They are not your mom’s dot matrix or your granddad’s daisy wheel printer. They don’t resemble modern photo or document printers, which can only print in the two drab old dimensions. 3D printers can construct three-dimensional items from a range of materials, as their name indicates. They are becoming more widely available, appearing in stores like Staples, Best Buy, and Home Depot. You can also purchase a variety of 3D printers and their accessories on Amazon.com and other online shops. 3D printers are becoming more common on workbenches, in recreation areas, and in kitchens—if not in your own house, at least in a home close by. However, they are still mostly found on shop floors or in design studios, at schools and community centers, and in the hands of enthusiasts.
What Is 3D Printing?
In its most basic form, three-dimensional printing is a manufacturing technique in which material is applied one layer at a time to create an item in three dimensions. (This is referred to as an additive process as the thing is constructed from the ground up as opposed to subtractive procedures, which include cutting, drilling, milling, or otherwise removing material.) Although 3D printers use a variety of materials (like plastic or metal) and processes (see “How Does 3D Printing Work?” below), they all have the ability to transform digital files containing three-dimensional data into physical objects, whether they were produced using a computer-aided design (CAD) or computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) program or from a 3D scanner.
Is 3D Printing Even Printing?
Yes, 3D printing may be regarded as printing, albeit not in the way that it has previously been understood. The production of printed content, publications, or pictures, as well as creation by impression, are at the core of the pertinent Webster’s definitions of “printing” (the application of pressure). Both definitions are quite accurate for 3D printing. But from a technological standpoint, 3D printing is a development of conventional printing, which involves applying a layer of material (often ink). Typically, it is so thin that its height is invisible (though with solid ink printers, it is somewhat thicker). Through the application of several layers, 3D printing significantly increases that height. Expanding the concept of printing to encompass the creation of three-dimensional things in this way would be logical.
How Does 3D Printing Work?
The technology used by 3D printers is similar to those of conventional printers. Fused deposition modeling (FDM), also known as fused filament manufacturing, is the most well-known (FFF). It involves melting and layering the deposition of a filament made of polylactic acid (PLA), ABS, or another thermoplastic through a heated extrusion nozzle. The first 3D printers to hit the market were created by Stratasys with assistance from IBM in the mid-1990s. These printers employed FDM, a word that Stratasys has trademarked.
Stereolithography is an additional 3D printing process. In it, the intended item is traced on the surface of a photopolymer that is ultraviolet-sensitive using a UV laser. Everywhere the beam meets the polymer, it hardens, and the beam “prints” the item layer by layer in accordance with the instructions in the CAD or CAM file it is using.
A variation on it is 3D printing using a digital light projector (DLP). In this procedure, a liquid polymer is exposed to projector-generated digital light. Layer by layer, the polymer becomes harder until the thing is constructed, at which point the liquid polymer is drained off.
Multi-jet modeling is a type of 3D printing that resembles an inkjet and sprays colored glue-like binders over consecutive layers of powder to create the item. This is one of the quickest techniques and one of the few that permits printing in several colors.
A typical inkjet may be modified to print using substances other than ink. DIYers with a little ingenuity have modified or created print heads—typically piezoelectric heads—to operate with a variety of materials, even printing the print heads on other 3D printers in some cases! 3D print heads are available from companies like MicroFab Technologies (as well as complete printing systems).
Using a strong laser, selective laser sintering (SLS) joins together glass, ceramic, metal, or plastic particles. The residual material is recycled when the task is finished. You guessed it: an electron beam is used in electron beam melting (EBM) to gradually melt the metal powder. Titanium is often synthesized using EBM for both airplane components and medicinal implants.
Depending on the technology, 3D printers may employ a number of materials, including but not limited to metals (such as stainless steel, solder, aluminum, and titanium), plastics, and polymers (including composites that mix plastics with metals, wood, and other materials), ceramics, plaster, glass, and even edibles like cheese, icing, and chocolate!
Who Invented 3D Printing?
Charles W. Hull developed the first stereolithography-based 3D printer in the middle of the 1980s. However, in recent years, desktop professional stereolithography printers costing a few thousand dollars as well as consumer systems starting well under a grand have both become available. Stereolithography has historically been an expensive commercial technique, with machines costing in the five and even six figures.
Hull founded 3D Systems in 1986; the business now sells 3D printers that make use of several technologies. Entry-level kits for cutting-edge commercial systems are available, and 3D Systems also offers on-demand component services, mostly for corporate users.
What Are the Benefits of 3D Printing?
Using 3D printing, designers may swiftly transform ideas into 3D models or prototypes (a process known as “rapid prototyping”) and carry out last-minute design adjustments. It enables producers to make goods as needed rather than in bulk, increasing inventory control and utilizing less storage space. People who live in remote areas can create items that are normally unavailable to them.
Practically speaking, 3D printing can be more cost- and material-efficient than subtractive methods since very little raw material is lost. It also has the potential to transform the manufacturing industry by allowing customers to download data to print even the most complicated 3D objects—like, for instance, electronic devices—at home in the future.
What Can 3D Printers Make?
3D printers are used by designers to swiftly produce product models and prototypes, but they are also increasingly being employed to produce finished goods. Among the products created using 3D printers are toys, furniture, tools, tripods, gift and novelty items, wax castings for jewelry, and shoe designs. Parts are manufactured using 3D printers in the automobile and aviation sectors. Sculptures can be made by artists, and models of architectural designs can be made. Archaeologists are rebuilding models of delicate items, including some of the treasures that ISIS has just damaged, using 3D printers. Paleontologists can reproduce dinosaur skeletons and other fossils, and so can their pupils. View our selection of straightforward and useful 3D printer things.
In addition to replicating models of organs, tumors, and other internal biological structures from CT scans in order to prepare for surgery, doctors and medical personnel may utilize 3D printing to create prostheses, hearing aids, artificial teeth, and bone grafts. Project Daniel, which manufactures prosthetic limbs and hands in 3D for victims of the war in Sudan, is an excellent illustration. Additionally, research and development are currently underway on 3D printers that can lay down layers of cells to construct synthetic organs, including blood arteries and kidneys (Opens in a new window). Even in forensics, 3D printing has a purpose. For instance, it may be used to reproduce a gunshot wound in a victim.
The term “printed electronics” refers to a group of printing techniques that allow electrical components or circuits to be imprinted using electronic or optical inks on flexible materials like labels, textiles, and cardboard. It offers relatively affordable production of subpar gadgets. The use of 3D printing and printed electronics are starting to enable the fabrication of multilayer devices or circuitry. This powerful combination will inevitably lead to the possibility of printing out items from 3D designs rather than purchasing them in the future.
Another use for 3D printers is food preparation. In order to make creative delights, the French Culinary Institute has been employing a Cornell University-designed open-source 3D printer called [email protected], while MIT has built a 3D food printer dubbed the Cornucopia. Prototypes of food printers are being tested in a few restaurants. Food printing, such as pizza, has been explored in NASA’s 3D printing study.
A few commercial 3D printers for food are now available. They frequently concentrate on certain foods, such as chocolate, pancakes, or cookies.
What Are 3D Printing Services?
To gain from a 3D printer, you don’t need to possess one. Numerous 3D printing businesses, like Shapeways and Sculpteo, produce presents and other small products on demand using their own 3D printers before shipping them to the buyer. Customers have the option of uploading their own 3D object files or selecting objects from an online catalog, the majority of which were created by other customers of the service.
However, services for 3D printing are no longer just available from experts. Large organizations like UPS(Opens in a new window) have started offering 3D printing services, and several conventional print shops have expanded their offerings to include on-demand 3D printing.
Where Can I Get a 3D Printer?
The majority of 3D printer producers offer their goods only online. They are currently carried by a large number of online retailers, including both those that solely operate online (like Amazon) and those with physical storefronts. Some of the latter, including Walmart, Best Buy, and Staples, sell them both in-store and online, but make sure to check their websites for store availability since not all retailers carry them. In significant cities, a number of 3D printer stores have been established.
What Software Do I Need for 3D Printing?
STL format files are accepted by almost all 3D printers (named for stereolithography). Most CAD software, including pricey commercial programs like AutoCAD and cost-free or open-source applications like Google SketchUp and Blender, can create these kinds of files. If you don’t feel like creating your own 3D files, there are many 3D object files available for download and printing on 3D object databases like MakerBot’s Thingiverse.
The majority of 3D printers come with a software package that has everything you need to start printing, either on disk or as a download. The suites often include a program for managing the printer as well as a slicer, which, in preparation for printing, divides the object file into layers depending on the resolution option and other variables. Some suites come with software to “repair” the object file by fixing issues that can prevent fluid printing. The open-source RepRap movement, which led to the development of amateur 3D printing, is where the programs originated. With certain printers, you may opt to download the individual component applications rather than using the suite’s included software.
What Does the Future Hold for 3D Printing?
Although there are many different 3D printers for homes and small companies that are easily available—Explained Ideas has evaluated quite a few of them—they are still frequently thought of as unusual and expensive devices. Within the next several years, expect that to change as 3D printers spread across homes, appearing on workbenches, in studios, in home offices, and even in the kitchen. Even while you won’t find them in every home, those who do will grow to rely on them completely. Most 3D-printed objects have homogeneous interiors, but in the future, we’ll start to see more intricate designs built of composites of different materials and printable circuitry. If you lose the battery cover for your TV remote, it could be able to create a replacement using today’s 3D printers. If you lose your remote, you could be able to print a brand-new one using tomorrow’s technology.
Additionally, 3D printing is expanding into the universe. On the International Space Station, 3D printer experiments are being conducted by NASA. Eventually, dwellings on Mars and other planets may be built using 3D printers. NASA had to essentially figure out how to fit a square peg into a round hole in order to prevent the Apollo 13 crew from passing away from carbon monoxide asphyxiation. They might have been able to quickly fix the issue by designing and manufacturing a connection if they had a 3D printer on board.
Astronauts are unable to stop by Home Depot to repair a valve or other item, but a 3D printer might make one when one is required. In addition, we’ll see 3D printers on bases in Antarctica and other far-flung places on Earth where people can’t wait six months for the next delivery to repair crucial components or equipment.
The uses of 3D printing in medicine go beyond dental crowns, hearing aids, and prosthetics. (For an example of what is being developed, see the question “What Can 3D Printers Make?” above.) It’s not necessary to limit replacement parts to mechanical components.
The variety and applications of 3D printers have increased dramatically during the last few years. It is comparable to the state of personal computing in 1980. In the same way that no one alive in 1980 could have predicted most of what the field of personal computers would develop into, some of the areas the field of 3D printing will branch into are beyond our capacity to forecast. On a consumer, everyday-life level, 3D printing might not have the same impact as the PC, but it does have the ability to transform production and—perhaps more significantly—bring it into the hands of regular customers. But one thing is certain: 3D printing will continue to exist.
