The first Bridgeport I crashed—and other shop memories

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We all get nostalgic. That song you danced to at your high school prom. A whiff of freshly cut grass, or the whisper of fall leaves. These are just a few of the triggers that set off whatever chunk of the hippocampus is responsible for the vague sense of loss that haunts us as we muse over yesteryear.

For me, the feel of a 1-in. micrometer in my hand or a glimpse of machine-tool gray equipment leaves me pining for days long past.

This is how I felt earlier today after receiving a photo of a young man standing proudly before a shiny new Bridgeport. There’s no reason to explain the background of the photo or the man’s relationship to me (I interviewed him for a magazine article). What’s important is the feeling it evoked, followed by the thought: Will some future version of me reminisce over his first 3D printing experiences like I do over my early days in the machine shop?

To put it into perspective, a Bridgeport knee mill was the first machine I ever crashed (but certainly not the last). This embarrassing incident took place in vocation-technical school, when I let the paint brush I was using to dab some sulfur-based oil on a workpiece get away from me. The cutter shattered. The brush ended up on the other end of the classroom. I was told to retake the course on machining safety.

I suppose that additive manufacturing isn’t all that different. Four decades from now, my alter ego might look back on his first crashed build. Given that 3D printers don’t have sharp tools and rotating spindles, it certainly won’t be as dramatic an event as that day in shop class forty-some years ago. But everything is relative, right?

Perhaps the growling of an overburdened stepper motor as the deposition head plows into a workpiece, the electric reek of a burned out circuit board—it’s these sounds and smells that some future Kip will yearn for as he recollects simpler times. If you’re that person, all I can say is this: Enjoy every setup, every build, and yes, every crash. Your 3D printing days will be over before you know it.