3D printing is all the rage right now. Recently, a German auto firm called EDAG made the body of a car using a 3D printer. While this may sound amazing–like we’re finally living the life imagined for us by The Jetsons, these futuristic machines have their downfalls.
Parsons The New School for Design owns seven MakerBots, a brand of 3D printers typically used by hobbyists. Six of these MakerBots are easily accessible to students. As the 3D printers are used heavily at Parsons, there have been problems with the upkeep of the expensive machines.
According to Mick Hondlik, technology management supervisor at Parsons, the MakerBots are often misused by the students and are constantly being repaired by staff technicians and student workers.
“Most users don’t take the well-being of equipment into account, only how fast they can get their own work done,” Hondlik said. “This sentiment and lack of care for equipment, and the subsequent students who want to use the machines is disappointing.”
Though MakerBots aren’t the most advanced 3D printers on the market, they cost roughly $2,000 each. In order to take care of these machines, Parsons requires that everyone who wishes to use one attend an orientation, a rule that went into effect in January 2014. Additionally, the Parsons Academic Resource Center’s website provides directions for the proper use of the printers.
The most common problem occurs when the extruder, where the hot, melted plastic comes out, gets damaged or jammed because students change the printing color using the filament. Hondlik cites this as one of the biggest flaws of the MakerBots and one that is difficult to fix.
Repairing the machines when this error occurs requires the printer to be taken apart into several pieces and cleaned using a torch and chemicals. Because of these problems, only technicians who work at the Academic Resource Center (ARC) are allowed to change the plastic for three out of the six MakerBots in the lab as an attempt to lessen the damage.
Athena Denos, who works at the ARC, has also noticed students encountering the problems mentioned by Hondlik while using the Maker Bots. However, she believes that it is important for students to learn to troubleshoot the machines themselves. “People sometimes seem disappointed that there is a degree of labor involved in the process,” she said. “Those who understand this have a lot of success and enjoyment from 3D printing.”
The reason the ARC does its own MakerBot repairs, as opposed to getting them fixed by the company directly, is because the printers would have to be shipped back and forth, which is expensive and time consuming. Additionally, when the printers require new parts, there is a time delay because there are many levels of university approval required for all purchases.
The ARC also has three other industrial level 3D printers: a Z-corp, an Objet24 and an Mcor Iris. According to Denos, they require a higher skill level to be able to use.
Born and raised in New York City, Rafaella (Raffi) is majoring in Journalism + Design at Lang. Rafaella also enjoys fashion, writing poetry, reading for pleasure, the art of drag, and listening to pop-punk!
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