Community Update

3D PRINTING COMES TO SUFFOLK COUNTY LIBRARIES





3D printing has come to the Libraries of Suffolk County. Each week until year’s end two Suffolk libraries will feature the MakerBot 3D printer for their communities to see and use. 3D printing is a revolutionary new way to create objects, yet has been called a technology even a toddler can appreciate.





3D printers provide a fast and easy way for anyone to create a three-dimensional model of virtually any shape from scratch. Real-life objects are scanned using a camera and two lasers to create a digital file without the need for design or 3D software experience. These machines are used to jump start the modeling and prototyping process and create artworks, sculptures and figurines, jewelry, and toys, as well as memorializing keepsakes. The medical community is even using this technology for body parts.





Using an additive process, successive layers of material are laid down in different shapes. Each of these printed layers is a thinly-sliced, horizontal cross-section of the eventual finished object. Imagine a multi-layer cake, with the baker laying down each layer one at a time until the entire cake is formed. 3D printing is somewhat similar.





Recently at the Bayport-Blue Point Library a group of more than 20 children witnessed a demonstration of the MakerBot 3D printer. To begin the program Gail Reed showed the kids a You Tube Video called “Why I Love My 3D printer, and You Will Too (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3p0HG0RZSLc).





To further whet their appetites, Ms. Reed then read a portion of “LEO the Maker Prince: Journeys in 3D Printing” before demonstrating the MakerBot for the group. While the machine reproduced a type of ancient wind instrument called an ocarina, the boys and girls scanned a plastic dinosaur into the computer for the MakerBot to print. One boy said the ocarina was now his favorite instrument. A young girl tried to figure out what type of dinosaur was being scanned.



Each child was then given their own piece of clay (which at first glance some mistook for cheese) and was asked to form an object they would like the MakerBot to produce.




What are the practical applications for 3D printing? Let’s say you need a part for your washing machine. In the past you would order from your repairman who gets it from a distributor, who got it shipped from China where they mass-produced thousands of them at once from a very expensive mold. With the advent of 3D printing you will simply print the part right in your home from a CAD file you download.





3D printing may be coming to a library near you. The schedule for the remainder of the year follows:





July 11- July 25 – Sachem and Westhampton





July 25 - August 8 – Sayville and Comsewogue





August 8 - August 22 – Brentwood and Emma S. Clark





August 22 - September 5 – Floyd Memorial and Rogers Memorial





September 5 - September 19 – South Country and Commack





September 19 - October 3 – Haborfields and North Shore





October 3 - October 17 – Mastics Moriches Shirley and Smithtown





October 17 - October 31 – Babylon and Smithtown





October 31 - November 14 – Emma S. Clark and Islip





November 14 - November 28 – Cold Spring Harbor and West Islip





November 28 - December 12 – Copiague and Amagansett





December 12 - December 26 – Center Moriches and Deer Park





Come to the any of these libraries and see for yourself!!