With the publication of our Ultimate Guide to 3D Printing we learned about a growing number of hackers and makers who use the technology while on the job or just tinkering. We’ll be interviewing some of these folks to learn how they use 3D printers.
Andrew Plumb of Ottawa, ON, is a good person to start with. He’s been a contributor to open source 3D printing technology as an active MakerBot Google group and Thingiverse participant. He even owned the 9th MakerBot! Let’s find out what Andrew has to say:
JB: What fascinates you about 3D printers?
AP: Being more heavily biased toward the (electrical) engineering talents than artistic, much of what fascinates me about personal 3D printers is finally being able to make things conjured within the confines of My Brain. I code up imaginary things and make them real!
Another aspect that captivates me is the community that has grown – and continues to grow – in the various open source branches of 3D printing. Initially that community was primarily found online in the RepRap and Fab@Home parent projects. My own “formal” entry into the extended community came by way of the first batch of MakerBot Cupcake kits in 2009. At the time, being open source meant – for me – that even if it turned out to be the first, last and only batch of Cupcakes I would still have the recipe to keep it running. Four years on, the resulting hacks and upgrades keep coming from the extended community, so that logic has continued to prove itself valid. The Cupcake is dead; long live the Cupcake!