3D Printing

= Feed a device with blueprints for a solid object of your choosing, then let the machine build it for you from plastic or other simple materials [1]

Definition

1.

"Three-dimensional printers, often called rapid prototypers, assemble objects out of an array of specks of material, just as traditional printers create images out of dots of ink or toner. They build models in a stack of very thin layers, each created by a liquid or powdered plastic that can be hardened in small spots by precisely applied heat, light or chemicals." (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/07/technology/07copy.html?)

2.

"3D Printing is a technique that deposites material layer by layer using a head similar to that of a inkjet printer. The head tends to move along the X and Y axes and the object being printed moves up and down on the Z axis." (http://www.shapeways.com/blog/archives/39-3D-Printing.-A-definition-and-links.html)

Discussing the Definition

"3D Printing is currently rather a hard term to define. Officially it is just one of the rapid manufacturing techniques. Currently however the term 3D Printing itself is used as a synonym for Rapid Manufacturing, Digital Manufacturing, Direct Digital Manufacturing, Rapid Prototyping, Desktop Manufacturing, Freeform Fabrication and Fabbing.

Each one of these terms has a distinct meaning but they are all vying for your attention to become the official term to describe any process whereby the information in a digital file describing an object virtually(such as an STL or CAD file) is used to rapidly make a real object. Usually by one single machine and usually in limited production runs.

The official definition maintains that 3D Printing is is just one of the many ways that you do this. In that light: 3D Printing is a technique that deposites material layer by layer using a head similar to that of a inkjet printer. The head tends to move along the X and Y axes and the object being printed moves up and down on the Z axis. In the picture above you can see our Objet printer at work. The head is printing two copies of Macouno's Shapeways model Petunia(Of Project Petunia fame). The two Petunias are on a base plate that moves down along the Z axis to give the model depth.

At Shapeways we have noticed that we, our designers and partners tend to use 3D Printing as a general term to describe any rapid manufacturing technique." (http://www.shapeways.com/blog/archives/39-3D-Printing.-A-definition-and-links.html)

Typology

"The three leading 3-D printer companies all used different technologies. Stratasys makes models out of liquid plastic using a very expensive heated print head that resembles a glue gun. 3D Systems uses lasers to harden liquid polymers. And the Z Corporation, a unit of the private equity group EQT, builds models by squirting a sort of glue over layers of sandlike plaster." (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/07/technology/07copy.html?)

Applications

1.

"Colleges and high schools are buying them for design classes. Dental labs are using them to shape crowns and bridges. Doctors print models from CT scans to help plan complex surgery. Architects are printing three-dimensional models of their designs. And the Army Corps of Engineers used the technology to build a topographical map of New Orleans to help plan reconstruction.

Entrepreneurs like Fabjectory are beginning to find interest in 3-D printing among aficionados of online games, like Second Life and World of Warcraft, in which players design their own characters. Electronic Arts hopes to offer a similar service to create three-dimensional models of characters in Spore, a game to be introduced later this year." (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/07/technology/07copy.html?)

2. 3D Printing as a Shopping Service:

"This is a newly emerging mode, where the price of equipment and media are low enough to support a burgeoning industry of service bureaus.

These services accept or provide 3D models that can remotely print objects that are then physically transported to the recipient.

The service is used when the client is unable to afford their own equipment, and will be popular with anybody who needs occasional 3D printing." (http://ecommerce.typepad.com/exciting_ecommerce/2008/02/3d-printing-als.html)

Status Report

Cathy Lewis, August 2008, on the commercial situation:

"The current vendors like Stratasys, ZCorp, Objet and 3d Systems are not household names as you see in the 2d printing space.

In fact, few outside the industry have ever heard of them and after almost 20 years they continue to be relatively small companies with revenues ranging from $50M to $150M dollars annually. And most of them, with one exception, are very profitable and growing rapidly." (http://ecommerce.typepad.com/exciting_ecommerce/2008/07/3d-printing-des.html)

Projects and Companies

1. Fab@Home Project is the original open source, cheap, desktop 3D Printer project.
2. RepRap

Others:

1. Desktop Factory, at http://www.desktopfactory.com/
2. Shapeways, at http://www.shapeways.com/

More Information

1. See also: Desktop Manufacturing; Rapid Manufacturing; Personal Fabricators
2. Online tutorial through slideshow: Five Ways to Print Your Own 3-D Objects
3. Three videos on 3d printing collected by The Scientific Indian, at http://scienceblogs.com/thescian/2008/08/3d_printing.php