For the past 2 years, I wasn’t really sure of where to keep my classroom’s 3D printer. It lived on a cart in a closet and got wheeled in and out of my classroom when I needed it. Unfortunately, sometimes that meant “out of sight, out of mind.” I’d go a couple of weeks without seeing it and would forget to wheel it back into my room, losing out on precious 3D printing time!
Last year, I had the great pleasure of visiting Ms. Bridges‘ STEM Lab at Norton Middle School. She had such an ingenious setup for her 3D printers and inspired me to build my own. I improvised on the setup, using what was available to me. I liked the idea of building with filing cabinets to protect the 3D printer and provide storage. Thankfully, my department chair was on board and we only needed to buy 2 small filing cabinets! My husband built the 2 end supports out of MDF. I trekked all over Home Depot to figure out what would be best to use for the pole. I decided on EMT conduit. I now have my 3D printer sitting on low filing cabinets between higher filing cabinets. The filament spools are suspended above on the conduit, feed right down into the 3D printer from above, and can slide back and forth as needed. I LOVE how it came out!
Here is the first item printed on the new 3D printer workstation, a fancy yellow and blue traffic cone:
I can’t wait to see what my students create this year!