D Printing: What You Need to Know. They're not your granddad's daisy wheel printer, or your mom's dot matrix. In fact, they bear little resemblance to today's document or photo printers, which can only print in boring old two dimension. As their name suggests, 3. D printers can build objects from scratch out of a variety of materials. They're going mainstream, showing up at retailers such as Staples, Best Buy, and Home Depot, and you can buy numerous 3. D printers and their supplies on Amazon. Though still mostly found on shop floors or in design studios, in schools and community centers, and in the hands of hobbyists, it won't be long before 3. D printers are found on workbenches, in rec rooms, and even in the kitchens of homes near you—if not your own. What Is 3. D Printing? At its most basic, 3. D printing is a manufacturing process in which material is laid down, layer by layer, to form a three- dimensional object. This is deemed an additive process because the object is built from scratch, as opposed to subtractive processes in which material is cut, drilled, milled, or machined off.) Although 3. D printers employ a variety of materials (such as plastic, metal, or other) and techniques (see "How Does 3. D Printing Work?" below), they share the ability to turn digital files containing three- dimensional data—whether created on a computer- aided design (CAD) or computer- aided manufacturing (CAM) program or from a 3. D scanner—into physical objects. Is 3. D Printing Even Printing? Yes, 3. D printing can be considered printing—although not as it's traditionally been defined. The relevant Webster's definitions for printing center on production of printed matter, publications, or photographs, and producing by means of impression (the application of pressure). The first doesn't fit—unless the definition is expanded to include the fabrication of 3. D objects, created from scratch rather than being printed on—and most 3. D printing techniques don't involve impression. From a technological perspective, 3. D printing is an outgrowth of traditional printing, in which a layer of material (usually ink) is applied. Usually it's so thin that there is no noticeable height (though with solid ink printers, it is somewhat thicker). What 3. D printing does is greatly extend that height through the application of multiple layers, so it would make sense to expand the definition of printing to include the fabrication of three- dimensional objects in this manner. How Does 3. D Printing Work? Much like traditional printers, 3. D printers use a variety of technologies. The most commonly known is fused deposition modeling (FDM), also known as fused filament fabrication (FFF). In it, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polylactic acid (PLA), or another thermoplastic is melted and deposited through a heated extrusion nozzle in layers. The first 3. D printers to come to market, made in the mid 1. Stratasys with help from IBM, used FDM—a term trademarked by Stratasys—as do most 3. D printers geared to consumers, hobbyists, and schools. In stereolithography, a UV laser is shined into a vat of ultraviolet- sensitive photopolymer, tracing the object to be created on its surface. The polymer solidifies wherever the beam touches it, and the beam "prints" the object layer by layer per the instructions in the CAD or CAM file it's working from. Digital light projector (DLP) 3. D printing exposes a liquid polymer to light from a digital light processing projector, which hardens the polymer layer by layer until the object is built and the remaining liquid polymer is drained off. Multi- jet modeling is an inkjet- like 3. D printing system that sprays a colored, glue- like binder onto successive layers of powder where the object is to be formed. This is among the fastest methods, and one of the few that supports multicolor printing. MakerBot has pulled the wraps off its new 3D printer lineup, a new software lineup and 3D printing materials. The E-Port Plus Port Replicator with USB 3.0 from Dell™ offers dual digital monitor capabilities along with legacy ports. This docking station includes a latest USB. Looking for a desktop Stereolithography (SLA) 3D printer? Read our guide to the best resin (DLP/SLA) 3D printers in Spring 2017. The MakerBot Replicator Mini+ is engineered and extensively tested for faster, easier, portable 3D printing. Shop now to advance with solutions built for your needs. It's possible to modify a standard inkjet to print with materials other than ink. Enterprising do- it- yourselfers have built or modded print heads, generally piezoelectric heads, to work with various materials—in some cases printing out the print heads themselves on other 3. D printers! Companies like Micro. Fab Technologies sell 3. D- capable print heads (as well as complete printing systems). Selective laser sintering (SLS) uses a high- powered laser to fuse particles of plastic, metal, ceramic, or glass. At the end of the job, the remaining material is recycled. Electron beam melting (EBM) uses—you guessed it—an electron beam to melt metal powder, layer by layer. Titanium is often used with EBM to synthesize medical implants as well as aircraft parts. Depending on the technique, 3. D printers can use a variety of materials, including but not limited to metals (stainless steel, solder, aluminum, and titanium among them); plastics and polymers (including composites that combine plastics with metals, wood, and other materials); ceramics; plaster; glass; and even foodstuffs like cheese, icing, and chocolate! Who Invented 3. D Printing? The first 3. D printer, which used the stereolithography technique, was created by Charles W. Hull in the mid 1. Stereolithography is largely an expensive commercial technique, with machines often costing $1. In 1. 98. 6, Hull founded 3. D Systems, a company that today sells 3. D printers that use a variety of technologies and range from entry- level kits to advanced commercial systems, as well as providing on- demand parts services, mostly to business users. What Are the Benefits of 3. D Printing? With 3. D printing, designers have the ability to quickly turn concepts into 3. D models or prototypes (aka rapid prototyping), and implement rapid design changes. It lets manufacturers produce products on demand rather than in large runs, improving inventory management and reducing warehouse space. People in remote locations can fabricate objects that would otherwise be inaccessible to them. From a practical standpoint, 3. D printing can save money and material over subtractive techniques, as very little raw material is wasted. And it promises to change the nature of manufacturing, eventually letting consumers download files for printing even complex 3. D objects—including, for example, electronics devices—in their own homes. What Can 3. D Printers Make? Designers use 3. D printers to quickly create product models and prototypes, but they're increasingly being used to make final products as well. Among the items made with 3. D printers are shoe designs, furniture, wax castings for making jewelry, tools, tripods, gift and novelty items, and toys. The automotive and aviation industries use 3. D printers to make parts. Artists can create sculptures, and architects can fabricate models of their projects. Archaeologists are using 3. D printers to reconstruct models of fragile artifacts, including some of the antiquities that in recent years have been destroyed by ISIS. Likewise, paleontologists and their students can duplicate dinosaur skeletons and other fossils. Physicians and medical technicians can use 3. D printing to make prosthetics, hearing aids, artificial teeth, and bone grafts, as well as replicate models of organs, tumors, and other internal bodily structures from CT scans in preparation for surgery. A good example is Project Daniel, which 3. D prints prosthetic arms and hands for victims of the violence in Sudan. Also, 3. D printers are being developed that can lay down layers of cells to create artificial organs (such as kidneys and blood vessels) are already in the R& D phase. There's even a place for 3. D printing in forensics, for example to replicate a bullet lodged inside a victim (human or otherwise). Printed electronics is a set of printing methods that enable electronic devices or circuitry to be printed on flexible material such as labels, fabrics, and cardboard, by application of electronic or optical inks. It provides very low- cost fabrication of low- performance devices. Printed electronics is beginning to be combined with 3. D printing, allowing for the printing of layered circuitry or devices. A natural outgrowth of this potent combo is that someday you may be able to print out gadgets from 3. D plans rather than buying them. Food preparation is another way 3. D printers can be used, to apply items in liquid or paste form such as cheese, icing, and chocolate. The French Culinary Institute has been using a Fab@Home open- source 3. D printer developed at Cornell University to prepare artistic delicacies, and MIT has created a 3. D food printer called the Cornucopia.
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