Groover Labs is excited to begin opening its Maker Labs facilities by offering a roster of classes. We recently held two 3D printing class sessions to begin our education outreach. Led by Executive Director Curt Gridley and Shop Lead Jeremiah Burian, we had students with different levels of experience and a variety of goals. 

We started off each session by having everyone “kick off” a print from a set of preselected small objects downloaded from the internet, so the prints could finish during class. We have multiple 3D printers, so each student was assigned to one, and class size is limited, so students had lots of opportunity to get their questions answered. Then the group did an overview of 3D printing basics, including a high level view of how a 3D printer works, how to load filament and how to start a print, as well as a discussion of the open source slicer software we use (Cura).

One of the students had already purchased the same 3D printer that we have, so for the second class she brought it in, and our instructors helped her finish the set up and get the bed leveled. 

Curt and Jeremiah invited the students to ask questions about their particular 3D printing needs, problems, and goals, which provided an opportunity to cover a wide range of questions, possible solutions, and trouble-shooting tips.

In another session, we hosted three teachers from McAdams Academy, an alternative, trauma-informed school here in Wichita. Their school provided them with a brand of 3D printers different from ours, and they needed help getting started. Even though our printers and software are different, they left the class with an overview of the technology, general guidance on how slicer software works, how to troubleshoot, and where to look for solutions. Our instructor spent some time with their printer, so he was able to help them get started on their printer as well. Armed with this knowledge, the teachers were excited to return to their school and start working with their own printers in order to plan a class for the spring semester.

In the early days of the pandemic, Groover Labs participated in a community effort to produce PPE for first responders by printing headbands for these face shields. We ended up printing over 1,000 headbands by purchasing and activating 10 printers. The experience we gained setting up, adjusting, maintaining, and keeping all those printers running was a tremendous learning experience for us. In addition, we gained a lot of experience in using 3D printers for production by experimenting with settings and layout in order to be able to reliably produce as many acceptable headbands in as short a time as possible. 

It was rewarding to be able to share our knowledge and experience with others, and we look forward to doing more of that. Are you interested in taking a class? If so, we want to hear from you. Please contact us here. And sign up for our monthly newsletter and follow us on our social media, where we announce new classes.