Hi Guys, 

This is a little off topic, but we all like to "build" things so I thought I'd share my newest "machine". If all goes well I'll be getting a 30 pound box delivered tomorrow that contains all the parts to build my very own 3D printer!

It's the Thing-O-Matic by Makerbot. 

It comes unassembled in 30 pounds of pieces, and takes about 18 hours for two people to assemble. But once you're done, you can print out parts with reckless abandon. There are thousands of examples of parts other people have made on thingiverse.com

Why a 3D printer? Well, for one thing it gives me the ability to do small-scale rapid prototyping without the need for a cnc mill (which I still don't have). I have about a half-dozen projects that need complex parts that I can't easily make on my manual mill so I thought a 3D printer would be a handy thing to have. 

I'm not sure if it will be precise enough for finished parts (.003 to .005+ when finely tuned) but it's definitely adequate for prototyping. And for a lot of projects .005 is more accuracy than I would need anyway. For instance, the plastic bracket that holds our window blinds in place is broken. I could create a new one of out ABS plastic and be totally happy if it was within .005 of the original. It would work perfectly.

I know, I know. Some of you are thinking to yourselves "What? for a thousand bucks you could buy a small manual mill and convert it to CNC". True, well maybe $1500. But still you're right. I could. But I just think it's really cool to have 3D printing capabilities at home. So that played a factor in my purchasing decision. I also have a couple of projects that need to be constructed of plastic for conductive (electronics) or flexibility reasons, so that helped justify the purchase also. 

A lot of the parts people post on thingiverse.com are cutesy and a bit lame. But some are really cool and functional. For example, one of the first things I'm going to print is a tool holder for my G0602 backsplash. Something similar to this, but better designed and for lathe-specific tools like the chuck keys, hex keys, chip brush, etc.

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3598

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So if anyone out there wants to come up with a good backsplash tool holder design in CAD let me know and I'll print it out for you. Design it to fit your lathe and your tools. Extra credit if you own a G0602 and come up with a good design. That will save me the time of drawing up my own!

Keep in mind the printing platform is about 96W x 108L x 115H (in mm) so keep your design within those constraints. However, if you want a larger tool holder you could always design it so that it snapped, bolted, or glued together. 

The printer prints in ABS plastic, which is very rugged. It's the same stuff lego's are made out of. 

Anyway, I'm hoping that Sammy will have time to come over and help with the assembly (he said he thought it'd be a fun project to be involved in and I was happy for the help – my wife was not interested in helping me assemble …). If all goes as planned I hope to video the assembly process and I'll post a time-lapse of the build and maybe a few videos of my first few prints. 

Anyway, sorry for the off-topic post. I purchased ProjectsInPlastic.com so if I get really into 3D printing I'll shift the posts over to that URL to keep this site free from a ton of off-topic (non-metal-related) projects. Unless you guys are really interested in my 3D adventures … in which case I'll find a home for them here.

By the way, do any of you guys have your own 3D printer? I'd be curious to know how popular they are among the 10k members we have here. I'd be shocked if I was the first kid on the block to have one. 

Ok, so the Makerbot ToM arrived on schedule and Sammy came over to help out with the construction (thanks Sammy!). We put in about 6 hours together and then I put in another 2 after Sammy left. So after 14 man-hours the unit is put together, but not completely wired up. Here's a pic.

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It hasn't felt like a 14 hour job – but it's definitely a tedious (but fun) assembly. I'd estimate another 2-3 hours to get it fully wired, and then at least another hour of testing before I can start printing. 

I've got footage of the build that I plan to convert to time-lapse as previously stated. But I'm going to wait until it's all done and running before I mess with the video.

I'll keep you guys posted. 

By the way, Sammy thought of another useful thing to print, casting patterns! So I'll be printing off a pattern or two for Sammy as a thank-you for his help, and as a test to see if the tiny ridges in the prints are problematic (the prints don't come out completely smooth and may need to be sanded before ramming up). 

The picture shows up for me. Did you try reloading the page?

Anyway, It's taken me several days to get back to you guys because a winter storm in the Seattle area has knocked out power for a quarter of a million homes. Our power was out for over a day (it got cold in the house!) but it's back on now. Unfortunately the internet is still down. So I'm using my phone to post this. Needless to say I won't be posting much until I get internet back. Posting from my phone is tedious.

BTW, does anyone else have luck like mine? I buy a cool gadget that requires power to play with, get it assembled (with the help of Sammy), and just as I start to play with it the power goes out for over a DAY! Seriously, what's with my kharma? I was pacing the floor in frustration for several hours. Then it got dark outside, and thus dark inside. And then it occurred to me how truly revolutionary the light bulb was to mankind. You can't really do much in the dark. So I went to bed at 7:30pm … and woke up at midnight. Still dark. Off to the garage with a flashlight to dig out my coleman lantern …

Anyway, after the power came back on I quickly started making all kinds of things. Most of them have been things that others have designed and posted on thingiverse.com.

Today, however, I tried my hand at creating my own objects in Sketchup and exporting them to an .stl file so that I could render them in ReplicatorG and print them with my 3D printer. But a few I designed myself.

I've learned a lot. Like the fact that Sketchup is a terrible modeling engine. And that Kapton tape is evil – much like a stickier version of saran wrap (you use heat resistant Kapton tape to keep the hot plastic printed object from sticking to your printer's platform).

However, I have good news. After much experimenting and failing, I'm currently printing a QCTP holder that will snap on to my lathe's backsplash. It's taking 1.5 hours to print a single tool holder, so it's not an incredibly efficient way to make a plastic object (injection molding would be far faster) but it's certainly an inexpensive way to make one!

I'll post a picture of the tool holder once it's done … if I have internet by then.