The Recreator 3D
Turn PET1 plastic bottes into 3D Filament
PULTRUSION
How a Random DM Sparked an Eco-Education Adventure in D.C.
01/26-31/2025 and Wrapped 07/01/2025
Sometimes the coolest journeys start with a simple message; and this one came from Miles at RanaLabs back in September 2024. He slid into my inbox; curious about Recreator3D, a DIY machine I’ve been developing to recycle PET plastic into 3D printing filament.
Miles mentioned they were working on a project with a school in Washington, D.C., and asked if I had any MK5 Kits available to help support their sustainability curriculum. At the time; I was in full prep mode for 3DPrintopia 2024, and I had to tell him that most of my units were tied up for the show. It's what he said next caught my attention...
Miles floated the idea of flying me out to D.C. to train students hands-on—teaching them how to collect PET, prepare it, run it through Recreator3D, and then turn it into filament for 3D printing their own designs. Suddenly, this wasn’t just about selling a machine. It was about helping empower the next generation of makers with real tools and real impact.
After a few solid pitches and some back-and-forth, the team at RanaLabs officially made it happen: they secured a grant from the DC government and got all the green lights they needed to launch their eco-education program in Washington, D.C. That’s right—Recreator3D is going to the nation’s capital!
Of course, there was no way I was going solo on a trip like this.
I reached out to some incredible friends in the 3D printing world—people I trust, who make products I genuinely love and rely on. Their plug-and-play solutions made it possible for us to hit the ground running and keep the whole journey smooth, creative, and just plain fun.
Huge shout out to our amazing host; RanaLabs and their president - Miles Sedgwick, for dreaming up this collaboration and turning it into something real. From day one; Miles had a vision to get students hands-on with recycling and making, transforming PET waste into filament and functional prints. It’s been a blast helping bring that vision to life...
...and of course, this adventure wouldn’t have been nearly as magical without the support of our sponsors:
✨ Printed Solid
🎨 Polymaker
🛠️ Ember Prototypes
🧱 LuBan3D
🌀 Sunlu
🟠 KB-3D
Thank you all for backing this mission and helping inspire the next generation of makers and recyclers!
Extra Shout out to, Joel Telling The 3D Printing Nerd - Joel is the main reason Miles from RanaLabs found us at Recreator3D. Joel covered Recreator3D in several of his segments from the 3DPrintopia formally known as ERRF. This caught Mile's attention towards our Recycling and Pultrusion efforts and...this whole thing started :) Thanks Joel, for keeping it RepRap!
SUNDAY 1/26
It’s been 9 years since I’ve last flown! My parents; Rockstars as always, brought me to the airport. I opted to ask the airport for assistance along my way. I’m beyond humbled that I did, with around 20 minutes and 4 varying location changes. Moving around was not graceful and even with the airports help, I felt overwhelmed with that 20 minutes. Grateful for these exchanges along the way.
Once situated and secured at my port; I ventured out for some water, honey roasted peanuts, and some chewing gum for popping the ears…. a staple of traveling!
2 hours later we are boarding the first flight I’ve been on since 2016; I’m just happy at this point to be on the plane, secured and ready to land. The inflight movie was Daddy's Home, with Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg.
The flight was so short, I didn’t even get to finish it….spoiler, I’ve seen it…and it’s funny enough to watch a couple times!
We made some pre-arrangements to get picked up at the airport; by one of our best 3D printing buddies to grace our path, Rob Mink - of Printcepts;
creator of the BabyBeltPro infinity printer. Rob knew the area and had some plans for Microcenter and meeting up with his community member.
We had what felt like our own little RepRap Convention stomp around. I had never been to a Microcenter. It felt like an Adult variant of "Toys R Us" with electronics, 3D Print and maker gear. I was overloaded and wanted everything!
We ended up getting some Mexican food. I got a chicken quesadilla and I got my LARGE scorpion bowl!
https://www.lacampesinarestaurant.com/
Afterwards Rob dropped me off at my hotel https://beaconhotelwdc.book.pegsbe.com/,
I was still hungry; So I went out to find some more food and another sip to help me calm down before bed.
I ended up at https://shakeshack.com/ and found a nightcap to help calm me down from the excitement of the day.
MONDAY 1/27
Today I got to meet Miles, Ahmad, and Fernando.
We went over some Q&A and took some photos of the studio. I easily made myself feel at home; which didn’t take long! Croissants and coffee kept us good til lunch.
We talked about our mission statement for the project with RanaLabs and Recreator3D And talked about how we’d be going over our introduction to McKinley Middle school.
Dinner at Ahmad’s - His wife Ludi and him were gracious host with a wonderful home. Prepared us a lovely home made meal; with even some subtle basic foods for the picky eaters, not sure who that was though. We had some Tekirdag Gold Rakisi grape wine (milk as Ahmad called it, you add water and it goes from clean to milky) that was VERY strong and helped me sleep later that night. Good for toasting celebrations with good friends and good meals.
I did my best to try some samples of new things and grateful to be hosted with my quarks in mind. Blessed. I ended up back at my hotel and fell asleep telling Bee how my day went.
TUESDAY 1/28
We started the day at RanaLabs prepping for our morning at the school. We broke for an early lunch at Chick-fil-A and then headed over to the school.
Going to the School and introducing ourselves to the kids. Mr. Josh, Mr. Miles, and Mr. Fernando, we're on the spot. While Mr. Ahmad was on another mission.
The kids were great and super excited. I think I was more excited! At first I was super nervous; but the classroom was filled with so many posters with words of encouragement. This amped me up; allowing me to use them as talking points among Recreator3D and how to get the kids excited as well! We introduced them to their Prusa MK3S+ units as well as The Recreator3D MK6 Pultrusion unit that they'd be working with. Did a quick demo and some Q&A.
We brought a bunch of donations to the school from our generous sponsors. A Recreator3D MK5 Ender 3 and the electronics to get their own MK6 built along their lessons. Two Prusa MK3S+ printers and a handful filament - donated by Printed Solid. As well another handful of filament donated by Polymaker. The printer got an extra touch from Ember Porotypes who supplied an awesome PET1 Logo embed build plate to help showcase our recycling efforts. Sunlu donated their filament joiner, as well a handful of their filament to be used for the Captain Recreator prints we gave out along the way. 3 varying styles of Captain Recreator were printed out thanks to Printed Solid, Polymaker, and Sunlu. Also a BIG software donation by LuBan3D, which allows 3D models to be printed beyond the size of a printer. All amazing donations to get these kids thinking about 3D printing in a whole new way!
We ended the day a little early and it allowed me to get down to the capital for a brief time before it got dark. I managed to get a bit lost without much battery left on my phone. I headed to the taxi district and got back to the hotel in a shorter time than I had thought.
After a walk around town and getting lost. I decided it was best to head back to the hotel, where I finally decided to try the hotel's restaurant.
https://foursquare.com/beaconba1187113/menu I got some bar pizza and two slices of chocolate cake. The pizza was OK but the chocolate cake was definitely the winner.
WEDNESDAY 1/29
Spent the day training Fernando on The Recreator3D. Among the day; I got word that my Ms. Bee had to bring our Tabby Cat to the vet to be put to sleep. She was in her 18th year and had slipped into health issues before I left. As much as I had anticipated it, the day was hard not being there for everyone.
Miles and the crew were awesome in understanding.
We got some Lunch at Nandos, https://www.nandosperiperi.com/find/18th-street Taking breaks in between training. We broke up the day around 5PM, heading out to eat with the RanaLabs crew to celebrate a good week and how awesome everything went with the school.
We ended up at one place but soon left because it was a bit too loud and ended up at an Irish pub, McGinty's Public House
https://www.mcgintyspublichouse.com/, very nice where we did several Jägermeister toasts (making up for my very expensive first night doubleshot) for a good week and a toast in honor of Tabby where we included Bee through the iphone video portal. I got an awesome burger and wrapped the night up with a pitcher of water.
Really humbled by Miles and the crew for being family first. Spent the rest of the night with Bee and eventually got to sleep.
THURSDAY 1/30
Back to the school to see their printers; make sure they are up to standards with the printers to be able to use and print pet1 and as well the recreator3D printed parts.
We went back to the studio where we kept doing some more training on The Recreator3D and 3D printers.
I ended up walking around town looking for dinner. Found a sandwich shop; got the night wrapped with a ham, roast beef and cheese grinder.
FRIDAY 1/31
Today Fernando trained us; after spending a week with Fernando and training on Thursday with the MK6, it was now his turn to train us. He showed us what he accomplished so we could make sure he knew his training. We did a fast video shoot of Fernando’s work, everyone wrapped on that and moved to packaging the Sovol.
Packaged up the Sovol 06 Plus - The solvol packaging made me cringe, I was very vocal about that. The original box was not available anymore and the Prusa MK3s+ box got the sacrificial breakdown for packaging padding within the suitcase. I said a prayer to 3D Printer Jesus that the 06 made it safely to Guatemala with Fernando.
The interview with Miles; I wish this happened earlier in the week, if not right after we had the day with the students. It felt like I was on cloud 9 at that time. By Friday though, I was tired and depleted. I spoke more all week than I have in a while. I felt I had no more words for my experience, other than that it was all divine and spiritual. With feeling a bit tired along the week, it was mostly felt during my final outro interview and I feel I did the opposite of “crushing it”....
Broke early to sight see The Capital one last time…..in the rain :( - FINALLY : some personal time to sight see with more than 30 minutes. I managed to leave RanaLabs, I wanted a small bite to eat so I got a sandwich at Potbelly https://www.potbelly.com/
and get about 1 hour into my adventure, when the rain started to come in. I got to several spots like Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, the Smithsonian national history museum and walked back to the Capital one last time for some second photos.
Just as the rain set in very heavily. I followed Massachusetts ave back to the apartment……so I thought, but ended up in the opposite direction, now 45 minutes out of my on what was already a 1 hour walk.
I finally managed to find a Taxi driver; Sam, who picked me up and brought me to the hotel. Sam was another guardian angel sent to me. We weren’t too far out and were only about a 15 minute drive from the hotel.
I dried off, put a fresh layer of clothes on and then went back out for one last celebration. I found some pizza at DC Pizza, https://www.dcpizzaonline.com/
an amazing spot and walked back home in the pouring rain with some soggy boxed soul food. I wanted to finish the week off with a little celebration. I got some ice-cream and another round of the amazing chocolate cake from the hotel's restaurant for dessert.
I had my meal and spent the night talking with Bee until I wrapped up early to get myself situated to leave early in the morning.
SATURDAY 02/01
A fast early breakfast at the hotel's restaurant. Toast, bacon and coffee…Uber lift from Parfait ( you know, like the Icecream?). Once situated at the airport, I got steak and cheese for lunch; and had an easy small passenger flight back home. My parents; awesome as always, picked me up and got me situated back in Massachusetts!
We all got home safely!
UPDATE: The Sovol 06 Plus got home safely with Fernando! To my surprise!
AFTERMATH
After returning from Washington D.C., everyone was still riding the excitement wave. I was welcomed home warmly; but the real surprise came when the kids kept asking, “Where did Mr. Josh go?” That hit deep, a reminder of the impact the trip had.
Being invited from Massachusetts to D.C. for the week was nothing short of a blessing. It was a complete change of pace and more importantly; a moment of spiritual and personal growth. I don’t often get the chance to travel, especially solo. Everyone at RanaLabs was incredible to be around. Miles in particular; went above and beyond to make sure I was happy, healthy, and grounded throughout the week.
From February until now; everyone’s been pulling their weight, learning, growing, and expanding in their own ways. Not long after we launched the project with the kids at McKinley Middle School; Miles received recognition for his work in D.C., especially surrounding the Recreator3D project.
Inspired by the week we spent together and the passion for 3D printing that followed, Miles sent his Sovol printer with Fernando to Guatemala. Soon after got himself and his daughter set up with a Prusa MK3S+. After just a few Tinkercad lessons, his daughter had already created her own articulated dragon.
For the past couple of years, I’ve been letting “fortune cookies” guide my journey — literally and metaphorically. I shared this with Miles and now he’s been doing the same. One thing I missed dearly from the classroom was the Positive Mantra Posters. They were reminders that positive words create positive manifestations.
Down the road the students continued their bottle collections and learned to pultrude on our MK5 Ender 3; while printing parts for the MK6 Fun Size on their two Prusa MK3S+ printers. They eventually got the filament dialed in and honed their skills working with PET1. With the help of RanaLabs' tutorial videos, the kids built their own MK6 Fun Size unit, building confidence every step of the way!
In April, I was humbled to learn that Recreator3D had been featured again in MAKE Magazine, this time for the 20th Anniversary Edition. That same month, Miles shared another milestone. He had started working with a media outlet that put him in the White House Press Room. Beyond anything I could’ve imagined, he got Captain Recreator into the White House! That had been a personal goal of mine during my time in D.C., and Miles made it happen! He turned out to be the older brother I didn’t know I needed.
We met back at 3DPrintopia2024, though he had known about me through Joel Telling, The 3D Printing Nerd, who’d covered Recreator3D over the years. That exposure brought Miles to the show, curious to learn more and to share his own ideas. At the same time, I had no clue I was talking to our future kit supplier — KB-3D.com. Over the last eight months; KB-3D has poured heart and soul into turning the Recreator3D MK6 Fun Size into a small parts kit, officially launched at the Rocky Mountain RepRap Festival in May. Miles jumped on Batch 1 as soon as it dropped and built the unit with his daughter for her birthday.
MK6 Fun Size Kits are now officially available - Thanks to KB-3D.com!
Just last month; we heard the kids had finished their MK6 build, and we got a good sense of how the project landed across the entire class — even if a few kids ended up leading the charge. The truth is; not everyone is going to be into 3D printing or recycling filament from plastic bottles — and that’s okay. All it takes is a handful to start making a real difference.
I'm proud to say we’ve got another generation of Recycling Heroes growing up with the tools and drive to build a better future.
I'm especially proud and humbled by Mr. King and Ms. Henderson, the two teachers who supported this journey so strongly. They reminded me of the couple teachers that helped me harness my own skills in school, which have gotten me this far to share with everyone today.
This whole adventure; from Massachusetts to D.C., to classrooms filled with vibrant new makers and kit launches once seen as a dream, has reminded me that even the smallest interactions can create waves. Seeing Miles and his daughter building together, planning Halloween costumes, and upgrading their MK3S+ on their own is just one example of the lasting impact this journey has had.
To everyone who helped make this possible; from the bottle of my heart, thank you!
It’s been a transformative ride, and I can't wait to see what comes next!
- Joshua R. Taylor ( JRT3D )
Extra Shout out to, Sovol - we showcased their SV06 PLUS unit along side or journey - is one of our suggested and trusted 3D printers for printing with our custom created DIY PET1 filament from pultrusion and extrusion methods.
