On 3D Printing

Tag Archives: fab lab

Fab Lab of the Week: Westport, CT Library’s MakerSpace 3D Printing

February 10, 2013 Fab Labs

This week’s featured Fab Lab is the Westport, CT library, which provides public access to two 3D printers. The library’s MakerSpace was featured in The Republic, a Columbus, Indiana publication.

The hottest attraction at the Westport Library is not a book or collection of DVDs, but rather two manufacturing units.

At the heart of the spacious library, an area called MakerSpace has been carved out to encourage creativity and the spirit of invention. Inside the space are two MakerBot Replicator machines — 3D printers, as they are more commonly known.

Librarians have observed an increase in vistors interested in 3D printing.

It was after a hugely successful Maker Faire last April that librarians started thinking about getting the 3D printer and creating a space just for makers, hence MakerSpace.

Reference librarian Margie Freilich-Den said the library helps its patrons with job searches, and the Maker Faire was just one step to encourage residents to “get back to our manufacturing roots” and encourage people with ideas to try them out. Maker Faire is sponsored by Maker magazine and is its own brand promoting innovation, invention and doing things yourself.

“It’s another way to use the library,” said Marcia Logan, the library’s communications coordinator.

Since the first 3D printer started operating in July, dozens of visitors have come in to see it, use it and learn.

One man brought in his patented design for a device that plugs into a car cell phone charger and locks the phone so it cannot be used to text or talk while driving. Another man brought his own patented design for a medical device, a type of catheter.

But most either try to see what it can do by choosing an item from a computer program of 3D designs called Thingiverse, or print something they need, like cases for iPhones, staff members said.

The Westport Library will be sponsoring a mini MakerFaire in April.

Top 3D Printing Headlines Last Week: Stocks Up, Baby Spoons, Boot Camp

December 3, 2012 News

A roundup of the top news On 3D Printing brought you from November 26 to December 2.

Monday, November 26

Is 3D Printing Like 2D Printing? A Veteran Says Yes on TechCrunch

Tuesday, November 27

Paper-Based 3D Printing, Now in Color and Photo Realistic

Wednesday, November 28

Fab Lab of the Week: Barcelona Boot Camp 2012

Thursday, November 29

Video: Could You 3D Print a Golf Club? Try Objet’s Big 3D Printer

Sunday, December 2

This Print Shop photo by tombothetominator used under Creative Commons license.

Fab Lab of the Week: Barcelona Boot Camp 2012

November 28, 2012 Fab Labs

This week’s featured Fab Lab is the Digital Fabrication Boot Camp in Barcelona, a program designed to immerse students in hands-on experience to learn, among other technologies, 3D printing.

The newly created Master in Interaction is hosting 8 students from different backgrounds, who will lead a new line of research at IAAC and Fab Lab Barcelona. All IAAC students have access to the Fab Lab machines and equipment, to produce their projects and to learn and interact with the Fab Lab spirit and team. In this sense, the digital fabrication BootCamp for the MAI students has been an intensive experience to introduce them to digital fabrication techniques, through the organization of 3 exercises:

Making things move: using the laser cutting machine to design, prototype and fabricate mechanisms which generate or translate movement.

Glowing molds: the idea of this exercise was to design and produce molds in polyurethane foam which have been casted with transparent resins, in which lightning features should be embedded.

Dynamic scanning and printing: introduction to different 3d scanning methods to 3D print a customized object.

Here is a video from the boot camp posted earlier this week.