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Apr. 26th, 2014 05:00 pmI found out a while ago, I think probably around August of last year, that the Chicago Public Library had a "maker" lab installed where they used to do art exhibits on the third floor of the Harold Washington central library. Removing the art was no great loss; the room was too small and nobody ever went in there unless they were indigent and looking for a place to nap. The lab was stocked up with a vinyl cutter, a knitting machine, a laser cutter-etcher, and three beautiful, packing-box sized 3-D printers named Larry, Moe, and Curly.
Between one thing and another I never got the chance to check out the lab, but a few weeks ago I managed to snag the last registration for a 3-D Printer Tutorial, and I had the class this afternoon.
It was pretty great -- just enough information to make us feel like we were in control, not so much we got lost. I was a little ways out ahead of the pack just by virtue of having taken a lot of CAD when I was in grad school, but 3-D modeling has come a long way since I graduated. We each got to make a little token 3-D printed figurine, mostly flat -- somewhat like a cutout on a base -- and more importantly, we got to learn the software and more about how the lab itself functions, so now we can come back any time there's "open lab" and work on our printing skillz.
Most hilarious moment was when one of the examples they put out to show us how 3-D printing can work turned out to be a model of a weeping angel. "Is that...?" I asked, and the woman holding it looked me dead in the eye and said, "Don't blink."
Between one thing and another I never got the chance to check out the lab, but a few weeks ago I managed to snag the last registration for a 3-D Printer Tutorial, and I had the class this afternoon.
It was pretty great -- just enough information to make us feel like we were in control, not so much we got lost. I was a little ways out ahead of the pack just by virtue of having taken a lot of CAD when I was in grad school, but 3-D modeling has come a long way since I graduated. We each got to make a little token 3-D printed figurine, mostly flat -- somewhat like a cutout on a base -- and more importantly, we got to learn the software and more about how the lab itself functions, so now we can come back any time there's "open lab" and work on our printing skillz.
Most hilarious moment was when one of the examples they put out to show us how 3-D printing can work turned out to be a model of a weeping angel. "Is that...?" I asked, and the woman holding it looked me dead in the eye and said, "Don't blink."
