Maker Spotlight: Captain Kearn - From a $3,000 Workshop to $8,000 and a 4-Foot Enterprise
By MakerViking
Published
Updated
8 min read
Category: Maker Spotlight
A $3,000 project that ended up over 8 Grand. I learned that I have my wife's full backing for my endeavors. She believes in my dreams.
<h2 class="font bold" <strong How did you first discover 3D printing, and what was your "aha" moment that made you realize this was more than just a hobby?</strong </h2 <p class="mb 2" I discovered 3D Printing over 15 years ago. I was visiting a factory plant for a wireless radio company and during the tour they showcased a Stratasys Fortus 450mc that they used to prototype enclosures and cases for their wireless radios. That one single interaction showed me that plastic manufacturing was the future, and then about 5 years after that I discovered I could do it too. It was then I bought my first of many Ender 3 printers.</p <img src="https://api.tinkeratlas.com/storage/v1/object/public/project images/articles/70aec187 0e8f 4711 b925 a50e749f3deb/1764092565379 yi1enb.jpg" alt="" height="auto" <h2 class="font bold" <strong Walk us through your current workspace setup what machines, tools, and software form the backbone of your making process?</strong </h2 <p class="mb 2" Well as you know I just built a new workshop. It's a 13x22 building that is insulated and has heat and AC as well as humidity control. The workshop starts off with a 3018S Pro CNC, tiny little machine that I'm learning CAM on. Then we goto My Anycubic Photon Mono 4 Resin Printer. Afterwards we have The Ender 6 Project machine that will end up as an Ender 6 Mercury 1+. Then the Anycubic Kobra S1, my multicolor workhorse, followed by my Flashforge AD5M, then 2 Ender 3 Max Neo's, as well as the DuEnder Project that will be reformed into the Enderon (Ender Voron) Project soon. I mostly use Orca Slicer, OBS, Streamlabs OBS, and Fusion 360 for software. The Workshop has my entire set of tools in it to get things done.</p <h2 class="font bold" <strong What's the project you're most proud of, and why does it stand out among everything you've created?</strong </h2 <p class="mb 2" That's a hard question to answer honestly, I love all the starships I have printed, the first is my biggest and even though I no longer have it is special to me. A 4 foot scale model of the USS Enterprise D.</p <h2 class="font bold" <strong Describe a spectacular failure or challenge you've faced in your making journey and what it taught you.</strong </h2 <p class="mb 2" Ohh I've had lots of failures. The largest to date that taught me the most is honestly the workshop itself. A $3,000.00 project that ended up over 8 Grand total cost. Nearly 3 times the amount, it hurt to spend all that extra money I hadn't accounted for, when it could have been used on my family, and other projects. I learned that I have my wife's full backing for my endeavors as she insisted that we finish it. And she believes in my dreams.</p <img src="https://api.tinkeratlas.com/storage/v1/object/public/project images/articles/70aec187 0e8f 4711 b925 a50e749f3deb/1764092594968 lcapur.jpg" alt="" height="auto" <h2 class="font bold" <strong What misconception about 3D printing or making do you find yourself constantly correcting when talking to newcomers?</strong </h2 <p class="mb 2" That is a great question and honestly, the same misconceptions pop up over and over when people first get into 3D printing or making. Here's one I find myself correcting all the time. Most newcomers think you unbox the printer, hit "print," and perfect parts come out. The fact is there IS learning involved with this industry/hobby. And a lot of it. Understanding the slicer software is a huge one, as well as taking into account the environment you are printing in. AND the biggest not all filaments act the same, even different brands of PLA print differently.</p <hr <h2 class="font bold" <strong What's your go to troubleshooting process when a print goes wrong, and what's the most unusual fix you've discovered?</strong </h2 <p class="mb 2" My step by step process is simple.</p <ul <li <p class="mb 2" Clean the print bed dish soap and warm water</p </li <li <p class="mb 2" Check the print config and tram the bed and reslice</p </li <li <p class="mb 2" If that doesn't work DRY the filament again if needed.</p </li <li <p class="mb 2" Use a different filament spool.</p </li </ul <h2 class="font bold" <strong How do you approach the design to print workflow? Do you design everything yourself, remix existing models, or combine approaches?</strong </h2 <p class="mb 2" I create a lot of functional items, I'm garbage at creating/sculpting other items. I have a lot of remixes of things, and do use a lot of other's designs.</p <h2 class="font bold" <strong What material or technique do you think is underrated in the maker community, and how do you use it in your work?</strong </h2 <p class="mb 2" ABS+ is my goto for most prints, it is strong, cheap, and weathers well.</p <hr <img src="https://api.tinkeratlas.com/storage/v1/object/public/project images/articles/70aec187 0e8f 4711 b925 a50e749f3deb/1764093420521 evqlev.jpg" alt="" height="auto" <h2 class="font bold" <strong How has being part of the maker community shaped your approach to creating and sharing your work?</strong </h2 <p class="mb 2" Being part of the community has helped me understand that I'm not alone. So many people have pounded that into my head recently. I've had many projects fail recently and the encouragement and help from all of my maker friends has pushed me to keep moving forward.</p <h2 class="font bold" <strong What advice would you give to someone who's interested in making but feels overwhelmed by the technical learning curve?</strong </h2 <p class="mb 2" Take it slow, it will be frustrating at times, but seeing that perfect end result is well worth it.</p <h2 class="font bold" <strong Where do you see personal fabrication and 3D printing heading in the next 5 years, and how are you preparing for those changes?</strong </h2 <p class="mb 2" This is the major question. Here is my forward looking view of where personal fabrication and 3D printing are heading in the next 5 years and how creators, makers, and hobbyists can prepare.</p <p class="mb 2" I believe we will see hobby printers capable of printing multiple filaments at once, but a mix machines that will be able to do FDM and CNC on the fly. What does this mean? Functional, end use parts will become the norm in everyday households. Your printer becomes an actual manufacturing machine, not just a toy.</p <p class="mb 2" Makers can prepare by learning CAD systems that support multi material separation, Practicing tolerances for hybrid prints, Understanding material properties beyond PLA</p <p class="mb 2" AI Driven Design and Slicing, AI will reshape the design side more dramatically than the machines themselves, optimizing models, faster model generation and accuracy is coming. We can expect tools that can Generate ready to print optimized models from prompts, Auto optimize print orientation, supports, infill, and strength, Predict print failures before you hit "Start"</p <p class="mb 2" Makers can prepare by getting comfortable with parametric modeling (Fusion, Onshape, etc.), Using AI as a co designer, not a replacement. Learning how to evaluate AI generated parts for real world use. Resin Printing Will Get Cleaner, Safer, and Easier, new resins: low odor, biodegradable, less toxic. New printers: fully enclosed, auto cleaning, auto refill.</p <p class="mb 2" Makers can prepare by gaining experience with photopolymer now. Understanding curing profiles, mechanical properties, and resin variants.</p <p class="mb 2" As I stated before, we're already seeing combination machines (print + mill + laser engrave), but in 5 years, we will see. Stronger toolheads, automated tool changing, more industrial level precision in consumer machines.</p <p class="mb 2" Makers can prepare by learning the fundamentals of subtractive manufacturing (CNC, CAM paths), starting with small hybrid machines to build intuition, understanding workholding, tolerances, feed rates etc.</p <p class="mb 2" I also believe that materials will explode in variety, think beyond PLA, PETG, and ABS. More affordable High strength fiber composites, Engineering grade elastomers, Bio based materials, Recyclable closed loop filament systems and TRUE Food safe and medical safe materials</p <p class="mb 2" I predict that in 5 years personal fabrication moves into homes like inkjet printers once did. Millions of households will have a 3D printer as casually as a microwave. But that also means, stronger demand for "push button" reliability, more embedded firmware features, true intelligent auto tuning, and plug and play quality without deep tinkering</p <hr <img src="https://api.tinkeratlas.com/storage/v1/object/public/project images/articles/70aec187 0e8f 4711 b925 a50e749f3deb/1764093561620 95o58u.jpg" alt="" height="auto" <h2 class="font bold" <strong What's currently on your workbench or in your print queue that has you excited?</strong </h2 <p class="mb 2" The Enderon Project, just waiting to hear from a few hopeful sponsors for a few parts.</p <h2 class="font bold" <strong Outside of making, what influences or inspires your creative process?</strong </h2 <p class="mb 2" My mother always called it MacGyverism. I've always wanted to understand how things were built and would tear them down and rebuild them. Many times I would make things better, finding flaws and or shortcuts that were taken in the original design.</p <h2 class="font bold" <strong If you could only keep three tools/machines in your workshop, what would they be and why?</strong </h2 <p class="mb 2" Funny enough it would be an Ender 3, although slow, they are easy to repair. Then would be my digital calipers, they are a must for measuring anything precisely. Lastly? That would be the 3018 CNC, learning both FDM and CNC is a must for any maker.</p <hr <img src="https://api.tinkeratlas.com/storage/v1/object/public/project images/articles/70aec187 0e8f 4711 b925 a50e749f3deb/1764093672468 jx9nzb.jpg" alt="" height="auto" <h2 class="font bold" <strong Lightning Round</strong </h2 <p class="mb 2" <strong Favorite filament brand and why in 10 words or less:</strong PolyMaker, the selection of colors and types.</p <p class="mb 2" <strong Most underrated tool under $50 every maker should own:</strong A Deburring Tool</p <p class="mb 2" <strong STL/model website you visit most frequently:</strong Most recently Makerworld</p <p class="mb 2" <strong Dream tool or machine you'd buy with unlimited budget:</strong 5 Head PRUSA XL</p <p class="mb 2" <strong Most played podcast/YouTube channel while working in the shop:</strong Ohh a fun one.. Cutting Edge Engineering <a target=" blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="text blue 600 hover:text blue 800 dark:text blue 400 dark:hover:text blue 200 underline cursor pointer transition colors" href="https://www.youtube.com/@CuttingEdgeEngineering" https://www.youtube.com/@CuttingEdgeEngineering</a </p <p class="mb 2" <strong First thing you ever 3D printed vs. most recent print:</strong A test cube, Kick PI 3b Enclosure</p <p class="mb 2" <strong Slicer of choice and one setting everyone should tweak:</strong OrcaSlicer Tree Supports as Default.</p <p class="mb 2" <strong Biggest "maker sin" you're guilty of:</strong Everyone already knows that my ADHD keeps a tons of unfinished projects around.</p <p class="mb 2" <strong One maker/creator everyone should be following right now:</strong <a target=" blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="text blue 600 hover:text blue 800 dark:text blue 400 dark:hover:text blue 200 underline cursor pointer transition colors" href="https://www.youtube.com/@projectsindadsgarage" https://www.youtube.com/@projectsindadsgarage</a </p <p class="mb 2" <strong Your maker superpower in 3 words:</strong Iterate. Solve. Create.</p
