
Last weekend I traveled up to Goshen Indiana for the Midwest Rep Rap Festival (MRRF), a trip every 3D printing enthusiast should make. It’s been 6 years since I went to MRRF, and it’s certainly grown since then! One big improvement: more space! When I went in 2019 it was so crowded it was difficult to walk around.

The annual event has changed slightly, although the biggest portion is still regular folks showing off what they’ve made. It does seem to have shifted more from new/unique 3D printers to what you can print, but there were still some different 3D printer designs there. There were several interesting belt printers, a few variations on the Positron printer, and a new Bondtech multi-material upgrade unit that looked really promising among others..
There were also many vendors there: Prusa had a large presence there, Polymaker had one of the most challenging tables with their interactive filament color guessing games, and Indiana based Atomic Filament had lots of filament at the show. And even some youtubers with tables, occasionally doing interviews, and of course a few vendor raffles (I won a Voron board from LDO Motion!).

But what I really noticed was the increase of the activities vs 2019, there was even a separate building for setup, repairs, and the competitive challenges. Death Racers, jousting in small tank like 3D printed cars where you knock off the head of opponents, were quite popular and Mayhem at MRRF continued this year. Then there was an occasional Tiny Bike parade in the main building and 3D printed drag racers outside in the parking lot.

Perhaps what impressed me the most was the congenial, family friendly atmosphere of not only the participants but also the attendees. It will definitely be on the list to attend next year!