At ISTE 2014, I had the opportunity to meet with the folks from Makerbot to got a better idea of how this technology actually worked. I also spent some time visiting with the folks from Autodesk. I was excited to learn that they had created several free 3D design tools for the iOS. I had my "Ah-ha" moment and decided I needed a 3D printer for my classroom.
By the end of the summer I struggled to bring any attention to our grant. It did not seem likely that our project was going to be funded. A couple weeks into the school year, we had our open house and I promoted the project with parents. Within 24 hours, we received a few donations. However, we were still very far from our goal. Coincidently, for the following weekend, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was offering to fund 50% of projects on DonorsChoose. We had 72 hours to try and meet our goal. By Monday morning, our project was fully funded.
About a week later, our Makerbot arrived. I was ecstatic. It still didn't seem real. I quickly got to work unloading it from the packaging and setting it up. I was surprised by the lack of documentation with which it was shipped. The instructions were clear and simple. I began by leveling the print plate shortly after assembling a few components. The small display walked me through the process. I then attempted to load some filament but encountered my first problem.
I followed the procedure carefully for loading the filament, but our Makerbot was not extruding as it should. I repeated the procedure multiple times with no success. After a little Googling, it appeared that the thermal barrier tube was clogged. I had to disassemble the fan and heat sink from the extruder to locate the clog. It seemed a little weird to be taking apart our brand new out-of-the-box 3D printer, but a friend of mine had warned me that 3D printing requires a fair bit of tinkering and problem solving to achieve a quality print.
I located the clog and removed the hardened filament as described by the Makerbot help video. I reassembled the extruder and attempted my first print. Our Makerbot shipped with an SD card preloaded with a few simple projects from Thingiverse. I decided to print the chain links directly from the SD card.
To watch the Makerbot print was magical, almost hypnotic. The speed and precision of the extruder's movements were fascinating. Within 12 minutes I had I first print. The color seemed a little off and there were a couple flaws, but our first print was a success!
Over weekend, I researched methods for improving my print and started designing my first project on my iPad. I planned to print it on the following Monday. For all that's been written about 3D printing, I found the barrier for entry to be surprisingly low. While I did have to overcome that clog of thermal barrier tube, my experience with Makerbot was quite positive.
