Archive for August, 2012

My first custom 3d print: Hex Cloud

The past weekend I finally found time to make my first custom print for my Makerbot Replicator.  In Maya, I modeled & booleaned a variety of hexagonal mesh to create a “hexagonal cloud-like wall-hanger”.  I wanted to it to be artsy, and functional too:

Took just over four hours to print with two shells, and 10% infill.  I have to admit that it was a surreal experience to see the final print:  Just four hours ago this design was digital only, but now, it exists in the physical.  There’s a first time for everything.

To print it yourself, you can download the stl file over on Thingiverse.

Here is its (current) permanent home

New gizmo: MakeyMakey

I recently supported the Kickstarter campaign for the MakeyMakey, and it just arrived in the mail.

Just like the tutorials showed, it’s ridiculously easy to setup:  Plug it in over USB, skip the driver install, and start goofing around.  The first thing I did was turn some flowers my wife put on my table into a drum-kit:

Next I connected it to my wife, so whenever we’d touch we’d hear cymbals.

Later, I made the obligatory banana-piano.  Worked great.

Not sure what I’m going to do with it… but I’m sure it’ll be awesome.

 

Latest prints: Beer openers, big sledgehammer

I’ve finally successfully printed a life-sized sledgehammer.  It doesn’t look half bad:

It also took 7.5 hours to print with 5% infill.  But worth it?  Yes.  Next is spray-paint.

Also been printing some custom beer-bottle openers, based on this thing:

I created the text & modified the mesh in Maya, exported as obj, converted to stl via MeshLab, and converted to gcode in ReplicatorG.  Made the text black with a Sharpie 😉