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It is almost consistently warm enough in Chicago to continue with the solar oven trials. Thinking about last year’s trials, I realized that the solar oven peformed best during the first day on the ground in the park. It makes sense to return to the park this year. A means of transporting the oven to the park is needed. Since I had four empty filament spools and remembering Chuck’s Spool racer, my thoughts went toward making a wagon. I have a hand truck that converts to a 4-wheel platform cart, but it’s not something I would want to push to a park. A wagon could be the best transport for the oven, I thought and set about searching for methods of making a wagon. I found a video on the Popular Mechanics YouTube channel that provided the best information for the type of wagon I intended to make.

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Creality CR-10 Mini printing part of a table top

“…we’re getting to a point where people understand that 3D printing doesn’t exist for the sake of 3D printing. It’s a tool that unleashes creativity. It’s an instrument that enables all of us to become digital craftsmen.”
Avi Reichental (cited by Davies, Leaders of the New School…, March 29, 2019: TCT MAG)

3D printing has really branched out in the past few years. One of the branches, Desktop Additive Manufacturing (AM), has symbolically climbed only one rung of a ladder to the heights it is capable of reaching. Not everything can be made by 3D printing; yet, a lot of what is used in a home, for example, can be made there and customized to fit the aesthetics of the person doing the printing.

Home products are the main focus of my 3D printing efforts, as I do not have space for an adequate wood workshop, but I do have space for a desktop printer. My prints are all made with filaments that are non-toxic after printing. I have an enclosure for my printer and a nano air purifier to handle ultrafine particles emitted by the printer’s hot end. The printer and its accessories integrate suitably into my living space.

My main goals for this blog are to share my work; inspire others to design and print low-out-gassing home products; promote desktop additive manufacturing as a means to improving life quality; and disseminate information important to Digital Craftspeople. I look forward to having meaningful interactions with others interested in desktop additive manufacturing.