Ben Franklinstein a.k.a. Distributed Ben Franklin

 
Ben is finished! Check out the Ben construction time lapse video!
 
Update Sept 12, 2014 - Ben has been under construction for a couple of days, now! Check out photos in the Baltimore Node Flickr stream!
 
"That as we enjoy great Advantages from the Inventions of Others, we should be glad of an Opportunity to serve others by any Invention of ours, and this we should do freely and generously." - Benjamin Franklin

 

For our second crowdsourced 3D printed sculpture here at We the Builders, we chose our favorite kite-flying founding father, Benjamin Franklin.

The bust we're making a replica of is a contemporary piece which has been at the office of Direct Dimensions in Owings Mills, MD.

Using netfabb, we've sliced up the scan into 198 pieces and now need your help to bring it to life! We've scaled up the sculpture so that he'll be the same height as George, about 33" tall. The files have been prepared, rotated for proper build orientation, saved as STLs and have been named with their coordinates!

 

Last time we saw some awesome materials - plastics that were UV reactive, glow-in-the-dark, laywood, and even a metal plated piece! For George Crowdsourcington we are really encouraging you to personalize your block on the inside faces.

Please use a permanent marker to 'tag' your part's XYZ coordinates on an "inside" face. You'll be able to see your part's coordinates here on the website. It's also in the name of the STL file which is checked out to you.

Again, please be sure to tag your print with its XYZ coordinates (and your signature or any custom message you like) before shipping!

 

Ben will be made of 198 pieces, and will end up being the same height as George.

We decided to make each piece smaller to allow more people to participate, make each print job quicker, allow for more colors, and to allow the printers with a smaller build volume a chance to help, too!

A note about print settings:
We're suggesting a minimum of 2 shells, and between 5-15% infill as needed. George weighs nearly 30 pounds, and we expect Ben to weigh even more. Last time we got a totally hollow piece which ended up cracking, and a few 50% and 100% solid pieces. No need to go overboard there! 2 shells and 5-15% will be great.

We hope to have more than 100 builders on this project, so please tell everyone you know with a printer to help out!

 

The target for delivery is September 1st, so we're hoping to get every part printed and shipped to Baltimore in time for Silver Spring Mini Maker Faire on September 14th, followed by World Maker Faire NYC on September 20th and 21st.

Both George and Ben will be there. Please tell anyone you know with a 3D printer to sign up at WeTheBuilders.com to help out!

Tinkerine Studios Ltd. from Vancouver, BC. the makers of the Litto, Ditto+, and DittoPro 3D printers have agreed again to reimburse some of your printing/shipping costs for this project. After the project is complete we'll be sending out a form for you to fill out to claim your reimbursement.


A special thanks goes out to Direct Dimensions in Owings Mills, MD. for doing the 3D scanning.

Thanks,

Todd Blatt and the We The Builders team

Individual Contributors

Our thanks to all the individuals who are making this project happen!

  • Pedro Feliciano (13 Parts) 13
  • James Begera (8 Parts) 8
  • Matthew Griffin (8 Parts) 8
  • Renzo diFuria (7 Parts) 7
  • Chris Nix (7 Parts) 7
  • Morgan .Strongbow (6 Parts) 6
  • Joe Carr (6 Parts) 6
  • Nick Brewer (6 Parts) 6
  • Gerald Orban (6 Parts) 6
  • Brandon Vincent (5 Parts) 5
  • Mike Dobbs (4 Parts) 4
  • tom burtonwood (4 Parts) 4
  • Print Ted (4 Parts) 4
  • Mark Trageser (4 Parts) 4
  • vanessa albalat (3 Parts) 3
  • vanessa albalat (3 Parts) 3
  • Luis E. Rodriguez (3 Parts) 3
  • Scott Van Campen (3 Parts) 3
  • Todd Schlemmer (3 Parts) 3
  • Anderson Ta (3 Parts) 3
  • Anthony Mareno (2 Parts) 2
  • James Brown (2 Parts) 2
  • Andy Goeke (2 Parts) 2
  • Mark Durbin (2 Parts) 2
  • Chris Forest (2 Parts) 2
  • Mike Moceri (2 Parts) 2
  • Michael Perina (2 Parts) 2
  • Benji S (2 Parts) 2
  • Atom Jaay (2 Parts) 2
  • Mike Valentine (2 Parts) 2
  • Michael Perina (2 Parts) 2
  • James Hannon (2 Parts) 2
  • Anthony Mareno (2 Parts) 2
  • Zheng Jim (2 Parts) 2
  • Todd Blatt (2 Parts) 2
  • Justin Schroeder (2 Parts) 2
  • Bradley Chapman (2 Parts) 2
  • Fred Kahl (2 Parts) 2
  • Vivian Chu (2 Parts) 2
  • Taylor Roan (1 Part)
  • Greg Needel (1 Part)
  • DJ Hannu (1 Part)
  • Chris Derossi (1 Part)
  • Chris Krueger (1 Part)
  • Jonathan Schmid (1 Part)
  • Greg Chaprnka (1 Part)
  • Adam Rivard (1 Part)
  • ItchyPigCreations 3D (1 Part)
  • Justin Sy (1 Part)
  • Kevin Criqui (1 Part)
  • Michael Curry (1 Part)
  • Shelly McMahan (1 Part)
  • Jeremy Bernal (1 Part)
  • Brian Bland (1 Part)
  • Alan Romack (1 Part)
  • Matt Stultz (1 Part)
  • Andrew Diehl (1 Part)
  • Alan Kreider (1 Part)
  • Christine Galo (1 Part)
  • Rose Thun (1 Part)
  • Ron Beck (1 Part)
  • Thomas Healy (1 Part)
  • Bryan Dunford (1 Part)
  • Dan Wu (1 Part)
  • Mark Kapras (1 Part)
  • Noah Li-Leger (1 Part)
  • Paul Crisafulli (1 Part)
  • David Fine (1 Part)
  • Maker Block (1 Part)
  • Jf Brandon (1 Part)
  • Andy Yang (1 Part)
  • Ryan McQuaid (1 Part)
  • Jon Conrad (1 Part)
  • victor cushmaker (1 Part)
  • Daniel Nicolosi (1 Part)
  • Jonathan Schmid (1 Part)
  • Will M. (1 Part)
  • Joe Brunson (1 Part)
  • Michael Battaglia (1 Part)
  • Matt Quest (1 Part)
  • Greg Betz (1 Part)
  • Ryan Leverenz (1 Part)
  • Ryan Hoover (1 Part)
  • John Biehler (1 Part)
  • Thorin Tobiassen (1 Part)
  • Jessica Searfino (1 Part)
  • RJ Wafer (1 Part)
  • Matt Kroner (1 Part)
  • Eugene Suyu (1 Part)
  • Marty McGuire (1 Part)
  • ryan stobaugh (1 Part)
  • Hansel Fernandez (1 Part)
  • Denis Kolesnikov (1 Part)
This build required 198 parts
We have completed 100%!

Recent Activity

Todd Blatt delivered Part X6 Y1 Z8 over 9 years ago
Marty McGuire delivered Part X2 Y3 Z6 over 9 years ago
joeseph rodrigues (DoWhileGeek) is bailing on Part X6 Y1 Z8 over 9 years ago
David Finseth is bailing on Part X2 Y3 Z6 over 9 years ago
Greg Chaprnka delivered Part X2 Y3 Z8 over 9 years ago
Matt Stultz delivered Part X7 Y1 Z9 over 9 years ago
Alan Kreider delivered Part X8 Y5 Z9 over 9 years ago
Maker Block delivered Part X4 Y5 Z2 over 9 years ago