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Picture a robot-controlled hot glue gun that uses plastic instead of glue, and you have the basics of a 3D printer. Strands of plastic are fed into a print head, which is heated up to melt the material. The print head moves around very precisely in three dimensions and drops lines of plastic onto the print bed\u2014the table on which it prints. The printer does this over and over, building up layers of plastic until it forms a 3D part.<\/p>\n
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Every object printed on a 3D printer starts with a 3D model. These are usually made in a CAD program designed for working on real-world 3D models, like\u00a0TinkerCAD<\/a>,\u00a0Fusion360<\/a>, or\u00a0Sketchup<\/a>. This is a bit different to how 3D models might be made for movies or games, though you could certainly print out very detailed figures from traditional 3D modeling software.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n One benefit of a 3D printer is that it can print nearly anything. Some models are so complex that they\u2019re impossible to make with traditional manufacturing techniques like molding or CNC routing, and that\u2019s where 3D printers take an obvious lead. However, they\u2019re not just used for making fancy geometric shapes, as it\u2019s usually much cheaper for a large factory\u2019s R&D department to print a single model in plastic rather than rigging up the whole factory to make the actual part. This is called prototyping, making a rough draft to help test the final copy without wasting valuable time and materials.<\/p>\n Since a printer doesn\u2019t understand how to take a complex 3D mesh and turn it into a printed model, the 3D model must be decoded into information that the printer can understand. This process is called slicing since it takes scans of each layer of the model and tells the printer how it should move the print head to create each layer in turn. It\u2019s done with the aid of a slicer, a program that handles all of this for you, like\u00a0CraftWare<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0Astroprint<\/a>.<\/p>\n The slicer will handle the \u201cfill\u201d of the model, creating a lattice structure inside a solid model to give it extra stability. This is one area where 3D printers shine\u2014they can print very strong materials with really low densities, by strategically creating pockets of air inside the model and making it much lighter.<\/p>\n Another thing the slicer handles is support columns. Since the printer can\u2019t lay down plastic on thin air, support columns must be created to allow the printer to bridge the gap. These are removable but are used in the printing process to ensure it doesn\u2019t collapse.<\/p>\n Once the slicer is done, it will send the data over to the 3D printer to start the printing process.<\/p>\n Once the printer starts, you\u2019ll notice the main problem with 3D printing today: it\u2019s horrendously slow. While a 2D printer can print a whole book in a couple of minutes, most 3D prints will take several hours, if not days, to finish printing. And if you messed up the settings, misconfigured the slicer, or just bumped into it a bit, you could lose the whole print.<\/p>\n There are some faster technologies making splashes in the industry, like the Carbon M1, which uses lasers shot into a bed of liquid and pulls the print up out of it, speeding the process up significantly. But these kinds of printers are many times more complicated, much more expensive, and only work with plastic so far.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re not interested in designing and printing parts, you certainly aren\u2019t going to be replacing your boring 2D printer anytime soon.<\/p>\n The printers most consumers will buy usually print in plastic, though there are exotic (and expensive) printers used in the industry that can print pretty much anything. There\u2019s even a 3D printer that can print artificial meat. The technology is moving very quickly and has significant implications across many industries. Surely someday, you\u2019ll be able to print gourmet meals from an edible food printer, but until then it remains a hobbyist and industrial device.<\/p>\n Still, with prices coming down all the time, it can be a fun hobby\u2014especially if you build anything where small plastic models are used.<\/p>\nSlicing the Model for the Print<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nWaiting a Long Time<\/h2>\n
So Should I Buy a 3D Printer?<\/h2>\n
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