MakerBot Thing-O-Matic, Quick Start Manual

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10/24/12 2:04 PM
The filament will stop soon after you insert it. That’s because the drive gear is in the way. To get the filament
into the heating chamber, check that motor speed “RPM” is set to 3, and “Extruder Duration” is set to 30
seconds. Now, press the “Forward” button. This will engage the motor and turn the drive gear.
To help the drive gear catch the filament, you’ll need to apply some pressure to the filament. Hold the
filament between your fingers and press it down until you feel the motor grab the plastic, and make sure to
support the entire Z-stage from below.
Remember: the tip of the extruder will be very hot, so be careful!
Sometimes, it will take you more than 30 seconds to load the filament; just click the “Forward” button again
to run the extruder motor for another 30 seconds.
When the drive gear has caught the filament, you’ll be able to feel the filament being drawn into the motor
assembly. A few seconds after that, you’ll begin to see a thread of plastic coming out of the nozzle. Once
you see plastic being extruded by the nozzle, you can move on to the next step: your first print!
Your First Print
Open a “.stl” file in Replicator G.
Download an .stl file and open it up in ReplicatorG. We found this one here:
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:625