I received my author copies of Getting Started with MakerBot today!  This book was over a year in the making, now finally I can hold it in my hands.

Getting Started with MakerBot is now available in print and Ebook from O’Reilly Media.  You can also buy it at Amazon.com or in the Maker Shed.

Even if you prefer a different 3D printer, this book is useful to anyone who wants to learn 3D modeling basics or affordable 3D scanning (chapter 9). These chapters are useful for beginners no matter what printer you have. About half of of the book is devoted to those topics.

Chapter 8: Designing for the MakerBot
In which we provide the reader with detailed tutorials on how to bring envisioned objects into 3D printed reality
This chapter includes detailed tutorials for 3D Tin, Tinkercad, 123D Make and SketchUp. In addition, two OpenSCAD tutorials (how to make a parametric ring and DXF extrusion) are in Appendix C of the book.

Chapter 9: Scanning in 3D
Welcome to the bleeding edge
This chapter was first printed as a draft excerpt in Make: Ultimate Guide to 3D Printing.  It covers creating scans with ReconstructMe and 123D Catch and how to clean up / modify the mesh for printing.

A free sample of the book is available for download.

3D printed LED tea light holders in translucent red Ultimachine PLA (MakeALot’s Snowflake Light Holders) and BenitoSanduchi’s (Yet Another) Twisted Lamp / Vase).  Laser cut Quasi Crystal snowflakes in white acrylic, by Michael E Rule.

My niece loved the LED tea lights, so I printed her several. (including Koch Snowflake Vase 1 by sphynx, in green translucent PLA, pictured below).  I added RGB tea lights that slowly fade change colors.

Kali: 3D printed plastic, routed MDF, spray paint. On display at Saturnalia, the AS220 staff group show at the Candita Clayton Studio gallery through January 2nd, 2013.

Created using skulls scanned with 123D Catch and multiple self scans of the artist using ReconstructMe. The scans were merged in MeshMixer to create the two sets of arms. The scanned skulls were turned into beads with OpenSCAD.  The divider beads for the necklace and the belt were created in OpenSCAD.   The skulls and beads were printed on my MakerBot Replicator, the MDF was routed on the ShopBot.

The STLs for the Kali Necklace and Belt are available from Thingiverse.

Scans to 3D Model Mashup

Slicing the 3D Model

Routing MDF

Assembling the Slices

Painting the Sculpture

Painting Skulls and Beads