The average individual has no clue how every day items such as toothbrushes, deodorant, hot dogs, or bubblegum are made. To fill this void and give us all an understanding of the world we interact with each day, the 
Montreal, Canada based company, Productions MAJ, Inc. has been been producing a television show since 2001, called ‘How It’s Made’. The show which airs on the Discovery Channel in Canada, and the Science Channel in the U.S, is an amazing learning tool, but also incredibly interesting.
Aleph Objects the producer of popular LulzBot 3D Printers announced recently that the filming crew for the popular television showed was at the company’s headquarters in Loveland, Colorado last month, to film a segment for an upcoming episode, which will air sometime next season. The episode will, at least in part, explore the emerging technology of 3D printers and how they are built. What makes Aleph Objects a very interesting company to choose to film, is that unlike the majority of 3D printer manufacturers out there, many of the main structural components of their LulzBot 3D printers are actually 3D printed themselves.
The crew began filming in the room where Aleph Obects has a cluster of 130 3D printers churning out a variety of parts in a special LulzBot green color. They used green, instead of the typical black, because the finished product made for the end of the television segment will be a special limited edition, ‘How It’s Made’ Lulzbot 3D printer.
From there the crew went on to watch all the parts of a typical LulzBot TAZ 4 printer come together. From drilling holes into the pieces, to placing special thermal insets onto the machine, they got to film it all. The segment will end with the final calibration and testing which Aleph Objects does with all their machines, prior to shipping them out.
“Everyone here at Aleph Objects is excited to see the final, edited segment which will air on The Discovery Channel in 2015,” stated the company’s blog. “It was a pleasure showing their crew, and eventually their global audience, how 3D printers are made! Make sure to stay updated on the LulzBot blog and our Facebook and Twitter pages for more information on when the episode is set to air.”
The LulzBot TAZ 4 3D printer, which was documented for this show is Aleph Objects’ latest machine, a machine which is constructed on an open source framework, and has one of the larger build volumes (11.7in x 10.8in x 9.8in) in its class. The printer can be purchased for $2,194.95 from the LulzBot website. We will be sure to update this article when news breaks of an exact airing date for this segment. Let us know what you think about this story in the ‘How It’s Made’ LulzBot 3D printer forum thread on 3DPB.com. Check out a sample segment of a ‘How It’s Made’ episode below…. about hot dogs!
