3D Printing Flies High now. Articles on three-dimensional printers are popping up everywhere these days. And nowadays there are many 3D printer products. Some are small enough to fit in a briefcase and others are large enough to print houses.
Everything you ever wanted to know about 3D printing article tells that 3D printing is having its “Macintosh moment,” declares Wired editor -in-chief Chris Anderson in cover story on the subject. 3D printers are now where the PC was 30 years ago. They are just becoming affordable and accessible to non-geeks, will be maybe able to democratize manufacturing the same way that PCs democratized publishing.
Gartner’s 2012 Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies Identifies “Tipping Point” Technologies That Will Unlock Long-Awaited Technology Scenarios lists 3D Print It at Home as important topic. In this scenario, 3D printing allows consumers to print physical objects, such as toys or housewares, at home, just as they print digital photos today. Combined with 3D scanning, it may be possible to scan certain objects with a smartphone and print a near-duplicate. Analysts predict that 3D printing will take more than five years to mature beyond the niche market. Eventually, 3D printing will enable individuals to print just about anything from the comfort of their own homes.Slideshow: 3D Printers Make Prototypes Pop article tells that advances in performance, and the durability and range of materials used in additive manufacturing and stereolithography offerings, are enabling companies to produce highly durable prototypes and parts, while also cost-effectively churning out manufactured products in limited production runs.
3D printing can have implications to manufacturers of some expensive products. The Pirate Bay declares 3D printed “physibles” as the next frontier of piracy. Pirate Bay Launches 3D-Printed ‘Physibles’ Downloads. The idea is to have freely available designs for different products that you can print at home with your 3D printer. Here a video demonstrating 3D home printing in operation.
Shapeways is a marketplace and community that encourages the making and sharing of 3D-printed designs. 3D Printing Shapes Factory of the Future article tells that recently New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg cut the Shapeways‘ Factory (filled with industrial-sized 3D printers) ribbon using a pair of 3D-printed scissors.
The Next Battle for Internet Freedom Could Be Over 3D Printing article tells up to date, 3D printing has primarily been used for rapid commercial prototyping largely because of its associated high costs. Now, companies such as MakerBot are selling 3D printers for under $2,000. Slideshow: 3D Printers Make Prototypes Pop article gives view a wide range of 3D printers, from half-million-dollar rapid prototyping systems to $1,000 home units. Cheapest 3D printers (with quite limited performance) now start from 500-1000 US dollars. It is rather expensive or inexpensive is how you view that.
RepRap Project is a cheap 3D printer that started huge 3D printing buzz. RepRap Project is an initiative to develop an open design 3D printer that can print most of its own components. RepRap (short for replicating rapid prototyper) uses a variant of fused deposition modeling, an additive manufacturing technique (The project calls it Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) to avoid trademark issues around the “fused deposition modeling” term). It is almost like a small hot glue gun that melts special plastic is moved around to make the printout. I saw RepRap (Mendel) and Cupcake CNC 3D printers in operation at at Assembly Summer 2010.
There has been some time been trials to make 3D-Printed Circuit Boards. 3D Printers Will Build Circuit Boards ‘In Two Years’ article tells that printing actual electronics circuit boards is very close. Most of the assembly tools are already completely automated anyway.
3D printing can be used to prototype things like entire cars or planes. The makers of James Bond’s latest outing, Skyfall, cut a couple corners in production and used modern 3D printing techniques to fake the decimation of a classic 1960s Aston Martin DB5 (made1:3 scale replicas of the car for use in explosive scenes). The world’s first 3D printed racing car can pace at 140 km/h article tells that a group of 16 engineers named “Group T” has unveiled a racing car “Areion” that is competing in Formula Student 2012 challenge. It is described as the world’s first 3D printed race car. The Areion is not fully 3D printed but most of it is.
Student Engineers Design, Build, Fly ‘Printed’ Airplane article tells that when University of Virginia engineering students posted a YouTube video last spring of a plastic turbofan engine they had designed and built using 3-D printing technology, they didn’t expect it to lead to anything except some page views. But it lead to something bigger. 3-D Printing Enables UVA Student-Built Unmanned Plane article tells that in an effort that took four months and $2000, instead of the quarter million dollars and two years they estimate it would have using conventional design methods, a group of University of Virginia engineering students has built and flown an airplane of parts created on a 3-D printer. The plane is 6.5 feet in wingspan, and cruises at 45 mph.
3D printers can also print guns and synthetic chemical compounds (aka drugs). The potential policy implications are obvious. US Army Deploys 3D Printing Labs to Battlefield to print different things army needs. ‘Wiki Weapon Project’ Aims To Create A Gun Anyone Can 3D-Print At Home. If high-quality weapons can be printed by anyone with a 3D printer, and 3D printers are widely available, then law enforcement agencies will be forced to monitor what you’re printing in order to maintain current gun control laws.
Software Advances Do Their Part to Spur 3D Print Revolution article tells that much of the recent hype around 3D printing has been focused on the bevy of new, lower-cost printer models. Yet, significant improvements to content creation software on both the low and high end of the spectrum are also helping to advance the cause, making the technology more accessible and appealing to a broader audience. Slideshow: Content Creation Tools Push 3D Printing Mainstream article tells that there is still a sizeable bottleneck standing in the way of mainstream adoption of 3D printing: the easy to use software used to create the 3D content. Enter a new genre of low-cost (many even free like Tikercad) and easy-to-use 3D content creation tools. By putting the tools in reach, anyone with a compelling idea will be able to easily translate that concept into a physical working prototype without the baggage of full-blown CAD and without having to make the huge capital investments required for traditional manufacturing.
Finally when you have reached the end of the article there is time for some fun. Check out this 3D printing on Dilbert strip so see a creative use of 3D printing.
2,050 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
Kondensaattoreita 3D-tulostuksella
https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2019/05/16/kondensaattoreita-3d-tulostuksella/
Tomi Engdahl says:
A-Line Is a Magical 4D Printing System
https://blog.hackster.io/a-line-is-a-magical-4d-printing-system-df89d23eb13e
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://blog.hackster.io/run-your-3d-printer-with-this-32-bit-port-of-marlin-9e54f2556b0
Tomi Engdahl says:
How to print maps, terrains and landscapes on a 3D printer
https://blog.prusaprinters.org/how-to-print-maps-terrains-and-landscapes-on-a-3d-printer/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Worried that your 3D printer assembly was a bit off? The Original Prusa i3 MK2 unique Calibrate XYZ function offers perfect 3D printing anyway! Since 3.0.6 firmware, the printer can automatically find the calibration points and because it knows its geometry (how skewed the axes are) it can correct it live during the print as it does with automatic mesh bed levelling. MK2 is the first printer on the planet with this ability! You can read more about it at http://prusaprinters.org/first-printer-to-automatically-correct-geometry-in-all-axes/
Tomi Engdahl says:
This 3D Printer Can Work Directly with Recycled Plastic
https://blog.hackster.io/this-3d-printer-can-work-directly-with-recycled-plastic-2b061cc2e2ac
Tomi Engdahl says:
How to print on a powder-coated sheet
https://blog.prusaprinters.org/how-to-print-on-a-powder-coated-sheet/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2019/07/17/3d-printed-snap-gun-for-automatic-lock-picking/
Tomi Engdahl says:
3D Print Huge Benchy Model Out of Wood
https://blog.hackster.io/print-huge-benchy-model-out-of-wood-6b89e30b2c5d
“Plywood 3D Printer” made in three days during Formlabs’ 2019 hackathon by a team including Shane Wighton.
The printer employs an interesting mix of additive and subtractive manufacturing, first cutting layers of ¾ inch particle board, then gluing them on top of each other in a fully automated process.
https://shane.engineer/blog/plywood-3d-printer
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2019/05/24/3d-printering-the-past-and-future-of-prusas-slicer/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2019/06/19/trash-printer-directly-uses-recycled-plastics/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2019/08/08/3d-printing-glass/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2019/08/05/resin-printers-are-now-cheaper-still-kind-of-a-hassle/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2019/07/23/i-love-the-smell-of-abs-plastic-in-the-morning/
Tomi Engdahl says:
This new 3D printer can do something no other 3D printer has achieved: print functional electronic components.
This Amazing New 3D Printer Is Capable of Producing Working Electronic Components
https://www.hackster.io/news/this-amazing-new-3d-printer-is-capable-of-producing-working-electronic-components-40e1d6c009d5?dc363817786ff182b7bc59565d864523
The EFORGE Kickstarter campaign just recently started, but it has already reached more than twice its funding goal. That’s because it can do something no other 3D printer has achieved: print functional electronic components. That doesn’t just mean it can print conductive plastic—many 3D printers can do that—but that it can print working components like diodes or transistors. EFORGE comes equipped with eight extruders, and you can take advantage of them to print new specialty materials that are engineered specifically for electronics.
Those materials include: conductive, insulative, capacitive, resistive, N-type semi-conductive, and P-type semi-conductive. You can, of course, also print standard materials like PLA, ABS, and HIPS.
Tomi Engdahl says:
World’s Largest 3D Printed Boat
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2600net/permalink/2534681580088285/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2019/10/19/theres-more-to-the-3d-print-than-the-eye-can-see/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2019/10/16/using-tl-smoothers-for-better-3d-prints/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2019/10/13/prusa-unveils-new-mini-printer-shakes-up-the-competition/
Tomi Engdahl says:
The World’s Largest 3D Metal Printer Is Churning Out Rockets
https://spectrum.ieee.org/aerospace/space-flight/the-worlds-largest-3d-metal-printer-is-churning-out-rockets
Tomi Engdahl says:
Devil’s advocate: Instead of having it place the components, why not just print them? It seems we’re dangerously close to completely skipping all of this and going to straight proto-type manufacturing.
https://all3dp.com/2/3d-printed-electronics-5-most-advanced-companies/
Tomi Engdahl says:
3D Printer Emission Monitor Quantifies The Stench
https://hackaday.com/2019/09/03/3d-printer-emission-monitor-quantifies-the-stench/
Tomi Engdahl says:
When Does Moving To Resin 3D Printing Make Sense?
https://hackaday.com/2019/10/02/when-does-moving-to-resin-3d-printing-make-sense/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2019/11/01/josef-prusa-wants-you-to-change-file-formats/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Rarely Adjusted Slicer Setting Makes A Difference
https://hackaday.com/2019/11/02/rarely-adjusted-slicer-setting-makes-a-difference/
Tomi Engdahl says:
http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/10089-etteplanin-gadget-on-oikeasti-lapimurto
Tomi Engdahl says:
Dubai has taken 3D printing to a whole new level – literally
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/11/country-created-worlds-largest-3d-printed-building?fbclid=IwAR0EecDBtgKZo5-z-zqjDAasv516DViGjvAsPWrZWX-yuFPxXpvF1XfDR4Q
Dubai is now home to the world’s largest 3D-printed two-story building.
On Wednesday, officials in the city’s Warsan neighborhood unveiled the building, which is 9.5 meters (31 feet) tall and has a total area of 640 square meters (6,889 square feet). The structure’s concrete walls were constructed in place using a massive 3D printer — and the entire building serves as a testament to the power of 3D printing in construction.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2019/11/23/how-to-3d-print-your-identical-twin/
Tomi Engdahl says:
New glass 3D printing technique developed at ETH Zurich
https://www.3dnatives.com/en/new-glass-3d-printing-technique-eth-zurich-271120195/
The researchers from ETH Zurich explain that previous techniques have made objects by printing molten glass, or used powdered ceramic particles that can be printed at room temperature and then sintered later to create glass.
This new process on the other hand is based on stereolithography, for which a special resin that contains a plastic and organic molecules to which glass precursors are bonded, was developed.
According to this research, the resin developed can be used in commercially available DLP systems. DLP 3D printing works by hardening the resin where the UV light pattern is projected
Additionally, by mixing silica with borate or phosphate and adding it to the resin, complex objects can be built from different types of glass – or even combine these types together.
Following this step, the researchers fire the object produced at two different temperatures. First at 600˚C to burn off the polymer framework and then at around 1000˚C to densify the ceramic structure into glass. During the firing process, the objects shrink significantly, but become transparent and hard like window glass.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Researchers have developed a method for 3D printing liquid metal that can create stretchable electronic devices for wearables and other technology.
https://innovate.ieee.org/innovation-spotlight/3D-printing-liquid-metal/#utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=innovation&utm_content=3D%20printing?LT=CMH_WB_2019_LM_XIS_Paid_Social
Tomi Engdahl says:
Marlin 2.0 open source 3D printer firmware has been officially released with 32-bit support, including the Arduino Due: http://bit.ly/2P2Qrkw
Tomi Engdahl says:
With DNA Data Storage, 3D-Printed Bunnies Carry Their Own Blueprints
https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-human-os/biomedical/devices/dna-of-things
Tomi Engdahl says:
Marlin Releases Version 2.0.0 Firmware with 32-Bit Support
https://www.hackster.io/news/marlin-releases-version-2-0-0-firmware-with-32-bit-support-60737b07277c
Marlin’s 2.0 firmware offers support for Adafruit’s Grand Central, Arduino’s Due, and ESP32 boards, among a host of other new features.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/16/prusa-dares-you-to-break-their-latest-printer/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cool and super cool 3D printed projects
Here’s a look back at several cool hobbyist-level gadgets and a few super cool printed car projects.
https://www.designnews.com/3d-printing/cool-and-super-cool-3d-printed-projects/180614978762044?ADTRK=InformaMarkets&elq_mid=11568&elq_cid=876648
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sustainability, Scaling, and Uncertainty: 3D Printing Trends for 2020
https://www.materialise.com/en/blog/sustainability-scaling-and-uncertainty-3d-printing-trends-for-2020
Tomi Engdahl says:
How to think about 3D printing in 2020
https://www.designnews.com/3d-printing/how-think-about-3d-printing-2020/36018699762013?ADTRK=InformaMarkets&elq_mid=11662&elq_cid=876648
Tomi Engdahl says:
Form 3 SLA Printer Teardown, Bunnie Style
https://hackaday.com/2020/01/21/form-3-sla-printer-teardown-bunnie-style/
[Bunnie Huang] has shared with all of us his utterly detailed teardown on the Form 3 SLA printer from Formlabs (on the left in the image above) and in it he says one of the first things he noticed when he opened it to look inside was a big empty space where he expected to see mirrors and optics. [Bunnie] had avoided any spoilers about the printer design and how it worked, so he was definitely intrigued.
Formlabs Form 3 Teardown
https://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?p=5701
Tomi Engdahl says:
Bunnie Huang’s Form 3 SLA 3D Printer Teardown Shows You What You’re Paying For
A detailed look inside the Formlabs Form 3 3D printer.
https://www.hackster.io/news/bunnie-huang-s-form-3-sla-3d-printer-teardown-shows-you-what-you-re-paying-for-a65139fde2f1
Tomi Engdahl says:
Jubilee: A Toolchanging Homage To 3D Printer Hackers Everywhere
https://hackaday.com/2019/11/14/jubilee-a-toolchanging-homage-to-3d-printer-hackers-everywhere/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/28/stronger-3d-prints-glue-or-carbon-fiber/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/26/3d-printing-paper-sort-of/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Finishing FDM Prints With SLS Resin
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/25/finishing-fdm-prints-with-sls-resin/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Welcome To McDonald’s; Would You Like 3D Printing Resin With That?
https://hackaday.com/2020/02/10/welcome-to-mcdonalds-would-you-like-3d-printing-resin-with-that/
University of Toronto researchers have succeeded in converting used cooking oil — from McDonald’s, no less — into high-resolution 3D printing resin. Your first response might be: “Why?”, but thinking about it there are several advantages. For one thing, waste oil is a real problem for the food industry, and thus it can be acquired rather cheaply. An even bigger benefit is that the plastic that originates from this oil is biodegradable. Their 3d-printed butterfly, of course, is made from the recycled resin.
U of T researchers turn McDonald’s deep fryer oil into high-end 3D printing resin
https://www.utoronto.ca/news/u-t-researchers-turn-mcdonald-s-deep-fryer-oil-high-end-3d-printing-resin
Rajshree Biswas, a PhD student in the lab of U of T Scarborough Professor Andre Simpson, shows off biodegradable plastic butterflies made using a 3D printer and resin derived from McDonald’s waste cooking oil
Tomi Engdahl says:
New 3D Printer Technology Can Print 30 Times Faster Than Previous Designs
https://www.hackster.io/news/new-3d-printer-technology-can-print-30-times-faster-than-previous-designs-a3d126be0660
This new 3D printer technology prints at a rate more than a factor of 30 times better than previous state-of-the-art techniques.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Light-based 3D printing technique prints full objects in just seconds
A new 3D printing technique has been created, bringing to life 3D model objects in just seconds
Read more: https://www.tweaktown.com/news/70686/light-based-3d-printing-technique-prints-full-objects-in-just-seconds/index.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Clever “P-flat” Sheets Allow for Simple “Holographic” Effects on 3D-Printed Objects
https://www.hackster.io/news/clever-p-flat-sheets-allow-for-simple-holographic-effects-on-3d-printed-objects-d8b2efaed696
Good for up to 50 prints, the “P-flat” sheets transfer fine diffracting grating patterns to the flat bottom layer of any 3D-printed object.
A novel technique for transferring holographic-style imagery to layers of a 3D-printed model has been developed — and it’s as simple as placing a sheet of material on the print bed.
Publicized by Redditor kryvian, and brought to our attention by Make:, the clever method for creating a stunning holographic-like pattern on printed materials is surprisingly simple: “The print surface is a negative of the print bed,” kryvian explains, “similar to how textured sheets leave the surface of prints.”
https://www.reddit.com/r/3Dprinting/comments/f57vaz/im_in_a_love_hate_relationship_with_this/
P-flat sheets are available to order from Taiwanese web shop Shopee.
https://shopee.tw/%E7%A3%90%E5%89%B5%E8%A8%AD%E8%A8%88-%E5%9C%96%E9%A8%B0%E8%B2%BC-3D%E5%88%97%E5%8D%B0-%E6%89%93%E5%8D%B0-%E7%86%B1%E5%BA%8A-%E8%B2%BC%E7%89%87-%E5%B9%B3%E5%8F%B0%E8%B2%BC-235mmx250mm-i.17833895.1640758955
Tomi Engdahl says:
A new AI program called PrintFixer can make any 3D printer more precise, its developers say.
https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/artificial-intelligence/machine-learning/3d-print-jobs-news-accurate-machine-learning
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.io/project/169412-wire-3d-printer
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2020/02/08/generate-3d-printable-qr-codes-with-this-web-tool/