Hello everyone,
Today was first morning of snow this year, a reminder that the holidays are soon approaching. The 3D Lab is the perfect place to make personalized, one-of-a-kind gifts for your loved ones! Check-out these project ideas that are made with the laser engraver and 3D printed holiday decorations here.
The 3D Lab is also a popular place for students and community members alike. Yesterday, we hosted a number of young adults from the CommQuest in Canton, making items on the various machines (the laser engraver was a huge hit!). Students are busy with personal and class projects, staff members make gifts for friends & family, guitars and ukuleles float-in almost every day. On the academic side of things, engineering students are busy building LEGO Mindstorms robots for climbing stairs and the famous Battle Bots tournament in a just a few weeks! If you haven’t been to the 3D Lab in a while, stop-by to enjoy the energy and camaraderie there.
Earlier this year, we ordered two Prusa i3 MK3 printers from the Czech Republic. These are easily the best printers in our lab, producing highly detailed and accurate prints. Ashton, one of our lab staff, and I began upgrading these printers to support multicolor printing, using up to five filament colors in a single object.
Instead of five print heads, this upgrade uses a rotating filament selector that removes and feeds the multiple colors though the original print head. It’s a simpler design with clever ways to reduce filament waste/purging during color changes. We still have some bugs to work out, but the initial tests are encouraging! The upgrade will also support water-soluble supports, so we’re excited about that, too.
The son of one of our staff members spent the day in the 3D Lab to print Star Wars models that he designed from scratch using Tinkercad. He is also into stop-motion photography with LEGO figures, making movies with an application on his Chromebook called Clap Motion. It is stop-motion software that allows you to create your own animation by simply clapping your hands. ClapMotion is an ideal tool for the classroom and home, developing project based thinking, artistic, creative and teamwork skills.
Check-out these great videos that our young visitor made with LEGOs and Clap Motion:
On the same subject, at the Wayne County Mini Maker Faire earlier this year, Susan Corl of Story Cultivator Studios created a hands on activity with stop motion photography. Her booth was immensely popular with lots of kids making their first-ever movies right there!
A couple of months ago, a group of children from LifeCare Hospice in Wooster visited the 3D Lab. The organization provides a comprehensive program of compassionate care for all individuals experiencing the impact of serious illness and loss. LifeCare Hospice embodies the spirit of neighbors caring for neighbors with a commitment to relieve suffering, ease fears, and provide companionship along life’s last journey.
During their stay, we taught these kids how to make memorial plaques and 3D printed mementos for lost loved ones. It was an awesome time and the kids thoroughly enjoyed their time with us.
Memorial plaques were created on the laser engraver donated by the Romich Foundation and the plaques themselves were donated by P. Graham Dunn. We are thankful that the community comes together to support activities like this!
Stayed tuned next week as we highlight makers from last year’s Wayne County Mini Maker Faire and show photos from recent Wayne College engineering student robot competitions. Fun times ahead!
Until next week,
Tom
One Man’s Journey To Build Portable Concrete 3D Printer Produces His First Tiny House:
Low-cost 3D-printed shelter being built from clay and straw:
https://newatlas.com/wasp-clay-straw-home/44856
Like paper airplanes? Check-out this excellent collection of paper airplanes with easy to follow folding instructions:
https://www.foldnfly.com/#/1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-2
This Awesome Looking 3D Printed RC Plane Is Full Of Design Considerations
https://hackaday.com/2018/09/11/awesome-looking-3d-printed-rc-plane-is-full-of-design-considerations
Don’t miss the next Maker Monday on November 19th. Bring your inventions, creations, artwork, etc.; it is a community Show & Tell event! Find out more at www.schantzmakerspace.com
We offer a free “listserv” that allows to you ask questions to members in the makerspace. It’s great for sharing ideas, forming friendships, and helping & advising each other. To join, send an email to listserv@lists.uakron.edu with
“SUBSCRIBE MAKERSPACE-GROUP” in the subject line.
Apply to participate in the Wayne County Mini Maker Faire today! Deadline is April 1, 2019.