3D Printing: Guess What We Just Got!?!?

At the beginning of last year, I put up a post about 3D Printing. Now, I'm so excited to say that the Community Library Network actually has a 3D Printer!!

As I mentioned in our Cardboard Robots post, the Community Library Network has been a part of a Makerspace pilot project with the Idaho Commission for Libraries. The final piece of this pilot was each library (or network) taking home a 3D Printer to call their own.

Now, there are a lot of different 3D Printer models, and there are also a ton of 3D Printer vendors. For our printers, the Commission decided to contract with an open-source building community called RepRap, and more specifically a Boise shop called the Reuseum.

RepRap is based on the idea of self-replicating manufacturing machines. So, each of our printers was hand-made, and many of the elements were actually printed on another 3D printer. Pretty cool, right?

Obviously there are multiple ways of manufacturing things using 3D Printers, and some of the industrial grade operate slightly different than ours. But, ours basically melts a plastic filament and then uses a nozzle to lay it back down layer after layer until a physical object is created.

Feel free to check out the video, or join us for our 3D Printer Demos we'll be doing to start off the new year =D

Cardboard Robots: A Fantastic MakerSpace Idea

So I've been involved with a pilot project with the Idaho Commission for Libraries dealing with the concept of a Makerspace. In its simplest form, a Makerspace is an area (either temporary or stable) where human beings (anybody and everybody) are encouraged to build whatever they want (with stuff provided for them, or stuff that they bring).

Many of our programs have a Makerspace feel to them (we're building stuff without too many instructions lol), but our most recent program, Cardboard Robots, was birthed out of the Makerspace idea. Take a look at this video about Caine's Arcade, and you'll see why we got so excited to participate in the Global Cardboard Challenge.

So, those are the ideas behind our little event, but how do you do it? We gathered up the supplies below, laid it all out on two tables, and let the kids go crazy with it :) It was a great event, and a ton of fun!!

Recycled Boxes (Cereal, pudding, crackers, noodles, etc.)
Tissue Paper Rolls
Robot Clipart
Buttons
Bottle Caps
Aluminum Foil
Packing Tape
Stapler
Gluesticks
Hot Glue (for those really annoying things that refuse to stick)