Playing with Science

Eric Hanken is a fan of technology. Rumor has it he once took a three-inch-thick audio-visual manual on a ski trip. And he read it. So, it should be no surprise that he likes to have all the latest gadgets, and when you ask him how any new gadget is gonna benefit him… Hope you have a little time because Eric will be happy to tell you all about it.

Anyway, Eric’s latest toy is a 3-D printer. Anyone who hasn’t fantasized about owning one of these lacks imagination. You’ve read about them. People even make guns with them. Eric plans to make camera mounts, tripod plates, battery cases and anything else he can think of. Patterns are available online, or you can design your own project with a CAD program. Eric’s first project was a table-top camera dolly.

At $4,000 for the unit, plus materials, is this cost-effective? Eric has it all figured out. He showed me a camera mount that he made for about $100 less than retail cost to purchase one. “All I have to do is make 400 of these and I’ve recovered my investment,” he said with grin.

The unit is a Raise3D Dual Extruder Printer with High Resolution Pro 2 nozzles. This fully enclosed, industrial grade workhorse uses various grades of filament, from very cheap to very strong. The filaments come in many colors, including flexible and clear materials. This particular unit will heat up to 310 C, but some units go up to 450 C for the strongest materials. Projects take about 11 hours to print, but the user can conveniently set and monitor the project remotely on a phone app.