3D printing, something that has existed for a while now but yet it’s not used that much. I have worked with 3D printers for school projects in the past but not really that much. My first day here at my internship Johan gave me a Dutchy 3D printer to take home and use so I could get familiar with it. What I can say is that as-once as you really use a printer you can fully understand it. I quickly learned what is and what is not possible or easy to print. I printed day in and out making and testing things to print such as a lion skull and many other things. This resulted in success but also in quite a few failures and I ran out of filament before I realised it. As once as I had to start buying the filament myself I was a bit more careful with the size of my prints.
More about the Dutchy its a small compact printer fully built of aluminium with a bed of 20x20cm and 20 high. At first this might seem small but it’s more than enough. You’ll barely ever need to print with a bigger volume. Bigger, would also take a lot of time and material. The current model of the printer has a himera print head which allows you to print with even finer detail. All the aluminium parts have been anodised black and green giving it a nicer and finished look. There is also a cart available for the Dutchy making it very easy to transport with all the necessities for a good print. Besides the cart there is a box to put the Dutchy in that reduces print sound and keeps the environment warmer for an even better print.
Initially the Dutchy had been designed for schools as it is very easy to take around with its built on handle. But it also proved to be sufficient for companies that need to prototype parts. The Dutchy is still getting small upgrades here and there but overall it’s a great printer. It is maybe not the printer you’ll get as a hobbyist but it is a printer that stands up to modern needs.
I really appreciate receiving a Dutchy printer as compensation for my time as intern, it really allowed me to test and print things I would otherwise never. Further more it will surely help me with school projects in the future. Also I can now have models I make on my laptop in real life in a matter of hours. It’s really interesting and cool to think that I can make almost anything that comes to mind and just print it!
Here are some things I have printed, as you can see with the T-rex skull I started to print smaller things. The planes where printed piece by piece but are fly-able and made from a special kind of filament, lightweight PLA. This makes that they are very light. More about them on my other blog posts.
For more information on the Duthy visit their site at ( https://www.dutchy3d.nl )
