3D Printing
3D printing in its basics is said to date back to 1981 with a Japanese inventor named Hideo Kodama. He created a product that used UV lights to harden a polymer substance that was used to create objects. Later Charles Hull invented stereolithography which is most common to the 3D printing we know today. Stereolithography is the process in which an object is created in computer-aided-design (CAD) and sent to a 3D printer machine where it is printed in layers, rinsed with solvent, and then hardened with a UV light. (1)
There are multiple types of 3D printing options. There is Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) and Stereolithography (SLA). SLS and FDM soften/melt material together to produce layers. Whereas SLA deposits a liquid resin or other various materials to form each layer.
Focusing on the most commonly accessible kind of 3D printing, let’s dive deeper into Stereolithography (SLA). To begin you will need to create a 3D model in which you wish to print. Programs like Google SketchUp, 3Dtin, Blender, OpenSCAD, or Tinkercad are all options that are available free of purchase. If you’d like to begin before delving into learning the extensive knowledge it takes to operate these 3D programs you can choose to purchase or find free downloads of premade models. Some websites that include 3D models are Google 3D Warehouse, Sketchfab, Thingiverse, and Turbosquid. (2)
3D printing is extremely accessible to anyone and everyone these days. The price range is pretty wide for all that is available in the market now. The lowest I have seen is around $40 for a small handheld 3D print pen that uses filament to create with. Not as complex as a high-end resin printer that would run upwards of $4500+! But getting into these price ranges you are looking more at printers that are designed for medical and lab usage for creating things like dental castings and even replacement bone parts for surgeries. Personally I have heard and seen really great results from the Elegoo series! It’s quite compact at only 16″ tall and almost 8″ wide, so it’s great for a tabletop workspace in your home. It can handle anything from creating small pieces for models, crafting, building, or figurine prints. For a small business, this could be a huge profit maker, as the cost to purchase is only around $280! The resin prints with this tiny machine are unbelievably smooth and it holds detail very well!
3D printing can be beneficial for a ton of reasons. But mainly it can bring the cost of creating one of a kind pieces down dramatically! Especially in the medical field. Every body is different, so to have the ability to create a one of a kind piece for a patient is remarkable and increases higher success rates in surgery. 3D printing can be used in the medical field for things like printing patient-specific surgical models to use during pre-op and even during operations, creating new medical devices and instruments, affordable prosthetics and corrective orthopedic inserts, as well as the possibility of bioprinting, tissue engineering, and 3D printed organs with Bioinks. (3)
For a more laid back benefit of 3D printing more directly tied with the public, smaller, more accessible machines can be used to create intricate pieces for crafting and building. Things as simple as buckle clips or as complex as a tiny watch gear! The ability to customize and create practically anything you want in 3D programs gives you the freedom to create any kind of figure or part you may need! Small tabletop 3D printers are wonderful for people who enjoy building models or creating tabletop gaming figurines.
- Me3D – Brooke Hahn – Feb 2018 https://me3d.com.au/2018/history-of-3d-printing/#:~:text=The%20History%20of%203D%20Printing%20and%20its%20Development,stone%20to%20stereolithography%20(SLA)
- 3Ders.org – 3D Printing Basics https://www.3ders.org/3d-printing-basics.html
- FormLabs – March 2020 https://formlabs.com/blog/3d-printing-in-medicine-healthcare/