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In-Depth Information
good success with a MakerBot Thing-O-
Matic ( Figure 7-8 ).
Watch in amazement as your head material-
izes before your eyes.
If there's no 3D printer close by, that's OK—
lots of service companies will print out your
3D model for you. At http://123dapp.com , se-
lect your project and click Fabricate→3D
Print to send your file to Autodesk's digital
fabrication service and receive your 3D-
printed plastic head in your mailbox. It only
costs about $10 for a 3"-tall head.
Or try sending your file to Shapeways or Po-
noko , or in Europe, try Sculpteo or i.materal-
ise. Some of these services will even print out
your head in ceramic, glass, steel, silver, gold,
or titanium!
Figure 7-8. Printing your head
Keith Hammond is Projects Editor of MAKE
magazine. He grew up reading Scientific
American , National Geographic , and Spy in
the 1980s, coedited The Nose and Mother
Jones Online in the 1990s, lobbied Congress
for wilderness protection in the 2000s, and
joined Maker Media in 2007.
First, open your STL file in the 3D printer's
software, which tells the printer exactly
where to make trails with the hot plastic to
build up your object. For example, if your
MakerBot uses ReplicatorG software, import
your STL file, center the model and put it on
the platform, then scale it to your desired
size. Next, choose Generate GCode, select
the default print profile, and check the Use
Print-O-Matic checkbox. Now hit Print.
 
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