Manufacturing the Future

DAYTON-When Corey Suffield graduated from Dayton High School in 1998 he was looking for a career in video production.

Twenty years later, Suffield operates a successful computer repair business in an office inside Suffield's Furniture, his parents' furniture and appliance store on Dayton's Main Street.

While that is not surprising, considering that Suffield has been fascinated with "electronics, computers and motor control stuff" for as long as he can remember, it is pretty remarkable that he is making items for use in his office on a 3D printer that he built himself.

None of that is surprising to his mother Carolyn, who thinks he is "pretty smart."

Suffield agreed. "I am pretty smart. Plus, I just like to figure things out."

Suffield said he studied graphic design at a small school in Tempe, Arizona, which he incorporates into his work.

He said he learned the most about computers from a stint at Sykes in Milton-Freewater, working as a phone computer technician."I was basically building computers from the ground up," he said.

After that there were other jobs. Then he went off to Portland Community College to study computer animation. That was where he learned about computer modeling and began thinking about 3D printing and 3D animation.

This was also where he was introduced to microcontrollers, which are used to make lights blink, create sound, and which can be plugged into a television for graphics on a screen.

He said, "It had a creative element to it, and I thought, "How can you use it?"

Back in Dayton, Suffield was invited by retired DHS Ag teacher, Gordon Gerlitz, to perform computer maintenance, with him.

"It kinda blew his mind that I knew as much as he did about computer hardware stuff," said Suffield. "And then, in 2013, I got a call from the Dayton High School Ag teacher, Steve McLean. The Robotics department needed some help with the computer side of it. Without the computers and software, it ain't movin'."

Suffield said he was given a short time frame to work on that, but he was "well versed" and able to figure it out within a couple of weeks before the team attended the F.I.R.S.T. Robotics competition in Cheney.

"In the meantime, Windows 10 came out and Gerlitz handed the reins of his business over to me," said Suffield.

Suffield said 3D printing started to become widely discussed on the Internet around the year 2000, beginning with Reprap, the "grandfather" of 3D printing.

"It was somewhat primitive. Now it is more-well-developed," he said. "It was called the machine that can replicate itself. That hasn't happened yet. For now it's only parts."

2017 really was the year of 3D printers, he said.

Suffield had originally thought about building quadcopters for use in farming, but found out he could actually print a quadcopter with a 3D printer. So he bought a 3D printer kit from a manufacturer in China, for around $200.

The build plate on Suffield's printer is large enough to make a variety of small tools for use in his office. He has made a desk top waste bin, organizers for tools and electronic components, an articulating arm to hold his cell phone, and other items.

He said the desk top phone holder took 50 minutes to build. The tiny gear he made for this reporter took only a couple of minutes.

First Suffield made accurate measurements of the computer-generated gear, which were then sent to a "slicer" where .2 mm of the image were recorded. After making sure his measurements were correct, Suffield pressed print.

The printer first drew a 2D picture on the build plate. Plastic, made with eco-friendly cornstarch, was fed into the printer and the gear began to take shape, from the bottom up, on the heated build plate. The gear took form using a process of continuous melting. Suffield compared the action to that of a glue gun.

When the gear was finished it was slightly fused to the build plate, and Suffield pried it off with a tool he made on the 3D printer, especially for that purpose.

Suffield said build plates and scaffolding on the printers come in various sizes and shapes. He pointed to a picture of a 3D printer on the computer, having no structure or build plate. It simply hangs by strings and "can literally turn a room into a printer", he said.

Suffield said some build plates are as large as a person.

While 3D printers can make toys and other fun items, Suffield said he is most excited to see useful applications for them.

For instance, 3D printers are currently being used to create prostheses for patients without limbs, he said. "It's customized," said Suffield. "It's a perfect fit."

Suffield said the cost of 3D printers is under $300, and the plastic filament is around 20-30 dollars a spool, making 3D printing easily affordable.

Of course there is the cost of the software; some of it is free, and some isn't, he said.

"This is an outgrowth of the times, we are in," Suffield said. "It will be interesting in the next couple of years to see how this matures."