With Bob Pranis looking on, Adrian Howard-Larsen intently watched the MakerBot Replicator 2X 3D printer perform its work. Pranis, a volunteer, set up and demonstrated the machine at the Grand Marais Public Library on Wednesday, November 13, and invited the public to see and get a taste of what this machine could do. Pranis is offering to let the community use the machine and will assist anyone who wants to learn more about 3D printing.
When Bob Pranis broke the dial on his washing machine he replaced it with a new one he made on his MakerBot Replicator 2X 3D printer. Pranis did the same thing when he broke a handle on another machine, although he made a better design that would be easier to turn and have less chance of breaking.
And when he got into an argument with his wife over whose turn it was to do the vacuuming? Well, the MakerBot Replicator 2X can only replicate so many things. Some things technology has no answer for.
Pranis demonstrated the MakerBot Replicator 2X on Wednesday, November 13 at the Grand Marais Public Library to about 20 curious people. Over a two-hour period Pranis made three parts on the 3D printer, explaining the process as the machine worked.
The replicator uses two types of plastic. One is PLA, a renewable bioplastic and another type of plastic wire is called ABS filament, for which the machine is optimized. The plastic— which comes in different colors—is fed in thin lines into the machine on spools mounted in the back and then melted and extruded following a template set up by a computer program to the parts specifications.
Students in Sam West’s industrial technology class have already had one session with Pranis and will soon get a second lesson. At the right, Emma Olfson shows one of the items she made with the 3D printer while another student works hard to set up a job on the computer.
Sounds hard, but Pranis said he would help anyone who wants to learn how to use the replicator. That’s why he was at the library in the first place.
The machine Bob purchased took 13 weeks to be delivered and cost about $3,000.
“It took a long time to get because of back orders,” he said.
While Pranis has made quite a few small parts, jewelry, cookie cutters, artwork, even toys, his machine is capable of putting out something as large as 9 inches long, 6 inches wide and 6 inches tall.
As the machine hummed, buzzed, and whizzed Pranis explained that it was his goal, “to have Cook County residents have the opportunity to explore the possibilities that 3D printing might offer the community. “My Makerbot Replicator 2X 3D printer is available to anyone in the Cook County community who would like to explore 3D printing and to print out 3D models,” said Pranis. “I only ask that people pay for the amount of plastic filament that is used in their model.
“I will be glad to help people turn their ideas into 3D models and then to print them,” he added.
Pranis had already shared the 3D printing experience with Sam West’s Industrial Technology class at Cook County High School. Next year the high school is expected to purchase a 3D printer, said Pranis, a semi-retired chemist by trade, who has another demonstration coming up at the school in the near future.
Besides its use by scientists and engineers, artists could use the 3D printer. One artist on hand at the library was exploring ways to incorporate plastic molds into his sculptures and tables. He left intrigued.
If you are interested in making use of Pranis’s 3D printer or taking part in a 3D printer user group, please contact Pranis by email at bpranis@northlc.com.
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