Under Construction
My Journey to Laser Cutting
My Journey
I'll preface this story by saying that I'm a mechanical engineer and I've used 3D CAD software for several decades so that gave me the ability to hit the ground running with 3D printing even in 2013 when I started. However, there are several free CAD software packages available now and so many ways to learn how to use them that accessing and learning design software such as Fusion360 and SketchUp, just to name a couple out of many, is much less of a barrier now than ever even for those with zero previous CAD or design experience. It is very accessible and is getting better supported and easier to use all of the time.
3D printing is the first digital fabrication technology that I started using at home. It created a feeling of extreme empowerment and ignited my imagination since I would make parts for pennies that previously would have cost hundreds of dollars to have fabricated at a machine shop. It opened my mind to the idea that I could make anything that I could imagine in my own shop. That was a very powerful start to my journey into digital fabrication which has also lead to a CNC router, a laser cutter and a vinyl cutter at this point.
My 3D printing journey started way back around 2013 with the CubeX Duo, a printer put out by 3D Systems, one of the companies that pioneered 3D printing. I was super excited to get this printer but little did I know that it was going to be like a bad relationship... offering lots of hope but delivering nothing but problems. After scores of hours I was able to make a few useful prints but eventually gave up on this machine. I went through about 4 different printers before landing on one that actually allowed me to spend as much time making as tinkering. I finally landed on the Zortrax M200 in 2015 and I'm still using that printer as of late 2018. I liked the Zortrax so much I convinced the company I worked for to buy two of them. Those printers operated almost 24/7 and saved the company over $50,000 in machine shop costs alone, not to mention all of the labor and schedule saved not having to wait weeks for machined parts to come in. The Zortrax is not the best printer for everyone but I will say that it probably is the best printer for anyone who doesn't want to spend much time having to learn how to use software to get reliable, high quality prints. Open source machines such as the Creality series, Lultzbot series and the Prusa machines are more flexible and offer more materials at lower costs and I would recommend them for anyone who is willing to put in some time to learn how to tweak software settings to get good prints.
I also own a Form1+ SLA machine that I haven't used in a few years now. It produced great prints when it worked but it had a very high print fail rate and the materials have a short shelf life and cost about 4x as much as the materials for my Zortrax printer.
None the less, even the first crappy 3D printers that I used stimulated my imagination and allowed me to make parts to build prototypes of machines that I never would have built without a printer. You can see some of my creations in the What you can make with a 3D printer section. This is a very short list of hundreds of parts and projects that I brought to life with my 3D printers.
I still use my 3D printer regularly and between it and my CNC router, laser cutter and vinyl cutter, I can make just about anything I set my mind to.
I'll preface this story by saying that I'm a mechanical engineer and I've used 3D CAD software for several decades so that gave me the ability to hit the ground running with 3D printing even in 2013 when I started. However, there are several free CAD software packages available now and so many ways to learn how to use them that accessing and learning design software such as Fusion360 and SketchUp, just to name a couple out of many, is much less of a barrier now than ever even for those with zero previous CAD or design experience. It is very accessible and is getting better supported and easier to use all of the time.
3D printing is the first digital fabrication technology that I started using at home. It created a feeling of extreme empowerment and ignited my imagination since I would make parts for pennies that previously would have cost hundreds of dollars to have fabricated at a machine shop. It opened my mind to the idea that I could make anything that I could imagine in my own shop. That was a very powerful start to my journey into digital fabrication which has also lead to a CNC router, a laser cutter and a vinyl cutter at this point.
My 3D printing journey started way back around 2013 with the CubeX Duo, a printer put out by 3D Systems, one of the companies that pioneered 3D printing. I was super excited to get this printer but little did I know that it was going to be like a bad relationship... offering lots of hope but delivering nothing but problems. After scores of hours I was able to make a few useful prints but eventually gave up on this machine. I went through about 4 different printers before landing on one that actually allowed me to spend as much time making as tinkering. I finally landed on the Zortrax M200 in 2015 and I'm still using that printer as of late 2018. I liked the Zortrax so much I convinced the company I worked for to buy two of them. Those printers operated almost 24/7 and saved the company over $50,000 in machine shop costs alone, not to mention all of the labor and schedule saved not having to wait weeks for machined parts to come in. The Zortrax is not the best printer for everyone but I will say that it probably is the best printer for anyone who doesn't want to spend much time having to learn how to use software to get reliable, high quality prints. Open source machines such as the Creality series, Lultzbot series and the Prusa machines are more flexible and offer more materials at lower costs and I would recommend them for anyone who is willing to put in some time to learn how to tweak software settings to get good prints.
I also own a Form1+ SLA machine that I haven't used in a few years now. It produced great prints when it worked but it had a very high print fail rate and the materials have a short shelf life and cost about 4x as much as the materials for my Zortrax printer.
None the less, even the first crappy 3D printers that I used stimulated my imagination and allowed me to make parts to build prototypes of machines that I never would have built without a printer. You can see some of my creations in the What you can make with a 3D printer section. This is a very short list of hundreds of parts and projects that I brought to life with my 3D printers.
I still use my 3D printer regularly and between it and my CNC router, laser cutter and vinyl cutter, I can make just about anything I set my mind to.