3D Printers and Printing

Mark Willis is the Tech Ed/Pre Engineering Teacher at Margaret Bell Middle School in Waynesburg, PA. In the Beginning Willis had never attempted 3D printing before getting the Afinia 3D Printer. “When it arrived, I just started printing things, learning from trial and error. Willis’ print demonstrating the Afinia’s 5x5x5 inch build area. The printer was pretty easy to use. Afinia also sent their Vice President, John Westrum, to talk with teachers, walk them through how to use the machine, and demonstrate tricks for printing. It was a great gesture and I found it to be very helpful.“ The manual Afinia provides is also thorough. Between that, and John’s instruction, [Read more…]

Todd Hummer is a Satellite Teacher for Butler Tech, teaching a 7th grade Project Lead the Way STEAMM (science, technology, engineering, art/design, math, and medical) class. Butler Tech is a career-technical school for adults and high school students in Hamilton, Ohio. Partnering with Butler Tech “The partnership that our district has with Butler Tech is very exciting. Butler Tech offers classes to high school students, adults, and businesses wanting to educate their workforce. They also provide satellite programs giving 7th through 12th graders the opportunity to learn about engineering and the biomedical fields. Seventh graders are all encouraged to take the Project Lead The Way (PLTW) Design and Modeling class, [Read more…]

The H480 has done it again! We are happy to announce that Make: Magazine has named the Afinia H480 as “Reliable Performer” in their Ultimate Guide to 3D Printing 2015, and has included the Afinia in the top 10 3D printers (out of the 26 tested). In recent years, we have also been awarded “Best Overall Experience,” “Easiest to Use,” and “Easiest to Set Up.” To test the printers for the Ultimate Guide to 3D Printing 2015, Make: ran 26 3D printers through their paces to create side-by-side comparisons, and to identify the top performing 3D printers across nine classes, with our Afinia H480 tops in the “Reliable Performer” class. [Read more…]

Ron Smith is the Engineering and Metal Fabrication teacher at Nestucca High School in Cloverdale, OR. Complex Concepts & Making the Connection Ron Smith doesn’t shy away from teaching his students complex concepts. In his classes, he covers topics ranging from vectors and trigonometry, to statics, forces, and velocity. “Some kids in math classes think, ‘where will I ever use this?’ In my class, students apply the knowledge hands-on. They get a good grasp of the real-world applications for the concepts, and learn what engineers do on the job. They love seeing this real-world engineering, and it gets them fired up for going beyond graduating high school. Something More After [Read more…]

Gene Sherman, Founder/CEO of Vocademy, a makerspace open to all ages, seven days a week. Their focus is to close the skills-gap by teaching the most state-of-the-art manufacturing techniques and providing the community with access to over a quarter-million dollars worth of equipment. Inspiration “The Vocademy was a long time coming. I thought about it for at least a decade. It’s 15,000 sq ft, which is much larger than the typical makerspace. To me, it still isn’t big enough. I’d like the next one to be at least 25,000 sq ft.” “The biggest factor that inspired me to create the Vocademy was the demise of hands-on skills in this country. [Read more…]

Greg Herker is the Fab Lab Program Coordinator for Gateway Technical College. He designs and coordinates the programs and is in charge of Fab Lab operations. Herker describes the Fab Lab as “A movement. A place where ideas and innovations happen.” The Lab is open to students, businesses, and the entire community. Fab Lab: The Movement “Our Fab Lab was started over a year ago. Fab Labs started in a class out of MIT by Dr. Neil Gershenfeld, the class “How to Build Almost Anything” and quickly found, that through digital fabrication, there would be a revolution allowing individuals to make all kinds of items for personal use. This sparked [Read more…]

Dr. Keith Williams is a visiting professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Virginia and a program manager for a research division of Leidos, based at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington D.C. Leidos is a company that assists the US in combating threats to national security. Dr. Williams tweets about his UVa Introduction to Engineering class using the Twitter handle @engr1620. The Technological Cloud If you stumble upon Dr. Williams’ blog, it appears that he is opposed to using technology in the classroom, terming it a “technological cloud” hanging over education. But dig deeper and it becomes clear that his complaint is [Read more…]

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Ebelt is a pilot, participated in NASA’s Zero Gravity flight, and enjoys gliding on the weekends. Kaye Ebelt is an inspired educator and life-long learner who has a BA in Elementary Education, ME in Computer technology, and MS in Science Education. She is currently an Albert Einstein Fellow, serving as the Directorate for Engineering at the National Science Foundation. Ebelt also participated in NASA’s MicroGX and Reduced Gravity Flight in 2011. The Power of Passion It is clear from Kaye Ebelt’s background that she has a passion for learning. During her interview, we learned how she is passing that passion on to other teachers and students. As the Directorate for [Read more…]

“Our story begins when a few educators in Baltimore learned that the city was closing the nearby Rec Center. The closings were due to the financial constraints of the Baltimore school district budget. Two blocks from one of the most recent Rec Center closures, however, a technology teacher in Baltimore City Public Schools had a vision of revitalization. His vision found a way to re-imagine the role this underutilized space could fill by converting it from a Rec Center into a Tech Center, where youth could learn a wide variety of high-growth, tech-sector skills such as digital fabrication, web or app development, and electronics. To turn this dream into reality, [Read more…]

Bonnie Roskes is the creator of 3DVinci, a company that offers training in SketchUp and other application tutorials to beginners and professionals and everyone in between. Roskes is a professional structural engineer who loves teaching others how to use great modeling applications. Her “Google SketchUp Cookbook” was a Graphic Design Amazon Bestseller in 2009. In The Beginning 3DVinci was an innovation born out of necessity. “I wrote the first tutorial for SketchUp in 2001, when SketchUp wasn’t at all mainstream. There were no other tutorials on the market, and people needed guidance on how to use the software. In 2006, when Google bought SketchUp, there was a free version that [Read more…]

Daniel Lucaci leads Industrial Inspection Systems (IIS) Ltd., located in Ontario, Canada. IIS provides automated Non-Destructive Testing and Examination (NDT/NDE) solutions to the oil and gas industries. An Industry of Integrity Oil and gas pipeline integrity is extremely important. Pipelines can fail due to defects such as corrosion, cracks, or dents. These can result in property damage, injuries or, in the worst cases, fatalities. Daniel Lucaci’s company provides testing and automation solutions to pipeline manufacturers that certify and ensure the safety of their pipes. IIS solutions allow manufacturers to automatically inspect their pipeline welds for defects. If a defect is encountered, it is marked and an alarm is activated so [Read more…]

Daniel Casner is the president of Robot Garden, a community workshop that provides members with the resources to create technologic and artistic projects, individually or as part of a team. As an indication of Casner’s community activity, he recently received the President’s Volunteer Service Award. “An idea is a curious thing. It will not work unless you do.” – Jaeger’s Facts Daniel has the above quote on his personal website. After interviewing him, it is clear that through hard work, he has been able to bring great ideas to life. One such idea is Robot Garden, a community workshop in Livermore, CA. Robot Garden strives to inspire and educate the [Read more…]

Setting The Scene with the Afinia 3D Printer Owen Collins is a Professor and Head of the Department of Theatre at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, VA, about 3 hours southwest of Washington, DC. Prologue Owen had always enjoyed theater’s “technical side”. “My dad is an architect, and through him, I developed an interest in drafting. During the late 80’s I was employed at his firm and learned how to use computer drafting tools.” “During graduate school, I became interested in how computers were used to control the “technical side” of the production: lighting, sound and video affects. I worked in New York City for a year and then [Read more…]

Steve Ryan: We Want His Job Steve Ryan owns RyanTech Engineering, an Orange County-based firm that specializes in Product Design and Development. When we say, Orange County, we actually mean “off the shore of Orange County” – his office and Afinia Desktop 3D Printer are on his yacht off of Dana Point. When we asked Steve what he did for a living, he said, “What we do is take our clients’ ideas and create a manufacturable product and make sure the design intent doesn’t get lost along the way. Sometimes we engineers focus a bit too much on the engineering and loose some sight as to the intended use of [Read more…]

Mark Andersen – Restoring Pipe Organs with the help of his Afinia 3D Printer Mark Andersen is Vice President of Artisan Instruments, Inc. , a 65 year-old pipe organ restoration firm, based near Seattle, WA. He is also a concert pipe organist. In The Beginning Mark developed an interest in mechanics and music when he was quite young. “I had a bunch of model train sets and was constantly taking them apart and putting them together. About that time I was introduced to the pipe organ – it was a match made in heaven.” “When in high school, I apprenticed with a North Carolina pipe organ builder and spent many [Read more…]

Over the past few years we have heard, “3D printing is cool, but I don’t really know how that translates to real world stuff”. Here’s how some of our Afiniacs are pushing the boundaries of their industries and hobbies: Vadym Chalenko Graphic designer, illustrator, protyper, and product designer extraordinaire. Owner and creator of the Beastgrip. Just finished shipping the last of his 600 Kickstarter orders, made from 10,000+ 3D printed components. Robert Hughes Designer, prototyper, and fishing lure industry innovator. Owner of Lucky Bug Lures, a family-run business located in Vancouver, British Columbia. Bob has revolutionized the fishing lure industry by releasing several new lures each season, as opposed to [Read more…]

It was great meeting you at the 3D Printer World Expo. I can’t believe how fortunate I am to have won your printer!The printing is going amazing! I’ve only done two prints so far, but they have both gone perfectly. After hearing how difficult 3d printing is and watching my friends spend hours tinkering with their settings, I can’t believe how opposite my experience was. I setup the printer, downloaded some .stl files, hit print, and voila – I have a print! You’ve done a great job of building a product that works perfectly, right out of the box. Can’t wait to see what else I can do with it! [Read more…]

We were sent a great article about Afiniac Damon Swanson and the Circus Model Builders Organization. Damon was highlighted on our blog last year, and we’re glad to see that he is continuing to make headlines. For more information about the Circus Model Builders Organization, find them on online or visit their Facebook page. Damon Swanson and his Afinia H-Series Printer. Click to read full article. [Read more…]

Glen Risberger, Afiniac and Mentor to Gladstone Robotics Glen Risberger really likes robots, so much so, that he has been a mentor of the Gladstone Robotics team (First Robotics Club #3131) for many years. Looking to help take his team to the next level, Glen began looking for a 3D printer to create custom robot parts. “There were lots of kits available. We decided that we would rather build robots than a 3D printer so we started investigating ones that were already built. We got really serious in October and November of 2012 and received a copy of Make Magazine’s Ultimate Guide To 3D Printing. It was obvious to us [Read more…]