Broadcast live streaming video on Ustream

The D.C. Public Library is live-streaming one of its 3-D printers in action, offering a chance to ignore work and learn a little bit more about this technology from your desk.

Adam Schaeffer, a Digital Commons library associate, aimed a camera at the printer, one of three at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library, yesterday. The issue isn’t awareness; Schaeffer said there’s already a three-week wait period to use the machines, which are constantly in use while the library is open.

Instead, he was inspired by a trip to the Bay Area Maker Faire, which showcases inventions and creativity, where he saw newer replicators with built-in cameras. These cameras allow people to use and control the printers remotely, which can save a print from a problem with the machine.

“I thought it’d be really fun to stream the printing process,” he said, “because a lot of people hear about it but don’t know what it looks like.” While it’s just a test at the moment, interest is already so high that Schaeffer thinks it will become a permanent stream.

Since they opened in July 2013, the type of items requested has changed. In the beginning people used the printer to make toys, Schaeffer said, but there’s been a gradual shift to “unique tools, parts and objects” that are original designs.

Schaeffer, who has used a printer to make bike parts including a cell-phone mount, teaches a monthly class on 3-D printing. A schedule can be seen here, and there’s no need to register. Here’s what you need and what it costs to use a printer.