Event box

Lunch with the Libraries: Alessandro Scola

Friday, February 17, 2023
12:00pm - 1:00pm

Alessandro Scola, senior book conservator, will give a talk entitled "3D Printing in Book Conservation." 

Free. Register to receive a Zoom link.

Additive manufacturing or 3D printing creates objects by piling up, one at a time, very thin layers of material (in the order of a fraction of a millimeter).  A software translates the 3D model created by the designer into a code that guides the movement of the extruding machine. Although the technique has been around for decades, it is rarely seen in a book conservation lab.

The team in our Department of Conservation and Preservation has been experimenting with and using this fabrication method for the last few years. This presentation will briefly describe what ‘3D Printing’ is, the hardware and workflow required, and what its strengths, weaknesses, and potential are. Finally, a series of 3D printed objects designed and produced in our lab will be presented: from unobtrusive mounts for artifacts in the current Women of the Book exhibit at the George Peabody Library to prototypes of folding book cradles for special collection reading rooms.

This event is co-sponsored by the Friends of the Johns Hopkins University Libraries and the Office of Alumni Relations Lifelong Learning.