Air hockey robot made from 3D printer parts!

Impressive use of spare 3D printer parts!  Read more about the maker, Jose Julio, and his project on his blog.

It's the little things that save your sanity

My homegrown makerspace has been a labor of love and has provided its own set of learning experiences.  I've found lots of advice about shopping around for furniture, bins, tools and supplies, but here are two items I also recommend, discovered out of sheer necessity.

#1 - A small, "cute" tabletop garbage can.

With 3D printing, you will have little bits of extruded plastic EVERYWHERE.  My middle school students were notorious for leaving scraps laying around, or brushing them onto the floor. Enter one "cute" garbage can.  Now they can't wait to put their scraps in there, and they even like looking inside of it to see their collection of scraps and failed prints grow.  (I can't explain them, I just teach them.) :)  It's also easily portable, and we move it around the room as different tools and 3D printers fall in and out of favor with the group.  I bought this one at Target.

#2 - A 3D print display stand (ie: a non-slip spice rack)

The students in my science classes love to handle the 3D printed objects that are left behind in my room.  Often, science students will take a model to their desk and just enjoy having it sit there for the duration of the 50 minute class period.  However, the constant movement was a challenge.  I tried a spot on the table, ziploc bags, buckets and trays, but the models were all over the place.  Until I ordered the spice rack.  Still room for improvement, but it's better.  I plan to order a second one.  Of course you can build your own, but I (embarrassingly) was looking for a cheap, immediate, injection-molded solution.

PS: We also discovered that an O Organics animal cracker bin (Safeway brand) fits the Cube build plate perfectly to soak off the "Cubestick" glue!