: | Line 40: | ||
| - | == To Do List == | + | = To Do List = |
| - | === All That Is Old Is New Again === | + | == All That Is Old Is New Again == |
| * Review my notebooks of ideas captured over the years and see what I can MakerBot sooner. | * Review my notebooks of ideas captured over the years and see what I can MakerBot sooner. | ||
| - | === Make it Better, Faster, Stronger === | + | == Make it Better, Faster, Stronger == |
| * More upgrades for my MakerBot along the same lines as my [http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1064 Locking Bearing Bracket]. | * More upgrades for my MakerBot along the same lines as my [http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1064 Locking Bearing Bracket]. | ||
| - | === Around The House === | + | == Around The House == |
| * Light switch face-plates cringe in terror as I approach. | * Light switch face-plates cringe in terror as I approach. | ||
| * Electric socket faceplate, thy name is integrated child-proofing. | * Electric socket faceplate, thy name is integrated child-proofing. | ||
| - | == Into the Future == | + | = Into the Future = |
| * Ever-smaller makerbots using the previous generation; aiming for atom-pusher. | * Ever-smaller makerbots using the previous generation; aiming for atom-pusher. | ||
Revision as of 03:24, 5 October 2009
Contents |
MakerBot Number Nine - WORK IN PROGRESS
Technically it's a MakerBot Cupcake CNC but, since it's from the first batch (Serial Number 09) of the first product released by MakerBot Industries, it defines what MakerBot is all about.
What Was I Thinking?
I'd considered a ShopBot but even the small model would have taken up sizable space in the garage. With small children in the house, noise was a significant factor; subtractive CNC is rarely quiet. A laser cutter would have been cool, but I couldn't justify the cash with a service like Ponoko at hand with a broader range of materials and community experience to pull on. They do steel too!
I'd been watching Desktop Factory development but couldn't bring myself to pull that trigger. There were too many unknowns for me around input material. It felt too much like the printer ink/toner game; we'll sell you the printer cheap and make money on the proprietary ink/toner cartridges. With an opaque development process it's hard to grow a community beyond the hard-core, existing (ab)users of the tech.
I'm a closet Industrial Design (ID) enthusiast. The local ID school (http://id.carleton.ca/) recently started a Masters program, but what with parental obligations and startup-style work schedules there's little time left to entertain that sort of additional commitment. My Makerbot provides me with an outlet to explore the whole design process at my own pace. Perhaps one day I'll enroll... At least by then I'll have something in the way of a portfolio!
No matter what happens in the future, since all aspects of the hardware and software are open sourced, my MakerBot will always have a repair and upgrade path.
What Have I Made?
- MakerBot Coin
- The first object I printed. I carry it around in my pocket to show people.
- Lego Compatible Disc Buttons
- My first truly original design.
- Also used them to exercise the ShapeWays rapid prototyping service.
- Bathroom counter fix
- Still working on this.
- Repeat after me: MakerBot output is not the same as injection-molded output. Modify your designs accordingly or they will crumble.
- MakerBot upgrades!
- Locking Bearing Bracket
- Replacement pulleys.
- Small Makerbot Parts
- It's a bootstrap process. Once you have a starter MakerBot, it's relatively easy to come up with improvements along the way with the ultimate goal being a fully-printable future generation MakerBot.
My Process
Make Mistakes
I love making mistakes! I learn so much more from a single mistake than a multitude of successes. Early mistakes are better than those late in the game, mind you. I do try to be prepared for my mistakes though. I assembled the extruder myself; it gets very hot; there is a nice big fire extinguisher within reach at all times.
Calipers Are My New Best Friend
I find the easiest place to start capturing my own ideas around the house.
- Lego was a natural target - it's made of ABS too - but smaller dimensions and tolerances do make it tricky to fab just right.
- Broken stuff that I never got that replacement A Round Toit necessary to fix.
To Do List
All That Is Old Is New Again
- Review my notebooks of ideas captured over the years and see what I can MakerBot sooner.
Make it Better, Faster, Stronger
- More upgrades for my MakerBot along the same lines as my Locking Bearing Bracket.
Around The House
- Light switch face-plates cringe in terror as I approach.
- Electric socket faceplate, thy name is integrated child-proofing.
Into the Future
- Ever-smaller makerbots using the previous generation; aiming for atom-pusher.
- Closed-cycle fabrication. All that is old shall be remade anew. I'm saving up all my spent rafts and trimmings for this part.
