Last fall, having no prior experience in 3D printing, I joined the team of Makerspace technologists. Maybe that’s something nobody’s supposed to know, but it’s true. I began assisting at the Makerspace with only Shane’s super-comprehensive presentation on 3D printing, which is the activity that brings most of the traffic. Shane’s knowledge and competency, both historical and technical, had me wondering what I had gotten myself into. But as he kept speaking, using words I had never heard before, a whole new dimension had started to rise. Words like slicer, .stl file and GCode, layer height and infill, PLA and ABS, extruder, nozzle size, and bed leveling, had started to layer up in the inevitable Z axis!

Luckily, the first day on the job was painless. No incidents. No mishaps. No failures. No adhesion or warping problems. No blocked nozzles requiring cold pulling. As a matter of fact, given the uncomplicated nature of my first print, there was no reason for things to go wrong. The command was for a small cylinder tube. I sliced the .stl file with Cura, then loaded the GCode to the Ultimaker 2 and I had basically done my job! It was now up to the machine to translate the GCode into movements in the X, Y, and Z axes by pouring hot plastic in the process. Indeed, after the nozzle was hot enough (over 200ºC) to let the filament come through in liquid form, a motor started to push it into the extruder as it started piling up circle after circle every .2mm. The process may sound tedious, but it is also mesmerizing. There is something exciting and soothing letting yourself get lost in the paths of the printer’s head and its noise!

So, that first print didn’t last long, as most prints usually do. The actual size of the cylinder tube was a few centimeters long. In less than 30 minutes, the tube was erected on the heated bed, ready to be peeled off. In less than 30 minutes, a small physical object had come into being and was now departing in the hands of my first happy patron.
Since that first print, I can’t say the same seamless process reflects Makerspace’s reality. Most commonly, success comes as the result of many aborted attempts, tweaking, and recommendations from more experienced makers. Due to all kinds of unexpected technical failures, with adhesion probably being the no 1, I have learned to tame my enthusiasm until the final layer is applied, and to use glue! More importantly, I have learned to observe more experienced makers and absorb their know-how and admirable problem-solving skills. Certainly, 3D printing is not rocket science (although it helps you build rockets, right Duy?), but it can be quite frustrating if a significant number of parameters don’t line up. There is an artisanal quality to 3D printing that I didn’t expect existed. The attitude is to preserve the right amount of detachment from the final results and keep experimenting. And in your darkest hour of troubleshooting, it is useful to put things in perspective through poetry: “Hope the voyage is a long one.” For that reason, Makerspace offers exposure, good mentorship, an amazingly friendly and playful learning environment, as long as unlimited stocks of filament!