It’s all about family for Peter Romano. Growing up in Delaware, Peter’s father and mother operated a successful masonry business. Peter’s father ran the business ends and contracts, and his mother kept the books. At its peak, Romano’s Masonry had around sixty employees. Today, the business has shifted its business model to include subcontracting but manages to maintain its identity.
Peter left Delaware to attend Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas. After meeting his wife at Harding, Peter and his wife moved to Colorado for a few years before Peter returned to the family business. Working at Romano’s Masonry for a few years expanded the knowledge Peter had gained through his childhood. However, after returning to Delaware, Peter felt God calling him to raise a family elsewhere. Peter and his family left Delaware to move back to Searcy with little planning and a whole lotta faith. He had no job secured, no leads on any open positions, and eventually he and his family were able to move into an old family home. The home had been in his wife’s family since the 1940s and was in desperate need of renovations. Determined to make the best of life in Searcy, Peter began teaching high school history, became a volunteer fireman, attending graduate school for his master’s degree in counseling, and renovating the family home. When Peter was unsure about how to properly renovate his home, he often turned to YouTube to help guide him along.
This week’s guest host talks shop with The Build Guild about being raised by parents who owned a successful business, how YouTube has evolved the world of making, and even how each of the guys asked their girlfriend’s dad for permission to marry his daughter.
5 HP Sawstop
https://amzn.to/2WtV5cy
1.75 HP Sawstop
https://amzn.to/2Jkhk12
StoneFly Nets
https://stoneflynets.com/
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It's been a while since I've had any t-shirts available.  I opened a store on TeeSpring so you can get your Myers Woodshop merchandise.  There are super comfortable t-shirts, sweatshirts, mugs, and stickers available.
We also started a merchandise store for our podcast show, The Build Guild Podcast.  Hopefully you're listening and enjoying it.  If you haven't listened yet, it's available on all your major podcast apps, just search for 'the build guild podcast.'  More episodes coming soon!
-Ben

After using the Creality Ender 3, I love this printer the more time I spent with it. The experience did include a few speed bumps along the way, but none of the issues we had were insurmountable. All in all, the Creality Ender 3 is an extraordinary 3D printer when you take the ~$200 price tag into consideration.
There are a number of features that make the Creality Ender 3 one of the most popular machines currently on the market. It has a build volume of 220 x 220 x 250mm, a BuildTak-like heated build plate, power recovery mode and a tight filament pathway that makes it easier to print with flexible materials. These are attributes that are difficult to find in even more expensive printers…
As for printing performance, the Creality Ender 3 exceeded our initial expectations. We experimented with PLA, PETG, ABS, flexible and exotic filaments, and while there were some adhesion and warping issues with ABS, along with some wood filament difficulties, we managed to print successfully with all of the materials at the end of the day.
The 3D printer is easy to assemble and–although it requires manual calibration–the enlarged bed leveling knobs make the process convenient. Once calibration is perfected (it might take a few attempts), the Creality Ender 3 ultimately became indistinguishable from printers that are closer to the $1000 range.
The most glaring issue presented by the Creality Ender 3 is the uneven base, which causes a slight wobble to the entire 3D printer. I was able to solve this by placing a wedge under one corner, but still, this initial problem was definitely a cause for concern as stability is a critical part to a quality 3D printer.
Otherwise, I didn’t have many other qualms with the Creality Ender 3. There were some bed adhesion issues with certain materials, such as ABS, but adding some adhesive solution to the build plate solved this rather quickly, or switch to a glass bed.
The Creality Ender 3 is an excellent option for beginners or makers on a budget. While this 3D printer does have its flaws, the affordability makes it a worthwhile investment. Unlike other budget options in this price range, like the Anet A8, the Creality Ender 3 is prepared for high-quality 3D printing right out of the box. On top of that, the growing community surrounding this 3D printer has led to more and more upgrades.
Creality also offers an “Ender 3 Pro”, which has a detachable magnetic heated bed and improvements to the Y-axis to achieve a better print quality. This makes the Ender 3 Pro more expensive.
There are certainly better 3D printers available on the market, but none seem to fuse quality and affordable quite like the Creality Ender 3. It might require a bit of tweaking and patience to achieve the ideal print quality, but the high potential that this budget 3D printer offers makes well worth the battle.

A professionally unprofessional podcast for makers.
​Episode One: Meeting the Makers

From social media, the Small Business Revolution™, and side hustles, three makers from different backgrounds have all settled into a small central Arkansas town. Driven by their love for making, community, and connection, Ben, Brian, and Coty invite you to take

​This is a follow up to my first Lego Bowl (seen here).  The first one was more of a proof of concept.  I made this one to address the issues the internet had with it.