about four inches thick. The process took approximately
five hours. As the print head made each pass over
the stage within the CubePro, it built a honeycomb
structure to provide support for the growing object and
to allow the machine to use less material to create the
physical number.
small paperclip.
Other UMS librarians are watching how the Blake
Library will manage the device as the experts in
information technology create pricing, rules, and
policies. Birden is making sure that people who use the
device respect copyright laws, refrain from using the
“We chose to print the “7” first because it was printer to create dangerous or offensive objects, but also
geometrically simple, and it would be easy to tell allow patrons to explore the full range of capabilities
if something was going wrong with the print job. the 3D printer brings to the region.
Once a 3D printer is up and running, it is quite user
friendly, but the initial configuration and calibration is Birden points out that the components of dangerous
meticulous work, and we needed to be able to see errors objects, such as weapons, are not obviously dangerous
and make adjustments quickly.”
or easy to identify. She said it is much like trying to
make sure someone is unable to use other books to
In another test, Bernstein had the device print a do dangerous things, such as a chemistry textbook to
miniature hand. “We chose to print the hand next, create poison. “Do we censor everything until we know
because the model was highly detailed, with lots of everything they could use it for? We are not the police.
lines and wrinkles, and we wanted to see whether the We want information, knowledge and education to be
printed object would accurately reflect the level of available to everyone.”
detail in the model. It did. Students who were passing
by during the print were transfixed by the spectacle of If successful at the Blake Library, other UMS libraries
a realistic hand slowly appearing in front of them. They may follow UMFK’s lead and install their own 3D
took a lot of pictures.”
printers for students, faculty, staff and members of the
community.
The next challenge is a life-size model of a human
heart. Once that is successful, the printer should soon
become available to the rest of the community.
“The students are extraordinarily excited,” Birden said.
She said students are planning to print masks and
prosthetics for stage productions. Biology students
intend to scan and print samples of local wildlife such
as a small model of a moose or an enlarged tick. Some
community patrons are planning to print prototypes of
inventions.
“The more we get it out to our community, we’ll get
more interest,” said Birden.
The list of students, faculty and community members
who wish to use the printer is growing, and the library is
forming policies to keep the machine safe, functioning,
and supplied with “ink”. In this case, the “ink” looks
like the spools of plastic cord reminiscent of the monofilament cord that weedwackers use.
The cost of the material is fairly expensive, at 20 cents
per gram. A single gram weighs about as much as a
68
WINTER 2016