MakerBot Launches New 'MakerBot Labs' Platform (hackaday.com)

"MakerBot just announced a new Open Source initiative called 'MakerBot Labs'," writes Slashdot reader szczys. "It is a small move, centering around some new APIs and a new extruder which is listed as experimental and not covered by their normal warranty. Largely they missed the mark on making a meaningful move toward openness, but with a new CEO at the helm as of January this could be the first change of the rudder in a larger effort to turn the ship around."

Makerbot's history is "an example of how you absolutely should not operate an open source company," argues Hackaday, saying it's left them skeptical of Makerbot's latest move: It reads like a company making a last ditch effort to win back the users they were so sure they didn't need just a few years ago... The wheels of progress turn slowly in any large organization, and perhaps doubly so in one that has gone through so much turmoil in a relatively short amount of time. It could be that it's taken Goshen these last nine months to start crafting a plan to get MakerBot back into the community's good graces.
From MakerBot's press release: "After setting high industry standards for what makes a quality and reliable 3D printing experience, we're introducing this new, more open platform as a direct response to our advanced users calling for greater freedom with materials and software."

Comments

Despite the fact that we're in the 3D printer

[Anonymous Coward]

revolution, I have yet to see anything 3D printed in the wild. On the street, at the office, at the park, in public transit.

So who buys these things, and what do they do with them?

Re:Despite the fact that we're in the 3D printer

[thinkwaitfast]

I have. Had a very expensive printer at work (big engineering company) maybe 15 years ago, saw 2 prototypes that it made, but I guess people did't find it that useful and never saw any more.

Re:Despite the fact that we're in the 3D printer

[50000BTU_barbecue]

Yes, that sums it up for me as well. About 5 years ago I was doing some freelancing, visited a company here in Montreal. The owner showed me around, took me to a large mostly empty room and proudly showed me a big 3D printer being set up.
Over the next year I noticed it just essentially sat there.
Seems like 3D printing has very narrow, specific valid uses, but most of the time it looks like they are good at transferring huge amounts of money towards 3D printer companies.
There are enough "old school" companies making pretty much everything you can want, it's just a search away. I don't need a 3D printer to make cases for my electronics, I simply design around available cases.
I did notice a lot of newbs on forums designing the case first, then trying to fit all their electronics in there. I mean sure, it's fun to draw in 3D and add all kinds of features, but other companies have already done this for you.
On another topic, for making quadcopters (I was into those way before they became "drones" somehow), I have a friend who cuts carbon fiber sheets on a CNC machine in his garage. That seems far more useful than a 3D printer.

Re:Despite the fact that we're in the 3D printer

[DontBeAMoran]

A 3D printer is just like any other tool. It's nice to have but it's not useful for everything. A 3D printer can do things that a CNC can't do, a CNC can do things a 3D printer can do, add a lathe and a laser cutter into your shop and you can pretty much do anything.

Same goes for having a hammer, a saw and a screwdriver. They're different tools for different uses.

Re:Despite the fact that we're in the 3D printer

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm doing electronics in together with design, and our 3D printers (yes, all 3 of them) seems to be occupied 24/7.
Also, when you need half a dozen prototypes, it still is more cost effective to print them.

Re:Despite the fact that we're in the 3D printer

[ColdWetDog]

Yep. It's just one of many tools in a Complete Shop. I find mine useful for a number of smallish things that I would either machine out of aluminum with a CNC mill - lots faster if you don't need the strength. I have several custom mounts for various things on my bicycle that were a breeze to make with 3D printing. At work, we bought a small unit to make the little plastic bits that hold the phone handset on the cradle when mounted vertically. Couldn't find them on E-Bay, it's an older phone model that works just fine, thank you but isn't supported by the manufacturer.

Made 50 of them in three days (they break or fall off, not the best of designs).

Stuff like this is perfect for a 3D printer. Will it Take Over the World like some zealots have suggested? Of course not. Will it replace WalMart? Of course not.

But it's a neat device if you are interested in that sort of thing and the general rise of additive machining technologies will expand niches and capabilities as time goes on. So long as we don't turn ourselves into molten radioactive bits.

Re:Despite the fact that we're in the 3D printer

[Anonymous Coward]

How would you know if you had? The company I work for uses 3D printing for some of its production parts, not just prototypes. There's nothing to tell you that they're 3D printed if you didn't know. Rolls Royce uses 3D printing for some parts in its latest engines. 3D printing is a mainstream manufacturing method, which is used where appropriate by all sorts of companies.

Now perhaps you're talking specifically about plastic extruder type 3D printing, as opposed to the types that are commonly used in industry. The inherent limitations of that type of 3D printing make it more suitable for prototyping and hobbyist stuff than anything else, so you may well not have seen much of that around. I haven't seen too much evidence that that's going to change any time soon, so I'm personally doubtful that they will reach the point of being useful to Joe Public any time soon.

Re:Despite the fact that we're in the 3D printer

[Anonymous Coward]

I'll bet your definition of electronics is throw-away trinkets.

Re:Despite the fact that we're in the 3D printer

[thinkwaitfast]

3D printers have been around since to 70's and 80's. The latest development I know is extrusions, all the others were laser/polymer, I think those came first.

Re:Despite the fact that we're in the 3D printer

[Urinal Pube]

Similarly at my last job, the boss has been clamoring for years to buy us a high end ($30k+) printer, and all the engineers continue to tell him not to. He gets furious because "it's the way of the future", and we tell him it's simply a tool for poor designers, who can't conceptualize things in a 3D CAD environment. For ergonomic studies, they can be useful, but our company makes industrial products that people don't usually see or interact with.

Re:Despite the fact that we're in the 3D printer

[0100010001010011]

Similarly at my last job, the boss has been clamoring for years to buy us a high end ($30k+) computer, and all the engineers continue to tell him not to. He gets furious because "it's the way of the future", and we tell him it's simply a tool for poor engineers who can't use the slide rule.

That tells me more about your engineers than it does about your boss.

Re:Despite the fact that we're in the 3D printer

[filesiteguy]

On another topic, for making quadcopters (I was into those way before they became "drones" somehow), I have a friend who cuts carbon fiber sheets on a CNC machine in his garage. That seems far more useful than a 3D printer.

My son - currently 17 - went into making multi-roter frames using one of his many 3D printers over the past couple of years. We both thought it could be something. However, the time, expense, and wasted filiment when things went awry were so much more costly than just picking up a frame at the local RC store.

His 3d printers - all home built- are now in the garage collecting dust. We see no future for a home hobbyist until the process, filament become way cheaper and the printing way faster.

Re:Despite the fact that we're in the 3D printer

[50000BTU_barbecue]

Sorry, I didn't notice any turbines on the sidewalk the last time I took the bus.

Re: Despite the fact that we're in the 3D printer

[nw15062]

I use them at my work to make custom fixtures, we just expanded our line up of printers with some stainless steel printers to not just make fixtures, rigs and prototypes but to potentially make production components, in a business were the market is very niche and often requires one off or two off parts 3D printing metal and carbon fiber allows for huge cost reduction and potential for very intricate and complex designs with out the need for offsite machining and slow turn around times.

Re:Despite the fact that we're in the 3D printer

[Anonymous Coward]

I tried designing my electronic projects for the cases available.

I found it very difficult to find case just big enough but not too big. My biggest problems were caused by the mounting of the lithium ion batteries (different sizes) so to not have them loose in the cases.

I got a 3D printer to make custom cases but in the previous poster's remark I found the ability to make any custom case at first slowed my development since I played around with all the possibilities.

3D Printers do open your options, but sometime you get so many options you are back to square one.

ECP

Re:Despite the fact that we're in the 3D printer

[Anonymous Coward]

Before my friend mills complex pieces from metal, I use my 3D printer to make the part in plastic so he can test sit and placement. The plastic piece will not last long, but it lets him know is there is a fault in his design before he spends hours/days making the pieces in metal.

Re:Despite the fact that we're in the 3D printer

[Anonymous Coward]

I make blanks for motorcycle fairings , seat pans etc then fiber glass \resin over the blank.

it's easier to tweak them for fit asthetics etc on the computer than cutting and shapping foam.

Let me be the first to say..

[Anonymous Coward]

No one cares

3D Printers?

[110010001000]

3D Printers and then VR and then AI. Hyped technologies which completely failed in real life.

Re:3D Printers?

[Anonymous Coward]

Wow, good thing you're not Quantum Apostrophe on Fark because you'd get banned for dashing people's dreams!

Re:3D Printers?

[110010001000]

I don't know what Fark is, but I also know we aren't going to Mars either. Sorry about that!

Re:3D Printers?

[Anonymous Coward]

I think the hype was that everyone needs or wants one, in reality there is only a small population engineers and maker types that are interested and can make use of a 3D printer.

Re:3D Printers?

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, you'd be banned for saying that too. Fark seems infested with Space Nutters. They're like delirious children, really.

Re:3D Printers?

[110010001000]

LOL. "maker types". You are so 2015. Let me guess, you have a fixie bike too?

Re:3D Printers?

[0100010001010011]

Cars and then computers. Hyped technologies which completely failed in real life.

You must be living in a bubble if you aren't aware of them actually being used. I'm on a few different facebook groups for specific 3D printers and it's amazing what 'average' people are doing with them.

In terms of adoption it's on par with computers in the mid 80s or the internet in the mid 90s or I anticipate VR will be in the 2020s. It's just a tool like a hammer or bronze.

Companies have already moved past PLA and ABS for prototypes into stainless steel for production parts.

Re:3D Printers?

[thegarbz]

Hyped technologies which completely failed in real life.

They didn't fail in the slightest. Just because every idiot didn't need one doesn't mean they aren't incredibly actively used for everything from actual production, to prototyping, down to hobbyist fun. Just because you don't have one doesn't mean you can't use one right now with the ability to simply upload a file online and have a part delivered to your door a few days later.

That's if you live in the desert, otherwise I'm sure you could simply drive to a local shop which would offer this service for you as well. Hell I could cycle to two places which would do that within 15min and I live in a shitty nothing of a town.

MakerBot No

[Anonymous Coward]

I do not want this

"3D" printing and fidget spinners.

[Anonymous Coward]

These fads are dead.

Bring back the pet rock!

Delusions of grandeur

[thinkwaitfast]

The wheels of progress turn slowly in any large organization

Is makerbot really a large organization? They laid off 1/3 of their 500 employees in February.

Re:Delusions of grandeur

[Anonymous Coward]

No! We are totally colonizing the Galaxy on 3D printed warp drives! There are no limits on technology! (Except anti-aging and life extension. There we are stuck to a handful of decades of useful life. Forever.)

Re:Delusions of grandeur

[DontBeAMoran]

That's okay, they've been 3D-printing new employees since january.

Re:Delusions of grandeur

[thegarbz]

Given how they have a corporate overlord, just because they have 500 employees doesn't mean they don't deal with the shit of a large organisation.

Admittedly though even their parent only has 3000 employees, but with $700m in revenue they aren't exactly small either.

Dear MakerBot

[Anonymous Coward]

You 3D printed your own coffin, fucked over the community and turned into a bunch of money grabbing cunts producing overpriced, unreliable crap.
Now want us to help you claw your way back out of it?
No fucking chance.

Re:Dear MakerBot

[samkass]

Any company which depends on anything called something like "the community" is in trouble. Members of "the community" never want to pay much, want to share everything for free, and are generally interested in small-scale hobbies or personal projects. That is awesome for a $1M/year company, but at some point SOME company in any industry has to move beyond "the community" to "the public" or "the industry". MakerBot tried to thread that needle and failed, in part because 3D printers aren't useful enough yet to Ma and Pa, and in part because nothing but open source purity is enough for this "community" while they had to actually create a self-sustaining business, and the economics just didn't work. So despite the fact that they run ThingiVerse for free where anyone can download a million 3D printable models and share everything, and run chat groups for free and give away software for free, "the community" is not happy.

(Worst. Episode. Ever.)

I for one..

[Anonymous Coward]

I bought into the Makerbot way back in the beginning. Good reviews, open source, highly adaptable, all the things I thought would be good things for the long haul.

Then they went closed-source, redesigned the product to make it 3 times the price and less than half the quality.

In the case of the material, that went to 6 times the price, but I haven't a clue about the quality since I wasn't willing to pay it. The replacement parts were damn expensive (They charged me $95 for a 3 foot 4-lead 24 gauge wire) and suffered fatal redesign flaws that made them very prone to failure.

I learned a lot about what to look for when I replaced the printer with a completely different one. But MakerBot burned through all the trust I might have had for them, and I definitely recommended to all my friends to stay away from them!

Forget Makerbot

[DontBeAMoran]

If you want a really good printer, there's the Prusa i3 mk3, tons of amazing features for under $1K. I've also heard good things about LulzBot's printers.

Still pissed

[AndyKron]

I'm happy that I was able to get their last open sourced printer, and I'm still pissed that my printer was the last open sourced one they sold.

not a chance

[ArylAkamov]

Eat shit MakerBot.

I design, build, and use 3D printers.

[mark_reh]

I wanted one about 6 years ago. Well, actually, 20 years ago, but it was a financial impossibility until 5 or 6 years ago. I was reading about them in engineering journals for many years and never saw one up close until I joined the Milwaukee Makerspace. One of the members had a Makerbot CupCake.

I wanted a machine that was capable of printing a full sized human skull extracted from CT scan data. I looked at that miserable little CupCake, pushed on it and poked at it a little, and instantly knew I could make something much better. So I did. It took about a year and a half to get it printing, but it produced extremely high quality prints over its 305 x 317 mm bed. I used what I learned from that one and built my second printer over about a 6 month period- fully enclosed, warm enough to print ABS reliably, etc. I measure, test, and redesign until I get the machine to do what I want. I build printers like the proverbial brick s**t house using surplus industrial components and absolutely minimal 3D printed parts. I set the bed level once and don't have to touch it again.

6 years and three designs/builds later I have a CoreXY machine that can print 300 x 300 x 695 mm. I still haven't printed that skull, but I print a lot of other things. Here's one example: https://drmrehorst.blogspot.co... I have about 50 designs posted to Youmagine and Thingiverse, and countless others that I have never posted.

They aren't for everyone, and some people never get past printing tugboats and Yoda heads, but some of us do interesting and even useful stuff.

Re:I design, build, and use 3D printers.

[LesFerg]

Good on ya. Still using my first purchased i3-clone with 200x200x200 builds.

I really enjoy taking an idea or rough sketch into CAD and producing a solid lump of plastic from it. Some things have been useful bits around the house, some time and prototyping for my first experiments in Arduino based robotics, plus a lot of decorations, un-needed keyring decorations and failed prints.

I don't know why people above complained about the wasted expenses on filament, it's pretty damned cheap these days if you order from the right sources. As a hobby it has been cheap, while it kept me happy and busy, to the extent that my lifelong gaming habit has been almost ended. Tho not quite : ) But when I sit down after work for some relaxation time, the choice between gaming or playing with CAD usually leads to more CAD tutorials and experimentation.

Screw TakerBot!

[Anonymous Coward]

I second this poster. Eat shit, TakerBot.

Prusa Is Great

[hirschma]

I have one of the i3 mk2S units, the previous model. Works really, really well. Prusa is a quality outfit that won't screw its users.