3D Printers: It’s all real and no magic

We all have wondered about 3D printers and how they work. We have seen 3D printing in movies and on net but still we are not much aware about it. However, in this post we will let you know all about 3D printers.

What is a 3D printer?

3D printer is different from the common printers as in a 3D printer the object is printed by three dimension. A layer by layer 3D model is built and therefore the whole process is called 3D printing or rapid prototyping.

What is the use of 3D Printers?

3D printers are mostly used in the medical industry. With the use of 3D printers, surgeons can easily produce mockup parts of their patient’s body which needs to be operated. A part can be made from a scratch in just hours only with the use of 3D printers. It is due to the 3D printers that designers and developers go from flat screen to exact part.

However, 3D printers have found its application in almost every field. They are used in aerospace components, toy making, for jewelry making, architecture, fashion design, art, architecture and interior design.

How does 3D printers work?

There are many types of 3D printers which currently exist.  Every printer uses a different material but all of them uses the same basic technique to print objects. There are two techniques for printing. One is direct spraying and other is transferring multiple layers of a material onto a construction platform, starting from the bottom layer.

Process of 3D printing.

A 3D image of the item to be printed is produced by using a computer-assisted design, CAD, software. This program divides the desired object into several hundred and thousand horizontal layers. After that each layer is placed on top of each other in a one-by-one manner until the entire object is developed.

After that a laser beam is used to heat and solidify a granular substance into a certain pattern for every slice and the process is repeated again and again on new layers.

What materials are used in 3D printers?

Many different materials are used in 3D printers such as PLA polyamide, ABS plastic, epoxy resins, glass filled polyamide, silver, steel, titanium, wax, polycarbonate and photopolymers.

What are the advantages of 3D printers?

• It provides shorter response time.
• It is due to the Three-dimensional printers that working models can be constructed in just hours.
• It is much easier and cheaper to generating prototypes with 3D printers than making molds.
• It provides Superior Surface Finish and durability.
• The objects obtained by 3-D printers are long lasting and durable because they do not absorb moisture.

What all software’s are used in 3D printers?

However, CAD is the main software which is used in 3D printers. But there are many other free software’s available for beginners. Few of them are Google Sketch-up, 3D tin, Blender, OpenSCAD and TinkerCAD.

For experts, there are many commercial software available such as CAD, AutoCAD, Pro Engineer, Rhino, Maya, and SolidWorks.

How much a 3D printer costs?

There are varieties of 3D printers available in the market. One can select from the range of 150$ to 25,000$.

Where can you buy 3D printers?

You can buy them online from amazon.

3D printers are amazing devices which perform some awesome operations. They are used in almost every field and there usage is increasing day by day. With the advancement in technology, soon 3D printers will be seen in everyday household work. 3D printer is not the future, it’s already here and it will keep on developing.