Westmount 3D News
Westmount 3D is an education program, a fundraiser, a service, this website, and more! Here are some of the current events and initiatives going on at
Westmount 3D!
Emerging from the Shadows of Covid-19 (6/20/2021)
Westmount 3D has stepped out of the greater school community as part of the measures to help curb the spread of the Virus. In hopeful anticipation of these measures being lifted for the fall we will be back in action in September 2021!
Here are some of the things we hope to see start, continue, or grow in the new school year:
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The return of the sale of fidgets and other 3D Printed items to offset the costs of 3D printer repair and filament purchases
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3D Printer assembly, maintenance and troubleshooting for families that have purchased their own printers
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MakerSpace development in conjunction with the Learning Commons - spreading 3D printing and other maker-based learning experiences throughout the school
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3D Design mini-lessons throughout the school, across all grades, to encourage interested kids to keep designing and submitted designs for printing
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And MORE! Please submit any inquiries or ideas to Mr. Keller!
Have a great summer!
New Colours! (5/10/2019)
Sales of fidgets and other prints have been going well, and we have been able to buy some more filament. Beyond simply replacing empty "spools", we were able to order some new colours as well! There are some exciting new greens and yellows to check out. We now have: Red, Blue and Navy Blue, Fluorescent Green and Green (those two are quite similar, it turns out), Yellow, Purple, White, Black, Translucent, Orange (very bright), Gold, and Silver (coming soon!).
A Note About Our Printing Plastic (PLA)
PLA stands for Polylactic acid and is made from corn starch. Lactic acid is made from Dextrose by fermentation. Dextrose is made from corn starch. PLA plastic is, therefore, both biodegradable and compostable! It also produces very few fumes, in contrast to some of the other printing materials out there.
New Printer! (5/6/2019)
Thanks to some financial help from Westmount 3D fundraising activities, and the support of the Westmount Administration Team, Westmount has purchased a new Creality Ender-3 3D Printer. This is a great, economical machine that has proven quite reliable around the world. It is also the printer that Mr. Keller uses at home! In addition to simply increasing the production capacity of Westmount 3D, this printer has a larger print volume than our other printers, allowing us to print up to 22cm x 22cm x 25cm high! The Ender 3 has also had the best success printing the extremely popular Fidget Cubes, meaning that we should be able to keep up with the growing demand for these and similar products for students. This is the driving force behind ongoing fundraising for Westmount 3D!
Westmount 3D Student Designs (4/25/2019)
As you browse this site, you will notice several designs attributed to student designers. Westmount 3D includes a growing army of Digital Design-savvy learners constantly creating and innovating. As designs are brought forward, selected ones will be added to Westmount 3D to be ordered by staff and students at a fair price that covers the cost of the materials and returns a small amount back into the program for future initiatives. In addition, student designers receive a bit of the money as a royalty. This shows them that their ideas are monetarily valuable, and that there is a market for interesting new products. Students are encouraged to continue designing on their own time and bring their ideas to Westmount 3D for troubleshooting and potential inclusion on the website!
Westmount 3D History
(4/25/2019)
Westmount 3D has been slowly growing for several years, but is starting to grow rapidly and in several exciting directions. We started out as a couple of keen (nerdy?) teachers really interested in the idea of 3D Printing and it's potential in a 21st-Century learning environment. We jumped in and the school bought us a 3D Printer and we started tackling the STEEP learning curve that comes with it. Mrs. McWhirter did a great job that year with her Junior High Option students teaching them both the design and physical printing aspects and several great products came from the program. Meanwhile, Mr. Keller started with the younger kids in the new Sparks program (Grades 4-6) with an option-like program called 3D Design. Those kids learned the basics of how 3D printers work and a lot about what 3D means and how you can use computers (and even physical media like clay) to create cool stuff in 3D. Last year, a second printer was purchased through FOWSS funding and that sparked a renewed interest around the school in the possibilities of 3D Printing. The Spark program has continued, and Mr. Keller has also started a 3D Design Option for Junior Highs this year.
With so much 3D design going on (we have had several hundred students learn how to generate digital 3D objects over the years!) it was time to expand and intensify the 3D program. Students have always been able to submit designs for possible printing, but with improved production rates it became feasible to produce extra items and put them up for sale. Our first foray into this realm was the 2018 Christmas Craft Sale, where we sold dozens of $3 fidget toys. This sparked huge interest and allowed us to start the Website in order to allow students to order fidgets and other items to be printed on demand. Students and staff are now able to order pre-designed items and even request custom designs! As the program grows, we hope to expand the possibilities for Westmount Teachers to order items to help them with instructional supplies at reduced costs compared to retails stores, provide stress-reduction and attention-enhancing items for students, and give back to our school community in many diverse ways. In addition, we are excited to watch as Westmount 3D students develop a set of technical skills that open up many doors to unlimited future possibilities!
Westmount 3D Printers (4/25/2019)
Many are curious about the machines Westmount is currently using to 3D Print.
We started with a popular machine known as the Flashforge Creator Pro. This beefy machine has many nice features and has proven quite reliable for several years. It has been finicky at times, possibly because it was our first machine and we were just learning. It continues to produce reasonable-quality prints and get things done for us to this day!
During the 2017-18 School Year, the Friends of Westmount School Society funded our proposal to add another printer to our roster. This effectively allowed for an Elementary Printer and a Jr. High Printer (although both work across the grades at any given time). We purchased the well-known MakerBot brand printer. These printers are very popular in school and are incredibly easy to set up and get started with. They are still quite finicky and can still break down (rather expensively) but it has produced a large number of quality prints in the year-or-so since it was put into service.
Finally, in late April 2019, using some of our raised funds from the sale of fidgets and other website items, we purchased the very economical but reliable Ender 3 from Creality. This printer is known for it's outstanding quality-to-price ratio. The same model has been working hard at Mr. Keller's home since December 2018 and consistently produces great prints, both small and large. This addition will allow for the MakerBot to spend some time working for the Learning Commons and a teaching machine and expands the possibilities of Westmount 3D significantly.
If you ever want to get more detailed information on any of these printers, please feel free to reach out to Mr. Keller! Be prepared for a long conversation, though!
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