printrbot

By Michael Wolf, Forbes Contributor

Like many who jumped early into 3D printing, Brook Drumm found the lower cost printers required a significant degree of assembly. Think Ikea, but with soldering guns, wires and less documentation. So he set out to build his own.

Brook Drumm always liked to create things.

But the  former pastor turned web developer had spent the last few years in a profession where the product was on the screen – websites and iPhone apps – rather a physical product he could touch, and it was beginning to leave him a little unsatisfied.

“It kind of left me wanting to build something that I can hold in my own hand,” said Drumm, who I recently talked with for the NextMarket podcast.

So one day when he read about Jay Leno‘s efforts to produce exotic car partsusing 3D printing technology, something clicked. After all, Drumm was a car nut himself, a self-described “maker” who liked to tinker and create in his garage. He thought if Leno could do it with equipment that may cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, in today’s world of rapid technology evolution, it wouldn’t be long before the technology came to him.

MAKRZ is a community of “Makers” sharing open source files for 3D printing, laser cutting and machining (CNC). Browse tens of thousands of beautifully rendered 3D models and 2D drawings. You can link your Dropbox account and download any file you want to save for later.

MAKRZ features a beautiful but simple interface that eschews geeky descriptions and focuses on visually browsing through the files available for download.

Use MAKRZ to keep up with the latest designs in the world of 3D printing, or use it as your wish list of what you want to print when you get your Printrbot. If you own a 3d printer, you can finally cue up items to be printed with a native app on your iPhone or iPad. Your files will be waiting for you when you sit down to use your printer with a computer linked to Dropbox.

- The most beautifully rendered, high resolution preview images ever!
- All Sketchup files are automatically rendered in the same high quality format
- Gesture based navigation. Swipe right or left to scroll through featured files
- Landscape or horizontal viewing modes
- Download Queue and Download history keep you informed of your activity
- Download one file or use a quick and easy “Download All button
- View frequently updated Featured models
- New and noteworthy items based on recent uploads
- Popular items based on actual downloads

Coming Soon!
- Community tools for crowd-sourced tagging, photos of completed projects and vetting
- User Uploads
- Sharing images and/or files via Dropbox, Twitter, etc.

Do you have a technical question about your Printrbot? Do you want to know how other users have fine tuned and calibrated their prints?  Do you want to find other Printrbot owners in your area?  Or maybe you just want to discuss 3D printing in general and get to know other users within the 3D community.  If so, we would like to let you know about our friends over at Printrbottalk.com.

They are an online community of nearly 1,000 members that eat, sleep, and breath all things Printrbot.  Founded by plexus in December of 2011, the Printrbot Talk Forum has already generated over 15,000 posts.  They have several categories of discussions, such as:

• My first blob
• CAD & design
• Newbie talk
• Assembly talk
• Software talk
• Hardware & Mechanics
• Troubleshooting talk
• Need a part
• Regional talk
• Selling & Buying
• and many more…

We also have a PBHQ Official Forum to discuss questions/issues/topics that only Printrbot HQ team members can answer. It will also be used as a channel to deliver the latest and greatest news coming directly from Printrbot HQ.  So take a break from printing and head on over to Printrbottalk.com and introduce yourself!

Please note that you can also access the Printrbot Talk Forum from our Support menu.

Piton St Leu, Reunion is home to a Printrbot PLUS

The holidays may be over, but the madness at Printrbot HQ continues!  As of today, we have shipped Printrbots to 55 countries and 1,590 cities across the globe!  Not only have Printrbots invaded the usual suspects such as New York, Los Angeles, and London; but they have also reached the uttermost parts of the world such as Papeet, Tahiti and Piton St-Leu, Reunion which is off the coast of Madagascar.  So needless to say, our team has been extremely busy over the past year. However, we would like to sincerely thank all of our loyal cucstomers for making this possible! We couldn’t have done it without you!

So where exactly are all the Printrbots? Well, take a look at our updated Printrbots Across the Globe map and see for yourself.  And just in case you were curious, below is a list of the top 10 cities that we have shipped Printrbots to.

Top 10 Cities with the Most Printrbots

• Seattle, WA – 33 bots
• New York, NY – 30 bots
• San Francisco, CA  - 28 bots
• Los Angeles, CA – 19 bots
• Houston, TX – 18 bots
• Brooklyn, NY – 17 bots
• Chicago, IL – 17 bots
• London, UK – 17 bots
• Austin, TX – 14 bots
• San Jose, CA – 14 bots

David Kelley has a Printrbot!

David Kelley – the awesome dude mentioned his Printrbot in the 60 minutes story on him. We sincerely wish him the best!

He is the founder of the Silicon Valley global design firm IDEO. His company has created thousands of breakthrough inventions including the first computer mouse for Apple, the stand-up toothpaste tube, and a better Pringle for Procter & Gamble. IDEO may be the most influential product design company in the world.

Read the full transcript on cbsnews.com

Watch It Now
(Printrbot mention at apx the 12:00 mark)

The US military is developing its own 3D printer that it can use to produce spare parts for spacecraft.

By putting 3D printers behind the front line it hopes to be able to produce spares more cheaply and quickly than it can get them from manufacturers.

It has been using a $695 (£436) model made by Printrbot which compares to the $3,000 (£1,880) cost of other machines.

The work is being carried out at the US Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC) in Alabama.

3D printers are gadgets that form objects by melting and shaping plastic into a design dictated by a data file. They are becoming increasingly common and many engineering and research firms use them for rapid prototyping….. Read more here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20269645

Have you come across a really cool 3D model that you wish you could print, but you don’t have a 3D printer?  Or maybe you do have a 3D printer but would like to see what our Printrbot jr. is capable of?  If so, please submit your 3D model ideas and we will select various models to print.

To celebrate our latest Kickstarter project, Printrbot jr. – Your kid’s first 3D printer we will be printing different models for the remainder of the project.  So visit your favorite 3D modeling resource (ex: thingiverse.com) and submit the URL or .STL file(s) to the object you would like to see printed.

If your submission is selected, not only will we print it… but we will ship it to you for free!

Read More…

I just wanted to drop a line to let everyone know that I am taking another swing at a kickstarter campaign:

Printrbot jr. : Your kid’s first 3D printer