Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 2012 - 14

to use the G-code from someone else. There is
no guarantee that it will accurately create an
object on your machine.

AffordABle optIons
When I purchased my kit, the Makerbot Cupcake CNC (this particular model is now discontinued), there were no other companies selling
kits to build printers. Now there are several options in the low-end 3D printing market. You
can either purchase a build-it-yourself kit, build
one yourself using free plans available on the
Internet, or utilize services that offer 3D printing. There are some midrange models as well
that can be purchased fully assembled.
The least expensive option is creating a
printer using the open-source designs that are
currently available. Open source is a philosophy and practice based on sharing all the information on design, creation, and execution of
a creative work (see opensource.org for more
information). The primary open-source 3D
printing project is the RepRap project. Started
by Adrian Bowyer of Bath University in England,
the eventual goal of the project is to design a
machine that can fabricate all of the parts necessary to build another copy of itself. The idea is that if every machine can create the parts for another machine, then those printers can print parts for more printers, creating an exponential growth
pattern that could rival that of rabbits. Since part of the philosophy behind the RepRap project is
to freely share knowledge, all of the plans are easily available. The cost of these machines is in the
range of $600-900, depending on whether parts are purchased separately, sometimes in bulk, or a
whether a ready-to-assemble kit of hardware is purchased. There are small companies that specialize in selling bundles of the related hardware and electronics needed to build a machine. This option involves a much larger time commitment and more knowledge of electronics and mechanics.
They have more variables in the construction, but with the investment of time, these machines can
produce prints that are equal to all the models mentioned. A downside is that you really would have
to know how to "tune" the machine. Another downside is that there is no customer support for a
machine like this. While there is a large supportive community of "reprappers" who would answer
your questions, quite a bit of searching through forums is often required to find the right answer.
And, there is rarely a consensus among reprappers on how things should be done. In forums and
IRC chats there are conflicting thoughts and opinions on how to troubleshoot issues. You must be
willing to research and evaluate the sources of opinions in order to make informed choices.
One step up from the complete do-it-yourself project is a hobbyist 3D printer kit. Makerbot
Industries LLC (makerbot.com), MakerGear LLC (makergear.com), and Ultimaking LTD (ultimaker.
com) are currently the prominent companies catering to this new market of 3D printing hobbyists.

winter

2012

An example of a complex 3D
object: the seven-inch-tall "Talking
Head of Stephen Colbert."

theatre design

& technology

http://www.opensource.org http://www.makerbot.com http://www.makergear.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 2012