Wacky and World-Class New 3D Printers at Midwest RepRap Fest

A large 3D printed clock tower on display.

SeeMe CNC’s new Eris prototype.

A rare spotting of two Tantillus printers.

A cute CoreXZ.

The unique Walley on display.

A custom printed Taz with a few extras.

The HaqBot is more finished than its name implies.

A K’Nex built printer with a couple of its prints.

The new MendelMax3.0 looks great.

Makers Tool Works MiniMax packs a lot of printer in a low cost.

A great crowd for setup day.

The impressive Muve 3D DLP.

Setting up the Part Daddy.

The Part Daddy starting a Groot print.

The cast of the 3D Printing Round Table podcast.

Two Polar Bots showing off their unique printing method.

A perfect trash can for the event.

This past weekend, Goshen, Indiana played host to the third annual Midwest RepRap Fest (MRRF — pronounced “merf”). Goshen is also the home of SeeMeCNC, who organize MRRF — explaining why a world-class event like this takes place in such a remote location. SeeMeCNC’s hand in the event could not be more obvious than when looking out over the room at the numerous Rostock Maxes sticking up above the crowd. While many of SeeMeCNC’s machines were on display by attendees, many other machines could be spotted, including numerous custom and rare machines that don’t often appear at events. This collection of unique printers helped show how diverse and creative the RepRap community truly is.

While the show focused more on printers and less on prints, there were still some very impressive prints on display. The star was a 48″ tall clock tower printed in sections of PLA and assembled just in time for the event by Jason Preuss. The clock is a great demonstration of how larger items can be created while still using a smaller build plate. The Part Daddy, SeeMeCNC’s 16 foot tall delta printer, was running all weekend working on various large prints including a large Groot model. One of the Part Daddy’s previous prints was on display – a vase turned trash can created at last year’s World Maker Faire.

Saturday featured talks from various attendees, including Tom Marts from Taulman3D, who used the time to release his new Alloy 910. The Great Fredini presented the history of Coney Island and his 3D Scan-A-Rama project that you can check out this May at the Bay Area Maker Faire. Attendees were also treated to presentations about the Beagle Bone, MakerOS, 3D Printing in Education, the E3D extruder, and other relevant topics. The talks concluded with a 3D printing round table that SeeMeCNC recorded as part of their 3D printed podcast.

The Midwest RepRap Fest has been growing year after year, and I look forward to seeing what they have in store for us next year.