3-D Printer Update

The 3-D printer is alive and well. I have been in contact with the resident 3-D printer expert named Ethan at the Idea Foundry. He looked the machine over and concluded that the physical machine itself is functioning correctly. There seems to be a conflict between the mother board and the extruder board. I got the machine to heat up, calibrate, and compile a print - but it hangs up before actually printing anything. I went to their 3-D meet last night and got to watch some different kinds of printers in action. They were also having a Christmas ornament contest. One guy had printed a miniature version of his 3-D printer - complete with a movable build platform and a tiny spool of filament. I saw a variety of prints: a geometric flower vase, a functional desklamp, bottle openers, bunnies, a set of nude female torso models in different sizes, a tiny bust of yoda, and a bird print that was about 1/4" tall. I hope to get the software issue solved so we can all use the machine next semester.