There is a tale I loved as a child, called “The Rabbit and the Turtle.” The rabbit charged ahead but then decided to take a nap under a tree. I fancied myself more as the turtle– putting one foot ahead of the other, never stopping, never giving up, and never losing sight of the goal, no matter how far it seemed. Guess who won?

I downloaded the STL files from Thingiverse, scaled them to 60% (for fitting in the gumball capsule) while keeping other settings default (20% filling, generate raft & support), and decided to test print the relatively complex-looking bottom piece on two separate printers: the Form1+ and the MakerGear.

Early Saturday afternoon, I walked into the OEDK, with my shoulders light and free of Sunday night anxiety. I headed straight for the Maker Bar, hoping to pick up and post-process my two prints. To my surprise, someone had already removed and processed my Form1+ piece– bath, UV light and all! The quality of the print was astounding. Unfortunately, however, everything left out in the open is seen as public property to toy with, and my poor lil’ piece didn’t make it through completely intact.

On the other hand, my MakerGear piece turned out great (with supports easily removed), so I went ahead and printed the rest of my pieces.

Note: One computer connects to two printers, so make sure it’s connected to the right one (clear top, desired filament color, etc.).

In the meanwhile, I also found a lab assistant to swipe me into the wet lab and show me how to use one of the higher quality 3D printers in there, in this case the Objet260. The machine looked fancy and the instruction sheet looked intimidating, but hey, it was actually quite simple to operate. I set all pieces to the white, hard material (a squishy black one is also available!), choosing a glossy finish for the shell while keeping everything else matte. Then I queued my file, looked around, and found that there was nothing I could do but wait.

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Hmm, but just a sec– given this opportunity, why don’t I try the Ultimaker 3 too? So I did. Setup through Cura is similar to Simplify3D (used for the MakerGear), but the print time read… 2 hr 16 min?! Double that of the two I’ve done before. More waiting ensues.

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And the Objet260 is done! Fresh out of the printer, each of the pieces was coated in a soft, jelly-like substance (think The Office jello prank), but a quick waterjet job blasted the jelly into oblivion (if only Dwight could try it), leaving the printed parts clean and intact.

This one cost about $12 according to the cost estimator. The layers are refined (barely visible, in fact), and while I didn’t quite like the slightly tacky feeling of the glossy finish, the turtle came together very nicely overall. The MakerGear one, in contrast, might just cost about $5, with visible layers and some tiny protrusions/holes, but the hardness of the material gives the legs more bounce, and coupled with its bright colors, this one may have just won over my heart a little bit more.

And let’s not forget my final turtle! The Ultimaker 3 print came out with an entire film over the base. It was difficult to get off. Exceedingly so. I chiseled away at it with a scraper and a small flat headed screwdriver the best I could, but the intricate spring part of the legs were irrevocably fused. Judging by the fine layers, this print likely costs somewhere between the former two, around $8-$9. (Wow, getting these from the gumball machine for a quarter is definitely a steal!)

3D printing really does take it slow. But even putting aside manufacturing concerns like cost and time, the customization, the ease, the fun of it all– this thing’s got a future. It’s not quite in its final form yet, but it’s getting there, step by step by step…