First Print: Success!

Our print deadline today, and as everyone scrambled to tie up loose ends, the group thought the outlook on printing today was rather grim. During class, everyone went into overdrive and made more progress than anyone could have imagined. A new Z table got milled out that would have more structural integrity than the one before which was warped. The new acylic base and top were almost finished and hopefully will done for tomorrow for all the electronics and other components to move into. The electronics and code were also finalized, so it looked like we could print on schedule.
At the end of the school day, we decided to give it a shot. What did we have to lose? We turned on the wooden machine that had rubber bands, super glue, and bolts keeping it together. Filling the resin pool with our new indigo resin, we started printing our default gear template. As it printed, many of us were skeptical about whether we would actually get a gear. When the last layer finished and the Z table rose, we saw it. In resin was the shape of a gear. Initially we thought it was only the first layer that had printed, but as the Z table rose, we realized it did print almost exactly what we wanted. Needless to say everyone is incredibly excited and happy! We are so excited to move on from here, knowing that what we have works so far. We discovered a few kinks that need to be ironed out, but, it can only get better from here!