My Experience Printing on a Real 3D Printer

Using a #D printer

I’ve researched them, read about them in books, seen them in movies, and written them in to my books. Now I’ve finally seen a 3D printer at work on my last trip to Austin to visit my oldest son.

Workshop

My son set up a workshop in his house, and this is where he keeps the printer. This 3D printer uses the plastic rope from a reel on top of the printer to print items. The red items on the printer (holding cords and such) were printed on this very printer.

Workshop with 3D printer

Set Up

Before beginning, you have to make sure the printer bed is perfectly level with the printer head. My son moved the head around and used a piece of paper to make sure the spacing was perfect. The picture is a little blurry because his hands were moving, and I only had my phone.

aligning the 3D printer

In Progress

This is a close-up of the printer in progress. Before beginning, the printer draws a line around the area where it will be working. We are printing a clip to hold some of the printer wires.

#D printer In progress

Almost There!

My son was surprised that his printer worked perfectly the first time he showed it to me. Apparently, sometimes the plastic comes loose before it’s finished because it isn’t aligned well enough. I guess I’m good luck!

3D printer in progress

Close-up View

  3D printing up close

All finished

Top view of the finished clip.

3D printing finished

Here, I am holding the clip in my hand.

3D-printed clip in my hand

In action!

These clips work great and do exactly what they were intended to do. My son has printed other handy objects with them, but he’s still in the experimenting stage. Scientists have great hope that 3D printing will become more useful in the future, perhaps even printing human organs. I hope that science-fiction comes true sooner rather than later. Again, I only had my phone, so taking close-ups is a challenge.

3D-printed clips holding the wires

Have you ever seen a 3D printer in person? What did it print? Please post in the comments below? Thanks for reading!

Teyla Rachel Branton

Copyright 2019 Teyla Rachel Branton

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4 Responses to “My Experience Printing on a Real 3D Printer”

  1. Hollie

    I set MakerBot 3D printers up in the school district I work for. I’ve only printed a little shark as a test but they are pretty neat. Now the Glowforge laser cutters are cool. I “printed” a box with it. (The whole time praying it wouldn’t set off the fire alarm. You have to vent it out a window!)

    Reply
  2. Cathy Davidson

    Really cool! Your grandkids are so cute bet they will have loads of fun!

    Reply

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