Rain Gutter Regatta Trophy Stand

My sons were in their local cub scout troop's rain gutter regatta and afterwards I wanted them to have a cool place to store their boats so I made this. A rain gutter regatta stand available to download for free on thingiverse.

In truth those pictures are hue shifted because I printed them for my sons in red, because I have a lot of red. So if they look funny, that's why. You probably wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't said anything.

Another truth, I considered trying to put this design up for sale too, but I managed to talk myself out of it and settle for a little subtle branding instead.

Want to learn to make something like this? I'll teach you.

MakerWare vs RepG

For my book (yes, got it in early) I had to explore MakerWare for the first time, for the sake of completeness. Before I've never really had any incentive to switch over and I still don't. I do like like that MakerWare allows you to plate multiple objects easily and I'm currently trying to see if it's slicer does a better job of making high quality prints or is faster with which so far has been promising.

Overall I think I can say that MakerWare is it's not better or worse than ReplicatorG, which is kind of disappointing. Yes, there are things that MakerWare does better, but then there are still things that ReplicatorG does better, and that perplexes me. And the new version still doesn't address these things. Yes, improved rafts and supports are good, but I still need to edit a json file to change filament diameter, the silver bullet to good prints. I do not understand why this option wasn't put on the gui, nevermind that there isn't a more appealing way to change custom settings than editing a text file. Yes, I can do it, yes, json is pretty close to human readable, but for a piece of software that is obsessively trying to make 3D printing easy for the masses this seems like a pretty egregious oversight.

Oh, and be careful where you install MakerWare. It wiped out my ReplicatorG when I upgraded MakerWare because I accidentally put them in the same directory a while back. Silly me, I thought they'd use the same convention as everyone else and they don't. MakerWare installs by default in a directory called %programfiles%\makerbot, not %programfiles%\makerbot\makerware like everyone else. And their uninstall doesn't just remove the files it installed, it nukes the whole directory.

What do we get with the new version of MakerWare? Improved rafts, improved supports, and better infill. The hex fill doesn't bug out when set to 100% and that's good. But do we really need cat infill? The feature that would have convinced me to start using Makerware more would be if I could make those fancy support come out of the other extruder so I could start playing with PVA.

As for their new firmware I still do not know why they don't just license Sailfish. What they've added to the new firmware is only a percentage of what sailfish has been doing for a while already. I'm leaving my firmware right where it is.

EDIT: Just discovered something else strange: MakerWare generated files heat up both extruder heads the whole time which causes the unused extruder to leak. This is a big problem so I think I'll be avoiding MakerWare a little longer.

EDIT2: Apparently the uninstall problem and the dual heater problems came from upgrade. The old installer was the naughty one, not the current one. The old custom profiles are causing a conflict when upgraded. But delete those custom settings and that problem goes away. If MakerWare adds filament diameter to their main menu and if they add supports with the other material I will defiantly consider making the switch.

How to model a 3D mini

Zheng, famous for his 3D printed artillery game, has been printing custom tokens for Magic: the Gathering. He took the latest one and did a series about the process of making it. He does his modeling in Maya but the general techiniques should be applicable to whatever 3D modeling program you're blending... er, using, don't know why I said blending there.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5 and 6
Test print
Part 7
Part Last

What really impresses me is the detail and how it reportedly prints without supports. I also love how he used Maya's skeletal tools to pose the shape. That's something that I have yet to learn to do in Blender, but I know I'll have a project one day where that'll be a good technique to learn.

This process really illustrates that modeling is not a simple thing, particularly if you're doing organic shapes. That was a week long project for him but this is also what you can expect from a week long project. I know for myself projects like this have eaten up a week of my free time. But sometimes you just have to do it because... I mean look at that thing. Beautifully hideous.

Good Sketchup Links

Before I settled on Blender for all my modeling needs I experimented with many different programs including Sketchup. It was owned by Google when I started playing with it, now its owned by Trimble. Some people seem to like it, but it never really worked for me mostly because getting STLs out of it was more trouble than it was worth. But if you are inclined to use Sketchup and are willing to setup STL output the Makerbot group has put together a number of links to help you produce good, clean models ready for 3D printing.
One of the biggest problems with models for 3D printing is that your models need to manifold. "Manifold" easier to define in negatives. If a model has any holes in its geometry it won't be manifold. Additionally sketchup occasionally creates stray polygons that need to be cleaned up. Personally I use Netfabb's cloud service as an all-in-one fix 'em up, but apparently there is a plugin for Sketchup called SuSolid that does this itself.
Actually, now I wish that Blender had a plug in that fixed these problems automatically. Hey! Blender folks, get on that!

3DGeni.us convincing me to try out 123D Design

I wasn't so sure about 123D Design before, but this bath plug tutorial on 3DGeni.us makes it look as easy to use as TinkerCAD, with even better features, and still free (as opposed to $120 a year). When I get some time I'm gonna try making a chess set in it and see if I can start recommending 123D Design. Plus the tutorial is top notch. Check it out.

Makin' Hay With My Mad Skillz!

Can you 3D model? Then put down that controller, turn off the TV, open your Here's a couple of sites you can register for to turn your free time into money.

Desall.com has the idea of holding regular design contests. If you don't think you're a very good designer but want to get better these sort of contests are the perfect place to build and perfect your skills. That's how MCFrontalot got started, and look at him now.

Or you can go on freelancer.com and list yourself as a discount freelancer. Another great place to improve your skills while you build your portfollio. Just sign up and browse the most recent relevant projects, then bid for the jobs and make yourself some money.

If you know any other sites where you can turn your burgeoning modeling skills and spare time into income be sure to post in the comments.

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.

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.

3D printing tip - Picture perfect modeling

So you have a doodad that broke and you want to 3D print a replacement. But how can you be sure that the new part will be a good replacement? Here's the method I used to make a replacement part for my kid's drawer that uses only free software and the hardware you probably already have.

• Put the part on a piece of centimeter graph paper and take a picture. 
• Import the picture into inkscape, line up the scale, and trace the 2D outline of the object. Save the outline as an SVG. 
• Import the SVG outline into blender and extrude. Convert the curve to a mesh, Go to edit mode and extrude the outline into a 3D shape. 
• Do any 3 dimensional editing you need to make a good part. 
• Export the 3D part as an STL. 
• Print and replace. 

I kept putting off posting this because I wanted to make an illustrated version, and I may still, but I think it's better this information is out there than it being illustrated. I can always revisit this and update it.

Flattening the bottom

Making flat bases or sides is important when 3D printing, but can be tedious at time. If you're "eye balling" the measurements you may find your eye isn't as accurate as you would otherwise hope. But there's a simple way to insure that your side is flat and all points are on the same plate.