Last month I received a donation from Jim DeVaney who works at TCS Inc. in Rochester NY. They had two MakerBot Replicator II printers headed for the scrap heap. Jim contacted me and asked if I could get them running. If so, he would like to see them donated to an appropriate Geneva School program. Well, I am pleased to announce the first one was fixed and received by Mr. Mauchly at the Geneva Middle School. Mr. Mauchly is the Technology Teacher. After we set up the MB Rep II, he mentioned his V5 Replicator was a nightmare to operate and swap filament. I took a look, found the problem and spent some time with him. After a crash course in MakerBot (direct extrusion based) tips and tricks, including some basics in the material science of PLA and PETG, he is now running on all cylinders with both printers operating as intended. It was very exciting to see the kids buzz around the printers as we ran some test files. The 3D program was largely stalled due to major short comings with MakerBot’s Customer training and educational support. It is that reason why I am starting this effort to get 3D printing and operation running in educational settings. There is a large gap in the customer support and training. That gap is where FLX3D comes in. I provide some infill for those gaps (3D printing joke).
