thingiverse

Ether Egg

Ether Egg

It’s a dorky chemistry joke and it’s a pun and it’s an egg. It’s like it was made just for me. Pictured is diethyl ether, which is what most folks are talking about when they say “ether.” But the C-O-C bond is really what makes an ether, and there are infinitely many possible ether eggs if this one does not satisfy your need for them. I am personally holding out for fluoromethyl hexafluoroisopropyl ether eggs. Thank you, Thingiverse user linuxwrangler.

Browser-based 3D modeling

Browser-based 3D modeling

While gluing cubes together may seem like a terribly limited method of building 3D models, their software is easy to use and some types of parts–like puzzles and puzzle pieces–are well-suited to this kind of modeling. Shown uppermost is a marble maze that our own Matt Mets produced with 3DTin and printed on a MakerBot. For their part, MakerBot Industries seems to be excited about the concept: 3DTIn has just added a direct export-to-Thingiverse feature to their interface.

Printable iris-lid jewelry box, with video

Printable iris-lid jewelry box, with video

Last week I posted about this cool twist-action irising jewelry box by Matt, from Seattle, WA, (aka Thingiverse user msruggles) and the first real prototype that user Linkreincarnate printed on his Up! personal 3D printer.

Since that time, Matthew LaBerge of Minneapolis, MN, (aka Thingiverse user labmat) has printed his own copy and posted a video showing off its mechanical action. Bonus points for the lovely blue color!

Matt’s printer–which he calls “IceBot One”–is a heavily customized rig using MakerBot electronics and components from what appears to be a salvaged CNC mill. Check out the deets in his Flickr stream.

It’s also worth noting that, since first posting his original design, msruggles has published a shortened version that will print faster and use less material.