Redefining the Use of 3D Printing with this Blog

For the past seven years this blog has existed as a way to document some of the projects that have been created by the students from a regular New Zealand classroom.  As such we used Ultimaker Printers which were initially purchased in 2015, which were then later upgraded.   Every print that is featured on this blog from this timeframe (2015-2021) was printed and made using an Ultimaker and the process was detailed here.

Recently (at the end of the 2020/start of 2021 school year the school purchased a 3-1 Snapmaker Machine.  We had looked into another upgrade of the Ultimaker or make a decision to wait however as the students had won a national innovation competition we wanted to use the money for hardware purchase.

This resulted in the Snapmaker's purchase and while we also used the Ultimaker's at the start of the school year for some of the projects that have been detailed on this blog we have made the decision to switch between machines and transition away from the Ultimaker.

It has not been an easy decision as such as we have overall found the Ultimaker reliable and basic which suited work with the younger students but the Snapmaker is already opening up some possibilities for the students which will be documented on this blog.   An example is the shark shown above, it was an articulated motion shark located from Thingiverse.  It was printed as a single print and there was no waste PLA/rafting with the animal what-so-ever.    The student concerned was able to print the animal independently.

A similar story with a ferret that was also located via the free files on Thingiverse.  It printed as an entire linked print using the Snapmaker and while the student went to length to spray paint its finish the design again was completed as a single file with no waste plastic and fits together perfectly.

The students are excited to use the new machine and the teacher is also feeding off the energy that has been created by the enthusiasm of the students and while it is not all down to the new machine, this has been a significant part of it.    The unit also the opportunity to convert to a laser cutter and a CNC machine, both aspects of the machine we intend to use in the future moving forward. 

It was contemplated to change the name of this blog, however given the body of the work that has been produced and is archived here it was decided against it.   We have never endorsed products on this site, instead wanting to highlight the work created.