We Heart Making Things

Today the students discovered that the cute message we get at the end of a print job, is (understandably) written in the gcode. They enjoy the Ta-Da song.

(******* End.gcode*******)
M73 P100 ( End  build progress )
G0 Z150 ( Send Z axis to bottom of machine )
M18 ( Disable steppers )
M109 S0 T1 ( Cool down the build platform )
M104 S0 T1 ( Cool down the Right Extruder )
M104 S0 T1 ( Cool down the Left Extruder )
G162 X Y F2500 ( Home XY endstops )
M18 ( Disable stepper motors )
M70 P5 ( We <3 Making Things!)
M72 P1  ( Play Ta-Da song )
(*********end End.gcode*******)

Maker Club at Discovery Days and the Bay Area Science Festival

On Saturday, BPC Maker Club took to the road again for Discovery Days at the Bay Area Science Festival!

Discovery Days is the largest free science education event in the Bay Area and we want you to be involved! Our 2013 Call for Exhibitors is open through September 27th. We expect over 50,000 attendees at three Discovery Days events; this is the  ultimate event to bring science education to the Bay Area masses. 

Unlike the East Bay Mini-Maker Faire (where there were many, many 3D printers, we were one of the few (only?) booths about the topic here, so the kids has plenty of opportunities to introduce and teach people who stopped by. 

One of my favorite collaborations is highlighted in the video below, between the BPC kids and another 8th grader who was running a booth about greenhouse gases at a nearby booth!

Here are a few more pics from the event: 

So cool - the entire ballpark was filled with science!  And we were thrilled to be part of it (view the map)! :)

Maker Club Visits Citrus Lab (UC Berkeley)

On Friday, October 25, Maker Club had the opportunity to visit the Citrus Labs to see laundry folding robots, cool graduate projects and a mutant elevator. The first thing we did was get in the mutant elevator and go up to the laundry folding robot. It took about 2 minutes for it to get to the point where it had to ask if the corners were right, and they weren't.

After the laundry folding robot Maker Club got into the mutant elevator (it was really big!)

 ... and went down to the basement to tour the Invention Labs. The first thing we did when we got in the room is stand around a table while someone told us about what was there.

After a short talk about what happens in the lab we got to look around for ourselves.
here is a list of the machines used in the lab

• Vinyl Cutting
• Laser Cutting
• 3D Printing - Basicly an glue gun in a thing that moves it around. But much much cooler to learn more click here
• Soldering - It's when you melt solder onto a circit piece that is placed on the thing you want to solder it to. T learn more and to get a better discription of soldering click here.
• PCB Prototyping

More is here...

I have written pretty much all you need to know about our experience at Citrus Labs, but I feel like you should hear what some Maker Club members have to say about it.

"One of the things I love about invention labs and makerspaces, is that age is almost irrelevant.  This is a space that folks of all ages could learn and work together."

- post by Luka S

3D Printer #4 - 3D Systems Cube

Today, our new Cube arrived. This printer, unlike the rest, was free!  After a mutual professional acquaintance connected us and I shared some of the work we were doing in our class with the 3D Systems Director of Social Impact, she asked, "What would you do with another 3D printer?"  I told her! :)  She was glad to hear what we were working on... and sent us a free Cube!

The Cube joins our line-up:

1. original Printrbot (currently on loan, presumed non-functional due to mishap this summer)
2. Makerbot Replicator I with dual extrusion (functional - ABS)
3. Printrbot Jr. v2 (functional - PLA)
4. Cube - (new - PLA and ABS?)
5. (soon) our 3Doodler?!

We received notification that the box had arrived during lunch time, when many students are in my room anyway, taking the opportunity to spend more time in our makerspace.  The girls decided that, because the boys got to pick up the Printrbot, the girls should be the ones to retrieve the Cube.

When they brought it back to the room, the kids were like a pack of hyenas descending upon a carcass.  OK, that is kind of gross, but they were all very excited.  It is hard sometimes for me to give up teacher-control in situations like this, but I know it is important for them to feel ownership over our tools.  So I just watched as the box was unpacked and set-up attempted.  

Unfortunately, the kids only had 6 or so minutes until the end of lunch, so the crowd was gone almost as quickly as it had formed.  There's a lot going on right now, so it may be a few days or weeks until we get to play with it.  The best part of having an additional printer is its contribution to reducing printing turn-around time.  Because so many prints are so time-intensive, the printers are often the limiting factor in production.

Stay tuned....

Maker Club at the Mini-Maker Faire

(post in progress... check back soon)

In the meantime, you can check out our Flickr pics of the event.


UPDATE 1.2.14:  2013's Mini-Maker Faire was one of 100 Maker Faires this year - congrats Maker Media!

A Day in the Life of Room 4

Today, during one of the rare quiet moments in my (currently empty) classroom, I was working steadily, soothed by the constant hum of the 3D printers.

I am not the only one who appreciates their sounds. Some of the boys have been recording sounds bytes form the printers.  They want to create a 3D Printer Dubstep Remix!  (Apparently, we are not alone in our Makerbot noise appreciation.)

Successfully Crowdfunded 3D Printers

3D Printer World has assembled a list of successfully crowdfunded consumer 3D printers.  Click the image below to read more.

Here at BPC, we are partial to the Printrbot (I think it's the best printer for the the price value), and the HYREL was a treat to see at the 2013 Maker Faire.  They had me at "can extrude any semi-solid material" such as air-dry clay, cookie dough, frosting, etc. The middle school kid I was with was like, "Challenge. Accepted."  The Peachy Printer, new on the scene, is intriguing, but I worry about tubs of water next to a computer in a middle school classroom.

The Difference in Print Speed

A group of boys have taken over the new Printrbot at lunch time.  That's fine with me, since they can teach me!  Today they experimented with print speed.  Both objects were printed using PLA.  The item on the right of the photo was printed at regular speed; the one on the left, 200% speed. Quite a significant difference in print quality!

Repetier vs. Replicator G?

With our newest Printrbot, we have been experimenting with the (open source) Repetier software. There are some things the kids like better about it, mostly that the adjustments are easily accessible. They are constantly messing with the print speed, temperature, etc.  I personally haven't seen anything on the Repetier panels that isn't under "Edit Profiles" in ReplicatorG somewhere, but I'll need more time with it to be sure.

One fun thing, however, is that Repetier visually tracks the progress of the print - great for demos!

PLA vs. ABS plastic filament

This post is about PLA vs ABS, two common thermoplastics used in 3D printers.  A thermoplastic is a polymer that becomes moldable above a specific temperature, and returns to its solid state when cooled.

Popular filament types:

PLA Polylactic Acid

ABS Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene

Made from plant material (soy, corn) Biodegradable (you can put it in city compost, but not in your backyard compost) PLA is liquid at about 190 C and burns at 230C Can be printed on blue tape on unheated printbed, although 50 C is recommended) Smells like waffles when heated. :) Shrinks / warps less than ABS Comes in rigid and rubbery grades Harder surface; shiny Easier to print than ABS Will fit the needs for about 90% of Printers (the person, not the actual printer) Comes in many, many colors

Made from petroleum Not biodegradable, but recyclable ABS is liquid at about 255C and gets nasty at about 305C Often printed on Kapton tape; requires heated print bed (we use 110 C) It releases unpleasant offgasses - people may complain of bad smell Deforms if you don't have a properly heated pad  Bendy  Can be machined afterwards Comes in many, many colors

Here is an older (2011) video that explains the basics of ABS, PLA and PVA quite well.  I would no longer say PLA is experimental, but I think the rest of the information is still accurate.

It's also worth mentioning there has been some preliminary research on emissions from 3D printers, which is worth investigating if you plan to use the material around kids. Many educators prefer using PLA over ABS for two reasons:

1. Starch-based PLA emits fewer ultrafine particles (UFP) and many people report it having less fumes than ABS.
2. ABS requires a heated build plate (more preheating time needed, often more expensive machines), while PLA does not require a heated build plate.

Here are some additional resources about these major types of plastic.

• Makerbot: About PLA
• 3Doodler: ABS vs. PLA
• MakerGeeks site (check out side bar for some of the very wide selection of filament types they sell)
• The 2014 MAKE magazine Ultimate Guide to 3D Printing has an excellent spread about filament types.

What about recycling filament?

MAKE reviewed the Filabot Wee and Filastuder, for folks who want to make their own filament by grinding up cheap plastic pellets (nurdles?!) that you can purchase online for ~$5/kg and extrude them into your own spool instead of purchasing pre-made filament spools at ~$40+/kg.   (Filabot plans are freely shareable under a CC license if you'd like to build your own.)

OmNom Project and Filabot’s Reclaimer grinder promise to allow you to actually recycle used filament (including failed prints!) into filament that can be fed back into the machine.  The only concern with this is that there is a high risk of contamination by dirt and everything else.

SLS does in fact feel like it is the future of reliable 3D printing and material recycling, since the unused powder can be reused in future prints.

Updated 2.27.14 by Luka.
Updated again 3.16.14 by C. Mytko.