Exotic printing materials adventurer and all-around desktop 3D printing guru Matt Stultz had no hesitation when proposing a desktop 3D printing designer to highlight:
Tony Buser! I’m not just selecting him because he’s my friend and one of the most awesome, nice, smart, and giving people you will ever meet but also because he has created so many processes and tools to further the community.
He went on to point out how “tbuser” in his day had been one of the most prolific and community-minded contributors to Thingiverse, putting efforts into designing not just things like the awesome BOB The Bobblehead Robot, but also sharing a Toy Robot Toolkit so that others can benefit from his hard work and experimentation. His efforts to document and help others scan with the Kinect and with laser line scanners made him a go-to resource for most things 3D print or model.
Here’s a brief section of an interview I did with him a few years ago on the MakerBot Blog before was hired to work as a senior web developer there. (Thus a number of 3D printers from his current basement laboratory!)
Q: What brought you to 3D printing/MakerBot?
I had been following the RepRap project for a number of years, but as a programmer who barely knew how to use a soldering iron at the time, building one always seemed too hard. Then one day I distinctly remember Bre’s Weekend Project video where he planned to do a series of videos showing how to make a RepStrap and I thought — ok, I’m going to follow along and finally make one. So I started learning electronics and tinkering. I never did end up making that RepStrap, however along came MakerBot. After months of me talking about it, in November 2009, my wife got me the best birthday present ever – Makerbot #481! I now have a Cupcake, a Thing-o-Matic, a RepRap Mendel, and I’m working on a wooden RepStrap/CNC machine. Yes, I have four 3D printers in my basement and no, I don’t get much sleep anymore.
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