The next in my collection of 3D printed chess sets is the Bauhaus Chess Set by Thingiverse user Le_Garage. It’s a nice chess set that even when scaled to the same size as my other chess sets by it’s nature was a bit bulkier and bigger than the others. Plus it took all day to print. This isn’t my favorite …
After a week quiet I’m printing again
Sorry I haven’t posted much about Joe’s Makerbot the past few weeks. The reason is that Joe’s Makebot has been sitting cold for a week. The reason is after my last repair I also upgraded the firmware to the latest version of Sailfish. I took everything back to stock in the firmware and… then I ran out of time for …
Design a toy, win an Ultimaker
GrabCAD is hosting a contest with Ultimaker. You have until June 5th to design a 3D printable toy, export it as STEP or IGES format (weird, have to figure out how to do that) and upload it to GrabCad, tagged “uutimaker”, and you’re entered to win either an ultimaker or a supply of PLA plastic! So get designing and upload …
3D printers can also make helpful things
I can’t help but think that the timing of this video could not have been better. While the conversation is turning towards the potential dangers of 3D printing, it’s good to remember that 3D printing can also do very, very useful things, a point I’ve made on numerous comments around the web. Please take a moment and watch this video, as well …
Buy a Cube at Staples and Print a Gun
I love how these two stories landed on the same day. First of all Staples has decided to start selling Cube 3D printers. I’m pretty disappointed that Cube was the first to the larger retail market, but I kinda knew they would be. They’ve got the PR machine, they’re playing all the right moves. Hopefully someone will find a way around their …
What’s in the Pirate3D box?
Singapore based Pirate3D is producing a 3D printer. Why I haven’t heard of them before I don’t know. I mean I love 3D printing and I love Singapore, but this one broadsided me. But even better they’re giving some away! So go, enter their contest and win. Now for some commentary: Pirate3D’s motive here is pretty transparent, or at least …
Printrbot creates sub $300 3D printer
Just going to drop this one quickly because it’s only good for a few more hours, but Printrbot is releasing for $50 cheaper than it’ll retail for their latest mini 3D printer to those who want to get in on the beta. I need to write more about cheap printers, but for now if you don’t mind a little do-it-yourself …
Where to find things to print
Holy smokes, I had no idea there were so many. Usually I just search Thingiverse. I think it’s safe to say I’m pretty active there. But 3D Printing Era lists 16 sources for printable 3D models and I’d be remiss not exploring some of these. Some are paid sites, which is cool, I guess. Many are not exactly focused on FFF printers. …
Replacing the Ceramic Tape on the Heater Block
It’s time to fix the ceramic tape. No patch job this time. There is embarrassingly little written up on how to do this properly. The best I could find was a PDF on how to assemble the Mk7. In the end I managed but I made a lot of mistakes along the way. And sometimes the point of a tutorial is so …
New Acetone Fogger
So I built a new acetone fogger. There it is. Works great. Wide mouth canning jar with regular jar ring attached to a coat hanger in the same way as last time, only on one side this time since I don’t need all 3. I’ve found that increasing the time does make the prints better, but it can make removing …