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MakerBot Thing-o-Matic with the Generation 4 Interface - Own a Piece of 3D Printing History

This MakerBot Thing-o-Matic is presented as an excellent example of the early days of the 3D additive printing technology. It "ran when parked" but has been shelved for several years. It fires up and the Control Panel operates the printer as it should. It is not necessarily being offered as a fully functional printer as it has not been tested recently although all of the axis function as expected.

Included in this package are:

The Printer Serial Number: 5636
A Removable 9-button Gen 4 Interface Board Control Panel
An A/C Power Cable
A USB-A to USB-B communication cable.
An LED illuminated build area
A Makerbot branded SD card
A Filament spool housing case with a built-in turntable to minimize spool rotational friction.
A filament tube that transports the filament from the spool under the printer to the top of the printer head.
A Spool of 1.75mm ABS filament
A kit for building the supplemental “automated Build Platform,” a movable belt system that was incorporated into the build platform and was meant to automatically release a finished print in order to permit serial printing.
A bundle of extra parts that are too numerous to mention. It was determined later by the MakerBot community that the Automated Build Platforms were not as consistently reliable and although were included in the
Thing-o-Matic kits were typically not assembled and incorporated in the kit build. Instruction for assembly of the ABP can be found on the MakerBot wiki site.
Several samples of objects produced by this printer.

All printer electronics are fully enclosed under the build area inside the bottom of the printer.

Condition: The plywood body of this printer was sealed with Tung oil to eliminate unwanted fingerprints and other marks. It has been gently used and is in excellent condition - Museum Quality.

Primary Materials: Plywood, steel, plastic, electronic components

Overall Dimensions (inches): Width = 12", Length = 12", Height = 23" (with external spool housing box placed under the printer)

Print Volume (mm): Width = 110mm, Length = 110mm, Height = 120mm

Labeled “ThingOMatic” and “MakerBot Industries” has been painted on the front.

Historical Notes:

The Thing-O-Matic is a 3D printer which was initially released by MakerBot in 2010. It was the successor to MakerBot's Cupcake printer is based on the fused deposition modelling (FDM) principle, that creates objects by extruding layers of plastic onto a platform through a heated nozzle. In this instrument, the build platform moves along the x and y axes relative to a print head. The print head is raised and lowered along the z axis.

The Thing-o-Matic by MakerBot was the first 3D printer to be widely manufactured and sold at a price that was generally affordable to consumers. The FDM technology on which it was based was much cheaper and simpler than the technologies used in existing commercial printers. Its lower quality prints, with the characteristic visible striations produced by early FDM printers, were acceptable to hobbyists excited at the possibilities of 3D printing.

The Thing-O-Matic was open source technology. It was designed to be assembled and modified by its users–a principle embodied in the considerable modifications made to this unit.