Aim[print] High!

Makerbot’s new Z18 provided an intoxicating capability of large scale prints (just look at that cool helmet on the website!), so that’s where our story begins.  Technically, our story begins on when we put in a pre-order for it and then waited with baited breath for what seemed like years.  Let me point out, that the point of this blog is not to condemn or endorse one printer brand over another, we just felt like going for height.  Two months later, we get the call to come and get our new toy from Central Receiving!  I have never been an exceptionally risky driver, but driving back to your office with a brand spanking new 3D printer in the back of your truck makes it VERY easy to take the turns and speed bumps nice and slow.  Time to plug it in and make some toys, right?

10574257_701833459882337_8833726717814835582_n…Of Course!

After printing the pre-loaded bracelet, tiny coffee table and nut/bolt, it was time throw up an actual architecture model and let ‘er rip.  Twenty minutes later, after tweaking a SketchUP warehouse model of the Arch of Titus we discovered to very important things:

1. Everybody turns into a 5-year old at Christmas time when they watch this thing run
2. …our prints were leaning off to the side…

And Away We Go!

There’s been a marvelous amount of excitement in the past few years regarding the possibilities 3D printing has for the manufacturing/tech industry.  What we have become most interested in exploring is, “How can 3D printing augment the academic environment?”  That’s not to say that gnomes and Tyrannosaurus Rex heads don’t have their place (we did spend a full day getting the T-rex head printed out by the way, feel free to stop by and see it), but how can we use this technology to help our students be more in tune with the history of Classical Architecture and the built environment?  As we continue to refine the way we incorporate the 3D printer into our students’ experience, we’ll be bragging about our successes and coming up with excuses for our failures.  Either way, at least we’ll be learning.