Adventures in 3D Printing

I’ve been learning how to use the 3D printers at the Makerspace. We’re off to a bit of a rocky start.

I had such a fast affinity with the Lasersaur. I felt like I could make anything after just hours of experimenting with it. The possibilities seemed endless.

After making a nice cutout of the Kettle logo I promised Carmel I would make badges for the ShenFringe Audience Choice awards. As Fringe approached and the Lasersaur was out of commission, I figured I could use it as a chance to try my hand at 3D printing.

I drew up some designs in Tinkercad and thought the most difficult part was behind me. After a quick intro to the machines I was off to the races.

The first test turned out pretty well, but the letters were hard to read in the center, so I decided to try using the printer with a finer grade nozzle.

Things did not go well.

This turned into hours of tinkering with the machines, tinkering with designs, printing complete failures of tests, printing barely passable versions… I was cursing the very idea of 3D printing, and Fringe was fast approaching.

Finally I ended up with some degree of success.

And, despite my curses, the bad memories are fading into a funny haze – and I find I’m dreaming about what I’ll design next. Just because I can.

The Next Generation of Makers

Throughout this whole process my daughter has been coming in to the Makerspace with me to hang out as I get prints started or check on how the last one turned out. As with everything at the Makerspace, I love showing her how the machines work and telling her that I’ll teach her how to use it all once she’s old enough.

It’s amazing to me to think that only a few years ago I had a hard time wrapping my mind around the very concept of 3D printing. And it’s just a normal part of the world that my girl inhabits.