LIBRARY AS MAKERSPACE

I have been avoiding doing fidget spinners since I figured they would be old hat by now but over the past month I have been doing Intro to Tinkercad classes and it is all the kids want to talk about and print. Of course since I don't have the ball bearings , I tried to explain it to them that it is better to have the bearing first then measure around it but they happily 3D printed ones that they could just spin using their fingers. They kinda reminded me of brass knuckles.... Coincidentally, I saw a post on Facbook highlighting how to build custom spinners.  This blog has everything you will need and I am very appreciative. It took me a few tries to get the exact measurements so that the bearing would fit in snugly but not too loose as it would fall right out. My measurements for the 22mm bearing was using 2 cylinders in Tinkercad, one cylinder measures 27mm all around, 7mm high with an inner "hole" cylinder of 22.5mm all around, 7mm high. I highly recommend using Tin...

The latest craze seems to be these Fidget spinners for idle hands. They can easily be 3D printed in an hour from the thousands of already made files out there in tinkercad and other sites. If you have a 3D printing class coming up at the library hosting a fidget spinner design course in tinkercad will be a sure sell out. People are already started to create their own tutorials based on the size of their ball bearings.  

DEMCO, a huge retailer of all things library, released a makerspace section of their website that offers furniture solutions like makercarts, portable storage cabinets and even popular science kits like littleBits! For libraries having a tough time buying from outside vendors, this would be a viable solution, albiet a bit pricier than other vendors. Libraries usually have a DEMCO supply account especially if they have bought furniture in the last decade. I'm drooling over the 3D printer cart as we speak. Even if you couldn't afford DEMCO prices, maybe there is someone handy on staff that could DIY some of these furniture ideas onto stuff we already have. If I could buy anything in my dream makerspace, my top 3 would be: 3D printer cart , STEM cart , and some mini folding flip tables.    I'm really into everything being on wheels lately. Our library's makerspace isn't "dedicated" so the thought of having roving carts and tables that are easy to cart ar...

2nd attempt I have a glass water bottle that is very hard to clean because it has a small mouth opening. Normally I clean it with a paper towel attached to a chopstick. One of our staff found me cleaning it one day and said, "Why don't you 3D print something?" Why indeed! My idea was to take 2 toothbrushes, measure out the width and length of the bottom of the brushes with my trusty digital caliper, then make a long attachment so I can reach deep down without using my hand. I used pre-made shapes in tinkercad . My first attempt was a dud. It didn't fit inside the bottle! My second attempt with the entry holes very far down offered no support to the brushes and they just went willy nilly everywhere once I got inside the bottle. Now granted I could have taped them together or used elastics but this was not the point. all attempts So I figured, why not just use one toothbrush? The third attempt was a one hole design but the hole was too far down and the b...

Need to make an award?  Now that we have a 3D printer readily available, there are so many opportunities for customized giveaways/prizes that we would normally have to go out and purchase through companies like Oriental Trading. For our first egg drop last summer, we 3D printed medals that we designed in Tinkercad for the winners. Egg drops are really fun and low stress program since all you provide is the eggs and a tarp. We dropped contraptions kids made from home out the 2nd story window to see if their egg inside survived. Since that went over so well, next spring we made a Peep Award for our Book themed  Peep Dioramas . This was another stress free program as kids worked together at home to design the Peep dioramas and brought them in for judging and viewing. These shapes were very easy to combine in Tinkercad. I think in hindsight it would be nice to put lettering on it to say Duxbury Free Library and the year. During the annual summer Lego Contest  2 years r...

Whenever we change reels on the Ultimaker 2 there is a good stretch of filament that is ribbed and must be discarded. My coworker Larissa made bracelets out of them! The clasp is printed in clear filament.   You can print these in bulk (10 minutes to print a single but you could print multiples at once) and focus a class just on making charms for them. A note about charms: using jump rings makes the bracelet easier to wear with the charms as demonstrated with the octopus vs the Pokeball and dinosaur. Plus you don't have to worry about the size of the plastic printed ring in Tinkercad too much.  These are 9mm jump rings that come apart with simple pliers.  Of course by having them loose, they will all dangle to the bottom but some 3D printed beads/spacers and jump ring size experimentation will do the trick.  Although the PLA claims to be biodegradable who knows how long that would take. This is wonderful recycling project just in time for Earth Day....

Where do you put a printer? The best answer is somewhere that is in view when printing. We have 2 Ultimaker 2 printers. One Ultimaker 2 is in the Digital Media Lab in the Reference Department.  Most people do not see the printer there because it is tucked away in a corner but at the same time we don't have to worry about kids sticking their fingers in it or it getting bumped or jostled in the daily hustle and bustle of after school.  Although not directly seen from the service desk, it is still possible to swing by and check on a print or if it's not too loud to hear if something stops. Another printer that I use more often is the Ultimaker 2 extended in our staff Resource Room where we hold many Tinkering Tuesday and 3D printing specific classes.   This is on the bottom floor where the printer is hidden behind a room divider.  We are a 3 floor building with the children's room located on the 2nd floor and the Reference/YA department located on the 3rd.  ...

I stumbled upon 2 websites this week that just amazed me. When any library thinks, "Well what can we actually use a 3D printer for?" These projects would be a great examples of realistic applications that have a direct impact on the community. For the most part I have been focusing on what are the patrons actually going to print on these machines rather than what can we as a library print on these machines? I always love when technology can actually make life better. Dear Zoo Harold and the Purple Crayon Tactile Picture Books Project Thanks to the University of Colorado Boulder we have multiple free thing-averse files that will print picture books that kids can feel along with the braille to read the book. I'm already thinking about putting these on the walls for a temporary display then setting up catalog records where patrons could check the books out once I bind them together.  Depending on how hard it is to make, maybe I could have a program where kids...

Just when I think it's time to cancel Facebook, I find an awesome group of librarians who have inspired me. The group is called Makerspaces and the Participatory Library .  I have always considered 3D printing to be something that students in upper elementary and beyond could bring their designs to fruition with the aid of Tinkercad but what about a 5 yr old? In the Facebook group, I just saw this post that any black and white silhouette image could be flat printed on a 3D printer. The steps really are that easy. Now anyone who could hold a Sharpie could make something.  The mystery of how someone could easily draw curvy lines in Tinkercad has been solved! I had always imaged that they made it in AutoCAD and it was a very involved process.This is one problem with being self taught in things like this. Sometimes you learn the hard way before the easy way. Step 1: Draw figure, try to smooth out the edges of the outline and take a picture. I free handed the drawing so it...

We have had the Cube 2 3D printers for over a year now and I think it's time to weigh in the pros and cons. For the record, we also have an Ultimaker 2 as my comparison for features. It does come with an extra price tag $ for those features but well worth the staff time I've saved. Most of our 3D printing programs with these Cube machines occur with first time users usually ages 10 and up.  Even if you don't have a Cube it is good to know the limits of any 3D printing machine before purchasing. Cube Software.... Pros: is pretty easy to use. Unlike other printing software (Cura for Ultimaker*) I've used, there are limited options so it doesn't feel daunting to work with.  Is it solid or hollow? Supports yes or no? How large?  Cubify is an easy download off the website and you can download it to as many computers as you want. Our workflow is we create an object in Tinkercad , save as an .STL file then convert into Cubify. Cubify saves the options fro...

Looking for a fun way to empower the local crafter? Check out Etsy , an internet based shopping website that allows anyone to buy and sell their hand made merchandise. 3D printed materials still count in the "hand made" universe. All you need to do is set up a shop and take pictures of your work. If someone were to print with our $1 an hour charge, they could make earrings for a product cost to them of $1-3 (based on size), use a dremel or small drill to make a hole, and go to Michaels, or another local craft store, for the stainless steel earring hooks and you are in business for profit! (beware of copyright infringement such as printing items from Nintendo, Disney, etc.) This is from Fish3Ddesigns , which prints using a Makerbot Replicator 3D printer in PLA. It sells for $22.00 on Etsy plus shipping. I'd be interested to hear from an Etsy shop owner how good business is but with such a low start up cost it would be worth a try anyway.  Just another way to s...

If you are thinking about implementing a pay to print service with the 3D printer for kids, it won't be something simple as dropping off a file and walking away at least for the first few prints. It is as much a trial and error process for us as it is for the designer.  In library school, they teach us the importance of the reference interview, how to properly cull what a person really wants out of a simple question. If they were looking for architecture books, do they want photography? how to build? famous builders throughout the centuries? Is it a school project or just a hobby? When a student comes to drop off a 3D print job, questions need to be asked. The librarian will have to look at the design as a .stl file and open it into the propriety software of the 3D printer they have before printing. Cura in the case of the Ultimaker for us, or Cube for our Cube 2D printers.  Once the file is saved as a Cube file, it cannot be edited so always saving the original .stl file is...

After 6 months, our 3D printers have had some hiccups. Any library must take into consideration troubleshooting and repair when purchasing a printer. Who is going to fix the printer when it goes down? When the photocopier or printer is busted, we have servicemen we can call. Depending on if you are using 3D printers solely for programs or as a "service," the immediacy of the fix might be more than one librarian can handle.  When purchasing a 3D printer, be sure to ask what kind of support will be given by the company.  When our Cube printers were clogged, we received an email with step by step instructions (with pictures) on how to fix the jam. But what if you're someone that has no experience taking machines apart? How do you overcome the hurdle of taking that leap? The commitment from the staff, and more than just one person, is one of the biggest obstacles I can see to libraries thinking about a printer.  We were very fortunate to have a brave soul on staff that to...

Here's one of our Arduino interactive mural installation elements. The challenge for us is to find the balance between getting our Maker-in-Residence to install a few elements to give us a sense of what is possible and "jump-start" the installation but not doing the whole thing for us. We want our young patrons to build and explore the artistic and technological possibilities and learn the building blocks of 3D printing and programming for microprocessors. We have our work cut out for us and there may be some post-session mopping up to do, but that's okay.

I'm in love..... Digital Caliper Tool We tried to print an iPhone case twice and still did not get the exact measurements right because we were using a regular ruler. With the Digital Caliper, we can now get an exact reading which will help with persnickety items like a phone case. It's available through Amazon for only $30.  This is also a quick and easy way to show kids what the actual size of their object is before printing.

Last week, when we demoed our 3D printers, one mother asked me, "Why is this at the library?" I think projects like our summer interactive wall will be the answer to her question. Thanks to the help of local artist Sally Dean Mello ,"maker in residence" Kevin Osborn and students from our Tuesday Tinkering Lab, we've begun working on an interactive wall that can be wheeled around the library. Our goal was to have a painted mural wall that patrons can touch with 3D moving aspects. We started by buying a plastic screened wall which Sally designed and outlined a garden scene. We decided upon this wall because we could move it around the library, or maybe even take it on the road, rather than using one of our permanent walls. For the past 2 weeks, students have been coloring it in with acrylic paint during our Tinkering Lab. We invited art students from the high school to come over and now we have a few newcomers to the Lab.  While this has been going on, we ha...