Jill Schramm/MDN Teen librarian Pam Carswell works with an library user’s submitted airplane design to program Minot Public Library’s 3D printer Feb. 15.

More than 250 items have rolled off Minot Public Library’s 3D printer since the machine became available for public use last March. In that time, a multitude of questions from the public about the printer have been answered by library staff, including more than 125 questions in the first seven weeks of 2019.

“It’s been a lot of fun. The kids seem to be enjoying it. The grownups are enjoying it. It’s definitely a popular service,” said teen librarian Pam Carswell.

It’s been interesting to experiment with 3D printing and discover the different tips and quirks associated with the printer, she said.

“We’ve gotten pretty good. It’s coming along,” Carswell said.

The printed projects have included items for school projects, models and radio-controlled car hobbies, key chains, figurines, camera mounts, cord guards, cookie cutters and glow-in-the-dark light switch plates.

“It’s been a variety of things. There’s been silly, vanity projects for something that sits on a desk to boat parts,” Carswell said. “You can invent things that maybe aren’t so easy to buy.”

The library purchased the Maker Bot Replicator Mini+ with a $4,200 grant from Best Buy, which also has been providing support in using the printer. A typical small project costs a library user in the range of $2 to $4.

The printer uses polylactic acid polymer, made from renewable plant material that is food safe. The filament comes as plastic string on a spool. The library has filament in about 10 colors.

The filament runs through an extruder, where it is heated and melted. The printer lays a test strip and then creates a “raft” or a base for the item to be printed, which helps ensure stability on the plate. The raft later can be removed from the item.

The printer has about a 5-inch build plate. If larger items are desired, the item can be printed in pieces and later glued or otherwise fashioned together.

People can design their 3D projects at the library or do it from home and email the design for printing. The library has held a number of classes for youth and adults on 3D printing and encourages people to try out Thingiverse.com for premade designs. To customize a design, users can transfer an existing design to TinkerCAD, a free web-based design program for altering designs from other sites or creating your own.

Carswell said the library typically has a project submitted for printing every week. Some projects might take less than an hour to print while others generate several hours of robotic squeaks and squeals from the printer at work.

Carswell prints with the portable printer in the main part of the library.

“That way everybody in the library can enjoy watching it, and we get more questions that way,” she said.