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I was hesitant To get a 3D printer for my 11 year old daughter. Maybe I’m selfish, but, He loves Lots of FathersI’ve spent the entire Christmas season dreading the phrase “some assembly work needed.” I didn’t know much about 3D printing other than reading stories Backgammon players and Starbucks And its various uses. I don’t aspire to play War hammer Or start a café, and since I play and collect tools for work, I don’t enjoy doing it for fun.
But my 11 year old daughter and her friends are interested in 3D printing. They are always buying and trading 3D printed creatures. got 3D printer pen Last summer I spent a few weeks playing with it. By the time she started ordering a 3D printer, she already knew everything about it Something different and Publications She had ideas about what she wanted to print using her own machine.
If you are a technical person or have done some 3D printing yourself, you may be surprised to know that many parents are not sure they want to participate in this trend. It’s a common enough conundrum number From Reddit threads They serve as forums for adults interrogation Whether elementary school-age children can use the printer on their own. I found the answers there mostly unsatisfactory, as Redditors tended to immediately jump to semi-technical advice (“Don’t buy them a resin printer, stick with PLA, PETG and TPU!”) that doesn’t really answer the benchmark question.
In the end, I decided to go along with my daughter’s wishes and see how much trouble she would have when I could get her to work on the new device. Eligo Centauri Carbon 3D Printer. I’m happy to report that the printer is as easy to set up and operate as a printer Barbie dream house. I found it so simple, in fact, that I then agreed to a test SnapMaker U1a more advanced four-color printer. Likewise, I asked my colleague Divya Viswanathan, who was facing a similar typing push from her son, Leo Magnusson, who is in elementary school, to test out a device designed specifically for children: Toy box Printer. The Toybox proved more limited in what it could print, but was easier to handle than both the Centauri Carbon and U1, using an intuitive, kid-friendly app.
Based on our personal experience, here’s what Divya and I would like to share with other parents who are almost hesitant to introduce their children to 3D printing.
How much space does it take up?
Although I was pleasantly surprised at the ease required to set up my daughter for printing (I’ll discuss this more in a bit), I will admit that these devices are worth the space considerations. I’m sure many other parents also measure their willingness to buy any gift for their children at least in part by the amount of space the house will require.
Sure, the Centauri Carbon is a large device — about the size of a laundry basket — measuring about 20 inches long and 16 inches wide. Because 3D printers work by melting filament (in this case, PLA, which is polyester), There are fumes. It won’t cloud your house with the smell of melted plastic, but I still wouldn’t want it running in my daughter’s room all the time.
I’ve put the Centauri Carbon on an Ikea storage cabinet in my library hallway (I have a weird old house with rooms whose definitions don’t fit neatly into modern homes) and it doesn’t bother anyone. The printer sounds as loud as the dishwasher, and I can hear the fan coming from the next room when it’s running. During printing, the tool head rotates on the rails in a jerky manner; Until I mounted the cabinet to the wall, everything shook.
