If you’re a maker, 3d printing is an incredibly useful tool to have in your arsenal. Not only can it help bring your projects to life faster, but it can also offer unique results that would be difficult (or impossible!) to achieve with traditional methods. In these blog posts, we’ll provide you with some essential information and tips regarding 3D printing for makers—including the basics of how to get started, plus creative tutorials for spicing up your projects. Whether you’re already familiar with 3d printing or are just starting out, these resources will help take your game-making skills even further!
Mark Fuller sent us this video demoing his 3D-printed, humane mousetrap. Love this simple gravity-powered design. Mark says he made the trap with the help of the rapid prototyping class at Pennsylvania College of Technology (www.pct.edu). The device was printed on the Dimension uPrint, in little a under six hours. Tilt-N-Trap (Mouse Trap) on Thingiverse […]
Thingiverse user themauxfaux, who does seem to enjoy his word-play, just posted these plans for a laser-cut bangle that incorporates a hollow passage, complete with air-holes, so you can display your favorite live insect specimens on your wrist.
He calls it “Putrefashion,” which I think is a tactical error. I mean, I understand: I have a hard time resisting a good pun myself, but the whole point here is to keep the critter alive. And if you were to, you know, keep wearing it after it died and started to rot, well…just…ew. Even moreso “ew” than wearing bugs around on your wrist in the first place.
Now, apart from the name, there’s still plenty to criticize here, if I were inclined to do so. But I prefer to focus on the positive, and in spite of all my little quibbles with the design, I say this still counts as a win on the basis of originality alone.
The Twin Cities hackerspace the Hack Factory is raising funds to buy a MakerBot Cupcake CNC. How? By selling raffle tickets! Borrowing a move from Providence hackerspace AS220 Labs’ MakerBot raffle, the Hack Factory will sell enough raffle tickets for two Cupcakes, then keep one and award the other to the raffle winner. Rules are […]
Power users of the MakerBot Cupcake 3D printer have been crying out for a heated build platform for a long time, which would allow for larger prints without fear of warping. Some have even experimented with their own: Andrew “Clothbot” Plumb has been working on a heated build platform for some time. Jordan Miller created […]
This project illustrates the awesomeness of Thingiverse and open hardware. User c60 created some nifty geodesic dome brackets with the idea of using them with repurposed tent poles. While a great start, c60 didn’t have the math completely figured out and asked the Thingiverse community to pitch in. EFFALO of the Fabricating Blog rose to […]
Thingaverse user Skimbal designed and printed this Gothic cathedral play set on his Makerbot.
Cube.ly appears to be a 3D printer that uses 80/20 girders for the 2’x2’x2′ chassis, with all electronic components identical to those used in the Makerbot and Mendel. The project’s charter describes the project’s goals: Provide a fully capable 3D printer which can be used to directly manufacture or can be used to easily create […]
