Quick print challenge

[Sharon Mehl]

The company where I am contracting at has a technology club. They have asked me if I could come up with a design (or find one) that is easy to "customize" (i.e. each person at the meeting come up and customize something and print it). I figure at best it would be something pre-designed that they could add their name or a word on it. Problem is they don't know how many people for sure will attend and the meeting is only 90 minutes long! 

Only thing I have come up with would be something maybe with a magnet on the back to stick to their cubes and maybe customize a word or a name on it. It would have to be thin and small in order to get the item to print out. Unless we have a lot of 3D printers in attendance, I don't see that happening. I have a U3, U2+, and an Oni (if I can get it working again) but then I would be spreading myself out between machines and trying to get things to print. I'm thinking this is not a realistic expectation and the person did admit she didn't know how long it would take to do something like this. I brought a print to show her yesterday and gave a quick explanation on what it might entail. Any ideas? Maybe something I am not thinking of ...

I'm thinking to have a customized make and take might be easier if I take my Glowforge (www.glowforge.com) and hopefully get my Pro Filter before the event in April. 

Ideas?  Suggestions ... 

Thank you.

Sharon

[tim middleton]

Sharon

I suggest you have things that were printed before the meeting - if you want to give them out

Have one flawless printer running during the meeting something that you can print one or two of.

 show them how the thing that was printed during the meet was made. . . 

Conversations will take over from there.  Don't try to cram too much to accomplish into the meeting.

Just dazzle them dont overwhelm them. . . 

Just My Thoughts -  From experience.

BTW - My Oni is twice the age of your Oni ( or more ) and Mine is still running like a champ -  bummer your having issues with it

Tim

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[Sharon Mehl]

Tim,

They are wanting the people to become "involved" and learn more of the process of designing and printing. I told her at best it would probably be changing a "word" on a magnet or something simple and quick to print. I brought a dual color print and told her the item in my hand was a 6 hour quick print. Last meeting they had a man there with an Oni that was demoing and explaining things to people. They were hoping to have more of a "hands on" experience for the attendees. 

I have had the print bed fizzle out and some issues with the pi ... just haven't had the time to just sit down one day and really spend time on it and nothing else. I would love to have it printing again since it is the only printer I have that uses the 1.75mm filament (which I have a LOT). 

The Glowforge can take a hand drawn image, scan it, and engrave and cut it out. Even then there will be time spent doing this for each person's drawing (even a small one). I'm not sure of any 3D capable consumer 3D printer or cutter that could keep up with a crowd on it's own. 

They want me to "think about it" and get back to them next week. I would like to be able to do something if I could, but I really hadn't had a Eureka! moment that could accommodate what they would like to do.

Are you still part of the Lawrence Makerspace? I haven't ever made it out there ... was curious about visiting sometime ...

Thanks!

Sharon

[Luis E. Rodriguez]

90 minutes is a long time! Just do tinkercad and scale it so each print takes 10mins or something.

How many participants?

Luis Rodriguez

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From: kc-fabr...@googlegroups.com <kc-fabr...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Sharon Mehl <sharon...@gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2018 8:58:10 PM
To: kc-fabr...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [kc-fabricators] Quick print challenge

 

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[Sharon Mehl]

Last meeting I am guessing had about 10 people to a table... maybe 6 tables (maybe more?). I have a feeling this particular one might bring a larger crowd. 

One printer won't handle all those and I am thinking two might not even.  In the midst of this they were curious if I could do a short talk (away from the printers). hmmm I think I am going to need another person or a clone.  ;-)

Sharon

On Tue, Jan 23, 2018 at 8:17 PM, Luis E. Rodriguez <lrodrig...@gmail.com> wrote:

90 minutes is a long time! Just do tinkercad and scale it so each print takes 10mins or something.

How many participants?

Luis Rodriguez

---

From: kc-fabricators@googlegroups.com <kc-fabricators@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Sharon Mehl <sharon...@gmail.com>

Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2018 8:58:10 PM

To: kc-fabricators@googlegroups.com

[tim middleton]

Sharon

I am warning you - its not as simple as it sounds - 10 min a print is gonna be 6 people or less are gonna get a print. That might be discouraging to a majority of people.

If it takes all of them only 10 minutes to do all of the following . . . 

First get a login to tinkercad - on a local shared slow network

Then learn tinkercad  - step by step show them the combine tools the measurement controls the alignment tools . . etc.

Then learn how to download the file  

Then learn how to slice the download put the creation on a flash drive.

Then get you the gcode in working order on a sd card set up correctly for the printer in the time available . . .

I am sure you feel the attendees are intelligent but your gonna have to write all this out and they need to have a handout possibly ahead of time that lists all this out. . .  So they have a tinkercad login and know what to expect of the tool chain involved.  

--------------

I am not trying to be difficult I am being practical 

I have lived through this Same scenario - Many times - I have been asked over and over to do this sort of thing for little shows over and over.  

Its disappointing to me and to the people involved when it doesn't work out awesome.

You want to and you need to show that it can be awesome and demoing to a crowd is easy.   Give them a good taste the first time and offer to set up a more focused one in the future.

Guiding and training a crowd in a short period of time to do what you have spent a months / years struggling and learning will just diminish your talent and value.

You want to set yourself up to be effective - that means you need to know your limits.  

You want to show that 3d printing is an effective tool. This tool takes time to be effective.  

Show that you have mastered it without making unattainable claims that about 60 people are gonna get something out of a single printer in a little over an hour.   

Show them that a home printer puts out great prints when you nurture it.  

Then show off the Shapeways site showing cost of a printer at home and compare it to just getting a single print made on shapeways.

Be a shining light to 3d printing and demonstrate attainable possibilities in front of them.  

All this is just like putting a few thoughts on a power point slide at a time - Help people focus on the thoughts you want to get across.  

Instead of a crammed tight power point slide with a chapter of text on a single slide that overwhelms and confuses people and turns them off.  

If you find enough people to provide Printers so its effective for all of them  in an hour.  Wow - then that means you would likely need to have about 12 working printers (2 per table) and a person helping run each printer.

12 people helping the crowd by slicing files and feeding filament and warming up the beds pealing off prints  -  fielding questions and all that.  Make that the goal of the next show you do with them.  Use this show to validate another more involved hands on show in the future.

As Far as the maker-space I am only engaged at Hammerspace.  I teach every two weeks.

The Lawrence maker-space community is difficult to nurture - under funded. . .  I don't have the funding or availability it has required in the past nor the time that I tried to provide in the past.  Many of the people involved when I was there have since found simpler paths to effectiveness. 

Tim

On Tue, Jan 23, 2018 at 9:36 PM, Sharon Mehl <sharon...@gmail.com> wrote:

Last meeting I am guessing had about 10 people to a table... maybe 6 tables (maybe more?). I have a feeling this particular one might bring a larger crowd. 

One printer won't handle all those and I am thinking two might not even.  In the midst of this they were curious if I could do a short talk (away from the printers). hmmm I think I am going to need another person or a clone.  ;-)

Sharon

On Tue, Jan 23, 2018 at 8:17 PM, Luis E. Rodriguez <lrodrig...@gmail.com> wrote:

90 minutes is a long time! Just do tinkercad and scale it so each print takes 10mins or something.

How many participants?

Luis Rodriguez

---

From: kc-fabr...@googlegroups.com <kc-fabricators@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Sharon Mehl <sharon...@gmail.com>

Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2018 8:58:10 PM

To: kc-fabr...@googlegroups.com

[Sharon Mehl]

Tim,

It's more that THEY (people planning this) are pretty certain this will be an easy thing to do. I told them I would reach out to people I know on this group and they could share their experiences with me. I thought maybe showing them how small a 6 hour print is, might give them an idea that it wouldn't be prints they could design and print that fast. They wouldn't be giving me more than 10-15 minutes to talk at tops, and it is possible they may decide to have someone else talk that might bring a 3D printer.  Being that they are working on a Merger, there could potentially be even more people in attendance than they have had before. They didn't mention that, but it could be a possibility.

I did mention Maker Faire and I thought I might reach out to Union Station and see if I can get any brochures by that time to hand out. I figured that would be the perfect place for a technology enthusiast group to go.  ;-)

Who knows....by April lots of things could change there at work ... I might not even be there by then.  Back to studying for my Security+ exam!

Thanks for all the insight.

Sharon

[tim middleton]

What is the company... Are you a temp worker? 

[Sharon Mehl]

Power company...started as an intern and have been there for 2 1/2 years in different roles as a contractor ..but not in info sec as of yet. I am studying for Sec+ and then I will study for the Cyber Security cert through Cisco. I need the benefits and hours a regular employee would get. 

Sharon