The Real Reason For...

So I have these 3D printers and I do a lot of printing on them.   Day in and day out, they print.  They print all manner of things, many of which I give away to unsuspecting people when they ask about the 3D printing, or have a birthday, or come within six feet of me and I can throw it to them.   In a way, 3D printing as a hobbyist is a lot like other things people take on as hobbies.

If you do woodworking and make birdhouses, there are only so many you can put in your own back yard.   If you like to knit or crochet, blankets and sweaters are things you can make to give to other people.   Anything that produces a product tends to pile up on the person who's doing the making of it. 

Because what fun is it if the only things you can make are things you can actually put to use yourself?  3D printing has another side to it though and that's the functional one.   If something is broken, there's a good chance the company or someone has published a printable version of that part.   You can print it, replace the broken one and be working again by only spending a few pennies in printed plastic.  

Some people would argue that the real reason for, or the justification for getting a 3D printer is the ability to print useful things.   And I agree, I think it's the most compelling case for getting a 3D printer.   For example, yesterday I got a floor lamp at Lowes.   I unboxed it, screwed the segments together and came up with a problem: it was unstable.   

After some looking at the manual, I realized a piece was missing from the assembly that would hold the pole into the base.   I hadn't lost it because it would have been incorporated and connected along the power cord chain.   But it wasn't there.   My husband suggested returning it but I didn't want to have to box it back up and I also knew the only other one at the store had a box that had been opened and retaped.  I didn't want to return it.   I wanted to fix it. 

I saw the shape of the missing part on the diagram.  I got the calipers out and measured the diameter of the pole and then went into a modeling tool and created a replacement part.   I printed it in two halves and tonight I installed the new, non-matching blue plastic part on the lamp.   It worked.  And I got to use the printers for something useful, which was fun.

I'm still learning 3D modeling, which can be complex and the products used to do the modeling are so feature-filled they're intimidating to learn.   But I've gotten started.   Now I just need more things to either break or I need to find upgrades I can do to things.   I've already revamped our pegboard tool wall with all kinds of 3D printed specialized hooks and containers.   I've been able to get about three times more storage on the board just by adding 3D printed things. 

The Big Boy Update:  My son has moved so quickly through the lessons at his Code Ninjas after school program that he's entered into the second level.   He's still a "white belt" but he isn't stopping, he told me, until he gets his black belt in programming.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter was wailing at nine-thirty tonight.  She was hungry and how dare we not let her have another bowl of pasta and we were mean parents.  She had two bowls for dinner.   I do think she's in a growth spurt.