3-D Printer

The Bayard Taylor Library in Kennett has just acquired a MakerBot Replicator 2, a super-duper 3-D printer, and on Monday afternoon I got to watch it in operation.
Although it's called a printer, what this thing actually does is to lay down not ink, but thin layer on top of thin layer of molten plastic to form a shape, the exact dimensions of which are set by a computer program. What it reminded me of was a high-tech, more precise version of a pastry bag or a hot glue gun.
Library employee Ivy was kind enough to walk me through how the printer works. First the machine heated the biodegradable blue plastic filament (it looked like weed-whacker line) to 230 degrees centigrade ("Please wait while I heat my extruder," it informed us).
Ivy selected "Shark" as the product to be made. The machine's little platform rose (like Igor hoisting Frankenstein's monster up into the thunderstorm) and the "printer" started forming the shark, layer after layer, moving in a delicate zigzag to create the creature's teeth. As it worked it made beeping noises ("rather C3PO-ish," commented Library Director Donna Murray).

I stood there gawping in amazement during the 15 minutes it took to form my little shark (you can see it being formed right under the "hot surface" sign). The experience reminded me of the injection-molding machine that enchanted my brother and me at a Florida amusement park 30 years ago (we had it make a Yeti) -- except there's no mold involved in this; the product just forms before your eyes.
Ivy said that, being self-described geeks, she and her boyfriend first experimented with programs to make "the nerdiest things we could find," like robots and "Star Wars" and "Dr. Who" characters (Donna proudly showed me her blue Tardis, the time machine from the "Dr. Who" series). But imagine the possibilities: this thing can create customized cookie cutters, or tools, or toys, or Christmas ornaments.
I've included a photo of the completed shark next to my guinea pig Binnie for size comparison.
An anonymous benefactor donated the $2,800 machine to the library -- "he told me, `Buy one and send me the bill,'" said Donna -- and Ivy is planning to hold several introductory classes for the public. Patrons will be able to bring their own premade programs on a storage card or transmitted wirelessly or "mess around with something they've found," she said.
Bayard Taylor is the first public library in Pennsylvania to have a 3-D printer, and she hopes it will attract new patrons. Anybody interested can email her at btmlteens@gmail.com