Let the Printing Adventures Begin

The week before the week before spring break it finally arrived! (No, not the Easter Bunny....our 3-D printer!)

We now have the Da Vinci 3-n-1 1.0 Pro 3-D Printer in our computer nook! It took a day or two to actually read through all of the directions and understand everything, as well as calibrate and level the platform. Then we had to explore the many different possibilities for printing. We are also in the final stages of writing the rules for printing for students.

Yes, students will be able to print on this fabulous new piece of technology! The rules will involve a few things like not designing things that break school rules, the size limitations (it's not going to print a car, for example), and the cost for printing. The cost will allow us to continue to replace the filament. It won't be a money-maker for the library, but we don't want it to stop us from being able to buy books with our regular funding either!

Yesterday we finally were ready to put it to the test...and started with a captain's wheel fidget spinner that will be the fundraiser item for the TSA (Technology Student Association). At first, there were issues. We couldn't get anything to print...we cancelled the print and started over. Still nothing. It was a very frustrating situation.

Finally I took apart the filament cartridge, following steps for reloading it I found on a youTube video, and discovered a kink in the filament that was preventing it from going through the cartridge! Voila! Problem solved and by the second half of the day, we had three fidget spinners printed.