I’ve upgraded my Mk8 Extruders and I decided I’d take the time to document the procedure and show everyone how easy it is to do. If you haven’t already I recommend you prepare for the day when this upgrade will become necessary by printing out the printed parts while you still can. Before I begin a special thanks to whosawhatsis who not …
Another repair tutorial
http://zheng3.wordpress.com/2012/11/19/repairing-a-toy-with-3d-printing/ I thought I’d direct your attention to another tutorial on how to design a part for 3D printing to match a real life object. I like the way he, instead of printing the whole part, just made the parts that needed repair. He also uses different tools than I do.
Unidentified Party Crasher
Not that I’m ready for it yet, but I thought I’d look at what it would take to get a UPC code for something. You know, in case I wanted to go full time with this. Use the 3D printer to keep up with sales and put something in a store. The only problem is UPCs are regulated and in …
Replicator Tip – Extending the life of your delrin plungers
For the record, a little clear nail polish totally works to extend the life of your delrin plunger for at least a few prints. Long enough to print out the parts for a minimalistic Mk8 upgrade and a few other things to keep yourself from getting bored while you wait for the unprintable parts.
Make Magazine Massive Maker Meetup
This is something I should have mentioned earlier. Sorry about that. Tonight Make Magazine is organizing the largest collection of makers around the world! They’re hoping to get 1000 of us (I guess I’m one now) together to discuss… making… stuff. That’s always been the nebulous thing about the “maker” title and “movement”. What exactly are we making? If I do origami …
Exploratory Disassembly
I took my replicator’s dual extruders completely apart last night. I couldn’t really get a picture of how deeply disassembled they were because it was just a mess, but my point was getting a look at those potentially troublesome Delrin plungers. And here they are: It’s difficult to see, but what they’ve got I wouldn’t exactly call a “groove”. More like a …
I could see this being really frustrating to someone
My printer is now totally useless. Neither the left or right will print. Chances are it’s the Delrin plunger which Makerbot says is designed to wear out. Thing is I haven’t had my Makerbot that long. I mean, I know I’m using the heck out of it, but I figured I’d get at least a year out of it before …
A little healthy competition
A little competition is good. I mean, I love Makerbot, but they’re not perfect. That’s why I love hearing about other promising business selling 3D printers. Let me lay this down right now. I think the perfect 3D printer will go straight from STL to print, no slicing on a laptop, and be as cheap as possible. Ideally $300 but preferably <$1000. …
Got me some maintenance and upgrades coming up…
It was a good day of printing. Re-stocked my Doctor Who rings and finished my second skull gear. I haven’t posted a “check out the coolness I printed” lately so be sure to check it out there on the right. But after a hard weekend of printing the case fan is not lasting very long, even with oiling. However I’ve …
Picture Perfect Modeling Step-By-Step
I’ve come up with a new technique for modeling real life objects in 3D, a refinement of my previous technique. It won’t work for all objects and may not be perfect yet, but I’ve put together an illustrated guide that will help you use this technique in the future. First you need a thing you want to make. In my …