First prints with Ultimaker

I just got the Ultimaker 3 Extended set up a week before the holidays but I completed two prints before the break. 

The first print I did was a standard 3D printing benchmark, #3DBenchy.  It came out really well, much better than the one I’d made earlier with the Makerbot.  Here’s the Ultimaker 3 print (white) next to the Makerbot print (red), both in PLA:2016-12-29-14-46-42 2016-12-29-14-47-02

The Ultimaker print looks better in many ways although the comparison is a bit unfair given that white is pretty forgiving while glossy red isn’t.  Continue reading “First prints with Ultimaker”

Maker spaces highlighted in new NMC report

This report by the New Media Consortium highlights maker spaces as a Technology to Watch with a widespread adoption time of two to three years.  The report doesn’t go into great detail about how the maker spaces would play out, especially in a liberal arts college environment, but still stands as an additional support for more hands-on creative spaces in college and the value it brings to students and graduates.

I’m not sure we can truly call ourselves a Fab Lab or Maker Space yet but with an awesome laser cutter along with a networked Solidworks license we’re well on our way.