My children all got together and bought me a special present for my last birthday, a 3D printer. Of course I had to make room to place it next to my computer. We bought another small table. I assembled the table and put it in between the old computer table and a little book case. There was just enough room for it to fit there. Yes, I had measured the space before we bought the table.
After the table was ready I unpacked the new printer and assembled it. Then I began reading the rest of the instruction booklet that came with it. The printer bed, where the action takes place, has to be exactly, perfectly, level. I did not own a carpenter’s level, so that was added to my shopping list. The new toy needs an electric connection. It was purchased in the US, where the standard voltage is 110. We live in Israel where the standard voltage is 220. Okay, add a transformer to the shopping list. Meanwhile the Corona pandemic has begun. We’re not going shopping.
The kids heard about the problem and one of them bought the missing items and left them on our front porch so we wouldn’t have to go out. That was fine. The new level solved one problem. But the transformer they bought was not the right size. It was too small to manage the load required. It took another month, plus, until they got a larger transformer. Chalk up another delay to COVID-19.
Now it’s all connected, and it really works. I’ve actually printed a sample test model. But the children knew that what I would want to use this printer for was to make little scale model ships. That requires an input in a new computer language that I did not know. Before I retired I was one of those Hi-Tech geeks. I was a really good programmer back then. But I never had to deal with this kind of stuff. There are programs available on-line for both creating 3D drawings and converting them to the G code that drives the new printer. I downloaded them.
Now I’m learning how to use those new programs. I’m certain that the kids wanted to give me something I would use and that would help fill in any imaginary spare time they thought might be on my hands. Well, they were right. I now find myself devoting hours to learning how to use those 3D design programs.
Wetherhorn 