New build with children

My children have decided on our next project, and they want us to build a 3D printer. We have done extensive work with the Raspberry Pi, including plenty of electronics, soldering, and circuit board work. We have a decent electronics and woodworking workshop, and love to take things on. I've done extensive reading on this site and think the best way for us to proceed is by purchasing a kit. I'm thinking the Prusa i3, but I am open to suggestions. We have no real significant "requirements" for what we want to print. I suspect it will be used for prototyping all sorts of things, christmas presents, etc.

Any suggestions on how to proceed would be greatly appreciated. My most important criteria, with the kids involved, is that we end up with a successful project. We are, however, not afraid to have failures (or the occasional burnt fingers from the soldering iron). Failing is how we learn..

Thank you in advance,
Matt

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/28/2014 07:23PM by mappler.

Great idea!
How old are your kids?

Hi
I have the i3 and it's kinda more pro than fun, did you checked the SmartRap? easier to build, less parts, assembled from plastic, easier to operate and use (from my opinion).

good luck

My kids are 12 and 10.

I had not seen the SmartRap. We will look at that as well.

My grandson is 10 and I started with building a CNC machine with 3D printing head. However I screwed up, the project has gone a year, and the CNC works but I still don't have it printing so he has lost interest. I am working at getting him back involved but I am not sure it is going to happen.

That's great your kids are paying attention to all that Mappler. It certainly will be part of their future. My son is 10 and I cant get him interested in whatever I am doing yet. he is deep into minecraft and learning to code so I'm letting him run with that cuz dad needs help in the code department. I was helping him with his homework tonight and was surprised they are teaching him what a basic electrical circuit is. 5th grade? they didn't teach me that in 5th grade.

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Bill Clark
That's great your kids are paying attention to all that Mappler. It certainly will be part of their future. My son is 10 and I cant get him interested in whatever I am doing yet. he is deep into minecraft and learning to code so I'm letting him run with that cuz dad needs help in the code department. I was helping him with his homework tonight and was surprised they are teaching him what a basic electrical circuit is. 5th grade? they didn't teach me that in 5th grade.

No, they didn't teach electronics in my 5th grade either. I have definitely had to modify my projects to focus on ones that catch their interest. However, finding something that they are interested in is sometimes hard. I send them e-mail all the time with cool projects hoping to inspire something. I find that, for the 10-year old boy, if it is a project that he can make for someone else, particularly a gift for Mom, he is very interested. The 12-year old girl is more interested in any project that allows her to blend technology with creativity. This has been tough for me to learn, because I don't feel I am particularly creative. I think this is her interest in a 3D printer. She has ordered a few items printed commercially, and she likes the creative process.

They both like using the soldering iron, multimeter, and other electronics tools.
They REALLY enjoy using any woodworking power tools they are allowed to use. Jig saw, bandsaw, and drill press are great tools for kids from a safety perspective.

-Matt

That's really great that they are into that and not other more meaningless endeavours (video games, etc). My 6 year old has an interest in what I do but he's not yet old enough to really get it.

Ha! Who said they aren't into video games!!! This is the motivation for most of their programming learning. Everything in balance.
-Matt

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Bill Clark
That's great your kids are paying attention to all that Mappler. It certainly will be part of their future. My son is 10 and I cant get him interested in whatever I am doing yet. he is deep into minecraft and learning to code so I'm letting him run with that cuz dad needs help in the code department. I was helping him with his homework tonight and was surprised they are teaching him what a basic electrical circuit is. 5th grade? they didn't teach me that in 5th grade.

If you want to try a round-about way to get your son more interested in 3D printing, you can try printing one of his minecraft creations with printcraft.

[www.printcraft.org]

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/03/2014 04:21PM by PeteD.

Pete, that's funny you mentioned that. We were talking the other day about him selling an "intro" and "outro" package with a minecraft 3D printed figurine. He's all about making money. my little entrepreneur. FYI, intro outros are video clips he prepares for others. I'll show him the link. Thanks

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/03/2014 06:51PM by Bill Clark.

This weekend we had the opportunity to attend a local Maker Fair. Many 3D printers were on display, many of which were MendalMax 2's or derivatives of that design. I can see why we may ultimately want an MM2. However, I think for the first version the kids build I was even more convinced the Prusa i3 is a good place to start. They are interested not just in the novelty of things, but they truly want to use it as a tool in other things they are experimenting with. The cost difference between the Prusa and the MM2 is significant (probably $500-$700 additional), and I would rather they build the cheaper one first and see how much use it gets. I think we are very close to pulling the trigger on a kit or parts to get started.

-Matt

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mappler
This weekend we had the opportunity to attend a local Maker Fair. Many 3D printers were on display, many of which were MendalMax 2's or derivatives of that design. I can see why we may ultimately want an MM2. However, I think for the first version the kids build I was even more convinced the Prusa i3 is a good place to start. They are interested not just in the novelty of things, but they truly want to use it as a tool in other things they are experimenting with. The cost difference between the Prusa and the MM2 is significant (probably $500-$700 additional), and I would rather they build the cheaper one first and see how much use it gets. I think we are very close to pulling the trigger on a kit or parts to get started.

-Matt

At the MidWest RepRap fest there were a couple of Mendel Max 2.0 printers and a few i3 printers also... the guys with the Prusa i3s were getting excellent prints, as good or better than the MM2... so it's going to be a matter of how well you fabricate or how well you assemble a kit that is going to make a difference. Probably can't go much wrong with either... Don't rule out a Delta style bot... the SeeMe CNC Orion printer kits were darned nice for the $$$... and are just facinating to watch and get great results with.

I have to admit, the Delta style printers are awesome to watch in motion. They really are fascinating.

The good news is that whatever style printer you choose, you can reuse the electronics / stepper motors and lots of the hardware if you choose to change from one style of printer to another.

My girls are 12 and 8 and my 12 year old has been doing some C programming with me and loving it. We chose the Aruduino starter kits but also have a robot that we are playing with as well. Not sure if it is a doing stuff with Dad thing that is keeping the interest but just seeing 3 led's blinking causes her plenty of excitement.

Once all the parts for my delta printer are in hand I am sure I will get both kids to help build it. The eldest wants me to print the Eifel Tower and the youngest a castle for her Friends Lego.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/10/2014 08:34PM by d3delta3d.

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My delta build blogspot [d3delta3d.blogspot.com.au]

Custom Delta printer
300x500 build volume
magnetic effector
Smoothieboard controlled

That is fantastic! I hope they stay excited!
I've been thinking about one of those Roomba Create robots that you can hook to a Raspberry Pi or Arduino (or both I'm sure) to experiment with.

I am a retired engineer and one of the reasons for building a 3d printer, apart from being facinated by the technology, was to involve my grandson who is just 6 years old. My longer term plan was for both of us to build the inmoov robot together.
However, after an initial surge of interest, he has switched off a bit. He is very much hands on though. He has used my wood lathe and I have taught him to solder, but with 3d printing, there is nothing much for him to do. Maybe a bit too young. Older kids, that can do coding as mentioned, can then actually design and build their own things.

Is your 6 yr old grandson into minecraft at all? If so, you should have a look at this site:

[www.printcraft.org]

-Matt

Thanks Matt. I will look into it.

Wow! You are a great father. I think that your kids are really happy to do that together with you. I have a son too, he is 6 years old, so, he is too young for 3d printers. We are playing Minecraft together for now, he really likes this game. I allow him to play because it's developing his creative skills. I have created a server, by using a minecraft server hosting, special for him and me. He is so happy when he plays together with his father ^_^

@blackd1 -- you're behaving like a SEO-spammer, so tagged ...

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Viktor
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Aufruf zum Projekt "Müll-freie Meere" - [reprap.org] -- Deutsche Facebook-Gruppe - [www.facebook.com]

Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - [reprap.org]

Good catch VDX. He only linked to a Minecraft server url while commenting on a 6 year old thread. You might just delete that post.

... I'm waiting on his/her/its next posts to decide, if removing the account too

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Viktor
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Aufruf zum Projekt "Müll-freie Meere" - [reprap.org] -- Deutsche Facebook-Gruppe - [www.facebook.com]

Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - [reprap.org]