What is 3D printing?

- FerrisWheeler

Posted on Jul 2, 2011 in Business & careers, Find things, Other stuff, Tech & internet

3d customize manufacturing technology

I overheard some colleagues talking about some kind of physical printing, and it sounded like they were suggesting Star Trek-style replicator technology was already available. Did I miss something? Am I going to be able to order my tea — Earl Grey, hot — in the near future?

Printing: The Next Generation

While you won’t be able to synthesize Captain Picard’s favorite brew any time soon, the human race is closer than we have ever been to our own version of a replicator: a 3D printer.

Break your camera’s lens cap? Lose your key? Need a last-minute birthday gift? Imagine if you could create those items — and lots more — at minimal expense and without ever leaving home. With today’s technology, it’s already possible (if costly)… but just wait a decade or so to see how much of a game-changer the process called 3D printing is expected to be.

Dubbed “The Next Trillion Dollar Industry” by Business Insider, 3D printing doesn’t use ink, but “prints” with plastic, metal, ceramic, glass and a (currently) limited variety of other materials. It’s a process whereby you can use a three-dimensional digital rendering to guide a machine to create a real, physical object.

Here are a few examples of objects created by Shapeways, based on user-submitted designs:

A new way to produce objects

“Subtractive” processes to create items — whereby material is removed (drilled, cut, filed, chipped and/or otherwise taken away) — have been used for thousands of years. Our favorite example of the subtractive method is Michelangelo’s statue of David. The artist insisted that the form of the man had already been in the uncarved stone, and said, “I only take away the surplus — the statue is already there.”

On the other hand, 3D printing uses an “additive” process, because the object is built up by adding thin layers upon layers. Consequently, 3D printing requires far fewer raw materials, generates very little waste, and can produce objects that might otherwise be expensive and/or difficult — if not impossible — to create otherwise.

Smarter production

At the moment, the biggest market for three-dimensional printed products is for manufacturing companies to create product prototypes. Some of the greatest possibilities, however, exist in the fields of aerospace, automotive, defense and especially the healthcare industry. (Custom-built prosthetics and safety devices come to mind.)

In addition to industrial needs, the consumer interest in the potential of such methods is understandably huge.

In addition to the examples we mentioned above, imagine being able to print a new panel for your car, a door for your house or a new pair of shoes on an as-needed basis. What you can’t make at home due to size or material types, you will be able to upload the specs and assign production to a nearby facility. It’s not hard to expect that, in the not-too-distant future, the market for designs and raw materials will grow tremendously… while the demand for mass-produced, run-of-the mill doodads will wither.

How you can do it

Even if it’s not commonplace, 3D printing is available to you right here, right now.

The most affordable way to do your own small-scale custom 3D printing now is by outsourcing the production to a company like Shapeways or Sculpteo.

But if you’re interested in setting up shop in your own home, for around $20,000, you can get the uPrint Plus — or spend half that for the V-Flash personal 3D printer. Still too rich for your blood? Buy an inexpensive printer – assembled or in a kit — from BotMill or MakerBot, or make your very own with the help of the (free) open-source RepRap.