Joe's Makerbot will now be Joe's 3D Workbench

Joe's Makerbot is now Joe's 3D Workbench. http://joes3dworkbench.blogspot.com/

This has been a long time coming. I avoided it for many technical reasons, but I now feel it's time.

Joe's Makerbot (this blog) will remain with it's history and posts, but I will no longer be updating it. From now on all posts related to making, designing, and teaching will be on Joes3dWorkbench.blogspot.com. I hope you'll all visit me there. I will also occasionally post my more editorial thoughts on 3DHacker.com's blog.

http://joes3dworkbench.blogspot.com/

MyMiniFactory Contest Afterward

Thank you to everyone who voted for me in the MyMiniFactory contest. Unfortunately I did not win, however the set that did win is one that I voted for myself, so I don't feel back about losing. I am still planning on having the contest, unfortunately I won't be able to offer a 3D printer, but I can offer a copy of my book. More on that when it happens.

I held off sharing my honest opinion of MyMiniFactory until the end of this contest. now that it's over I can say I don't really like MyMiniFactory. They don't have an interface for uploading or editing designs so if you want to use MyMiniFactory you have to wait for them to do your uploading and editing for you. They aren't doing a very good job of attribution. And while they're talking about sales they're not there yet. I admire their team of designers creating intersting things, so i hope they'll fix these problems soon, but I've made my choice.

So now that the contest is over I plan to offer the Charles 'O Perry set for free download on Thingiverse and Ponoko, and the Bird Chess set for sale on Ponoko. Both of these are also available on Shapeways if you can stand the sticker shock. Almost none of that purchase price goes towards me.

Finally Printing MetaChess

MetaChess was one of my entries into the Makerbot/Tinkercad Chess challenge that won me my Makerbot and changed my life. Even figured out rules how this chess-on-chess game would play. However until now I've never tried printing it. (Funny thing is I love chess pieces, but I don't play the game very often. Well now I've printed it and... clearly it needs some work.

The biggest problem is one with MakerWare where if two polygons are exactly overlapping the result is a void. This ruined both versions, large and small, of the rooks. Most other slicers do not have this problem. Makerware likes it's models water tight. But beyond MakerWare's problems the models are too small for the chess board I have and the knights could use some work. So I guess it's time to iterate this design. Then, maybe I'll play a game. Maybe.

Printing MyMiniFactory's chess set

When I first checked out My Mini Factory about the only thing they had of interest to me was a stylish chess set that I had seen around before, but didn't know where it was from. Turns out it was from My Mini Factory's army of professional designers, which, yes, I am slightly jealous and would love to get that gig.

This one will look nice opposite the last chess set I printed in PLA. This one was printed in gold PLA from ToyBuilder labs.

Funny thing about that chess set is that it is 90% printable without supports, even the knights. Only the cross on the kings head needs supports. Makes me wonder why they didn't just design the cross better. Unfortunately on my first printing the queen's frailty got the better of her and she fell apart, so on the reprint I turned on supports and printed the king and queen. This time somehow the supports mangled cross and as usual supports made for an ugly finish but were almost non-xistant on the queen. In the end I just went with the first king that I printed without supports. As long as you don't know where the problem is you won't see it.

But this taught me something about My Mini Factory. When they say they've test printed everything they don't mention how, what settings, or even what printer. Just keep that in mind when downloading anything from them. And I hope you will be since I've got 2 entries in their upcoming contest and it's counted by downloads.

Now that's a proper Bauhaus set

I don't know why but the version of the Bauhaus set where everything is more cubical always appealed to me more. Fortunately TeamTeamUSA on thingiverse made one that only had a few small problems, like the knight not being printable without supports and the queen being a work in progress. So fixed up these two problems and printed my own out and my modification can be downloaded on thingiverse.

Now I can have a Bauhaus vs Bauhaus game... if I ever actually played chess.

Steampunk Robot Chess Set

Modified version of DutchMogul's Steampunk Robot Chess Set. These pictures are pre-smoothing but the acetone vapor finish goes very will with the robotic chess set.

I think I'll pair this one with the tiki chess set to make Steampunk vs Island Magic.

Bauhaus Chess Set

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 version of this set, but it's a good one.

Chessbot on 3DHacker

Fellow 3D Printing enthusiast and vlogger Andrew Mazzotta, tired from sourcing upgrades on 8 different websites and thought "wouldn't it be easier if there was just one place for all these things." So he created 3DHacker.com and invited anyone to showcase their projects and builds and offer them to interested parties. You can host whatever project you want on 3D Hacker and anyone can find your project and get in contact with you if they want one. 3D Hacker is open ended to a fault, but that's good because it means I can offer things for people who don't have 3D printers, like my RoboAction Chessbot set.

So check out 3D Hacker and comment below what your favorite project is on it and maybe I'll write about it in the future.

Do Printing Services Undercut Open Sales?

Joseph Chiu pulled me up in chat to ask if I had put in an order with PrintAThing. PrintAThing and MakeXYZ are services where you can register if you have a 3D printer to print things for other people and where you can request if you don't have a 3D printer a quote for a print you want made. They're great services if you have a 3D printer that you want to keep humming. However, I have no such problems and since I have a 3D printer there's no reason for me to put in an order with PrintAThing.

Joseph C. asked because someone had put in an order and uploaded the STLs from the Chessbot Hero and Monster, the same set I sell on Etsy and that I thought I made pretty clear you can get from me. I would think if you didn't have a 3D printer you'd want to support the person who made the designs if it were possible, but it seems someone was looking for a better deal. Now to be clear I'm selling these at very high quality and pretty close to the lowest I can for the time and effort involved in making and distributing these. Sure it's not much plastic but it ties up my printer for about 8 hours making both sides (which I can double the output of when my right extruder works). Not to mention that I have made a number of little edits that I just don't have time to keep updating the thingiverse pages for. It's safe to say that the chess set you get from me is always better in little ways than the one you get from thingiverse. Joseph suggested I make it harder for people to do this sort of thing by breaking the set into individual pieces but that's just more work for me.


Really, this is just the problem with being open. I made a decision and this is the first thing that really made me call that decision into question. So what now? Maybe I should clam up to protect myself.

 Forget that, I'm opening up wide. I haven't uploaded my lithophane holder yet so here yawl go. Take that desire to clam up. Go make your own lithophanes and don't worry about me. (Yes, I branded it and yes I linked to my etsy store. I'm open, not stupid.)

More Chess Sets Weekend

I've been sitting on the plans for Chessbot Prime for a while now, just haven't taken the time to print it out to make sure it works. Now I have.

In addition I tried out the Wireframe Chess Set by ethanjurman. I modified the knight since that once clearly isn't going to like printing without supports. I knew the rest of it was going to be no walk in the part either, particularly because I was going to scale it down slightly, but I looked it over and it seemed like everything was about 2mm, so it may be a challenge but it should be okay.

Ooh, except for that part before the ball on the pawns. Apparently that got a bit thin. Every single one failed. Still, I managed to get a few good pieces out of the experiment.

Rook turned out good, but only one of them worked. My modification to the knight managed to save one of them. Both bishops survived. Good sturdy design there. I'm surprised how well the bend in the base of the queen worked. Had I noticed it I would have tried to modify that into a gradual curve, but I didn't. I think the king lost to just bad luck; something wiggled, something didn't stick, dead king. But the pawns were universally destroyed. They just got too thin at one point.

I might try modifying the files and trying again one day, but I think more likely I'll just make my own. I discovered the wireframe tool in blender so maybe I'll just do that, but hopefully ethanjurman steps up and gives us a version that works.

New Chess Set

Finally got some more natural PLA from Joseph Chiu and finished printing SteedMaker's Classic Chess Set, the chess set where I got the knight I used before from. Now I have a set to play against the Tiki set.

I had to start this print as I ran out the door to work. I laid down the blue tape, re-leveled the build plate, set up the fan, made sure the first layer was okay, but that was it. I was a little concerned since I wouldn't be there to catch it if anything went wrong. And as much as I hate to admit this I have to say that the PLA just worked. Does this mean I'm converted to PLA and will use it for everything from now on? Not quite. I like the way it worked, it's true, but I'm not just printing for me, I'm printing for my customers and they deserve something that won't warp or deform if they leave it in the car on a hot day. But it was super easy to switch back and forth from so I think I'm over my fear of it.

3 months, 17 chess sets

After running out before Christmas I decided to make a back stock of chess sets. In January I started printed them in earnest, using both extruders at once to double my output and printing just as often as I can and expending at least 4 full rolls of filament to see how far they'll go. Since then the ceramic insulation tape was damaged and the heated build platform gave out leaving me idle for a few weeks. But things are back together and I was finally able to finish the sets I had started. I now have a box filled with 17 completed chess sets with 3 more that have been purchased for a total of 21 completed chess sets.

That's actually pretty good and it's keeping me ahead of sales. However it's about half what I estimated I could be doing. Still, I'm in a position now that I can explore some advertising and try to get them out the door faster and now I know what to expect as far as sales goals.

Chessbot added to an interesting collection

Ty Kroll has an interesting hobby. He has a great collection of chess sets to which my chessbot was recently added. I highly recommend you check out the write up. He's got some of the best pictures ever taken of this set plus an amusing set where he uses two chess sets to replay the famous Kasparov vs Deep Blue, fittingly, and then explores how it might have ended had either side had the "transform into a robot and stomp your opponent" option.

Check out the rest of Ty's Collection on his web page. It makes me want to build a 3D scanner and visit Wisconson.

Tiki Chess

Whystler's Tiki chess set was one of my favorites in the chess contest. Each of the pieces just had so much character and detail and it wasn't too much of a challenge to figure out which one was which, unlike some other sets. Every piece just works so well with the theme. It's a real treat to have this one. Click on the below image and just bask in the detail.

PS. notice the King's side knight with the broken staff. That's the one I was trying to reprint when my HPB burned out. I'll fix you... one day! (Edit: It's fixed now.)

Brainstorming the chess set

Merry Christmas to all. While getting ready for my holiday trip I found an old notebook where I brainstormed ideas for my chessbot. Here's the earliest sketch of what eventually became my winning entry.

I originally was playing with the idea of using a pawn for the head. I wanted to get a robocop vibe, but I couldn't resolve the proportions of the face. Then when I did a count of the pawns I realized I had to just throw that idea out.

There is also penciled in the first idea for what became the opponent set. At this point I'm not sure if that sketch was made after I won the contest or when I drew the first one. I'd like to say I was working on the opponent way back when, but I just don't remember.

Chessbot on Mancave

Dutch site Mancave featured my chessbot set even giving it title billing. Thang goodness for automatic translation services. I don't think I'll ever stop printing chess sets at this rate... which somehow I don't feed bad about at all.

Chess sets day 3 and 4

So after running out of black... I ran out of white. Managed to get 1 white chess set and 3 incomplete red ones that I'm just going to finish up and get sent out without dual printing them. Frustratingly inefficient. I've placed orders for more black, white, and red filament through Joseph Chiu (aka Toybuilder) who will soon enough be dipping his fingers into the realm of filament distribution and I wish him well on that.

Meanwhile, the first chess set orderd I'm getting out the door this morning and hopefully tonight I'll be getting two more out. Then when I have some more filament I'm doing this whole production run again.

Chess Production Day 2 1/2

The day started with a few clean up pieces from failed chess sets. A few rooks, a bishop. Then I decided to take the rest of the day off from printing chess sets to print a few things I've been meaning to get to for myself since my lovely and talented assistant can help me with the big batches. Then, suddenly...

That empty spool there was my black filament. I didn't even realize I was low. This is a problem. I need the black for the opponent pieces. I suppose I could do white and red, but a white monster chessbot? Plus I'm almost out of those colors too.

Sunday is my no printing day so i guess I've got some time to work this out. In the meanwhile I have another something to ponder. When I send out chess sets I found that a box and a board can be purchased together for as little as a dollar. All I have to do is go to the dollar store and buy a checker's set. Brilliant, right? I just take out the checker's pieces, put in my chess pieces, and away it goes! But now I have this problem:

What should I do with all these checkers pieces? I hate to just throw them away because it seems like I should be able to do something with them that doesn't involve a checkers board. I'm trying to come up with a combat mechanic for a Pocket Tactics like game that doesn't involve rolling dice. Maybe they could be used for that? Any ideas?

Chess production day 2

This time around feels like a very different experience than last time around for so many reason.

Filament diameter. Filament diameter. Filament diameter. I measured, swear I did. 1.81mm. They both worked. Then suddenly... they didn't. Every joint was too loose. Of course I didn't figure this out until I got home and 4 batches had already printed. Fortunately there's a fix. Clear nail polish applied to the contact points will thicken up the print and tighten the joints. And for the rest I'm using 1.79mm for the filament diameter setting.

Today I discovered that when I organized the pieces into plates that would make using both extrudes at once as successful as possible, I didn't think about piece volume as much as I should. In other words today's plate takes considerably longer to print than yesterday's. This is going to mess up my estimates. I had estimated that I could print 8 complete sets in 4 days, going full tilt and using both extruders. Now, however, that may end up being 8 in 5 days. Still not too bad. Now all I need to do is get to the point where I'm selling 8 a week and I'm laughing.

Robot Chess Sets back in production

There has finally been some demand for my Robot Chess sets and I've finally sold out of my original 10. Apparently Boing Boing put them on a holiday gift guide which links to either this blog or the makerbot blog, which links to the thingiverse page, which links to the etsy where you can find the chess set. Phweao. I've attempted to shorten that flow a bit where I can.

The upshot of which is I need to print more chess sets. Last time I did this I was printing slower, at 0.2mm layers, and dual printing was by some exe voodoo. Now, that's to sailfish and numerous upgrades I'm printing... well, no faster in the end, but at 0.15mm layer heights (surprising the difference have a mm makes),  much more reliably, and dual printing is an option on the menus. The result is these chess sets are even better than the old one.

The other result is I should have started this a week ago, but didn't because of said upgrades still happening. So I am doing something I've never done before; I am offering for sale something I do not currently have in stock. I'm trusting you Makerbot, I've got orders to fill and I need you to work!

EDIT: Update: First half worked fine, second half... well, the white side worked. The black side didn't stick at all which messed up the white side. Hopefully a little ABS Glue will fix that up. Here's hoping.