Introducing the 3-D Printer

Ever had a really cool idea for something you wanted to build, but you had no way to actually build it? Ever designed a toy or a piece of art that you thought would be a neat thing to have, but your skills at molding plastic or at sculpture just weren't up to the task? With 3-D printers entering the consumer markets within the next few years, you won’t have these problems anymore. Whether it be the battery cover of your cellphone that you have lost or the golden princess doll your daughter saw on the television that she really wanted, you will be able to make them by just downloading the 3-D plans off the internet and pushing print and just a few hours later, your “print” will be ready.

3-D printers create their three-dimensional objects by layering and connecting successive cross sections of very thin layers of liquid or powdered plastic, corn starch or resin just as traditional ink-jet printers do out of dots of ink.

Three-dimensional printers have been in certain industries for about a decade. Their uses include the designing and testing of cars and planes and other products. Once well over $100,000 each, 3-D printers can now be bought for anything between $15,000 and $60,000. One company aiming to be the first to offer smaller printers for home and small business use is Desktop Factory and the company will start selling their first consumer 3-D printer this year for about $5,000 with experts predicting prices to fall up to $1,000 within the next four years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_printing
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/07/technology/07copy.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&ref=technologyhttp://www.desktopfactory.com/

Advancing to Better Technologies

Previous means of producing a prototype, typically took man-hours, many tools, and skilled labor. With this technology, casting or molding plastic would be unnecessary and will be replaced.

This process is commonly referred to as rapid prototyping and the first version of this technology was introduced in 1986 and was called Stereolithography. With the new three-dimensional printer being the latest technology introduced in this field of rapid prototyping, the older methods and techniques are being replaced by the digital, faster, cheaper and more efficient ways of 3-D printing.

http://www.me.psu.edu/lamancusa/rapidpro/primer/chapter2.htm#techniques

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_printing

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapid_prototyping

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereolithography

Advantages of 3D Printing

Three-dimensional printing is considered an industrial revolution and can be used in almost every industry or field by many different users including design visualization, architecture, engineering, education, healthcare, geospatial, prototyping/CAD, metal casting, entertainment, retail, art and many more.

Here are some of the general advantages of 3-D printing:

• Faster Turnaround: Models are fast to make; hours rather than days or weeks.
  
• Reduced Costs: Models would generally cost $5 or less each rather than the traditional $400 or more.
• Greater detail: Pieces made are more precise.
  
• Easy-to-use: While other forms of modeling and rapid prototyping require specialized knowledge and training, 3-D printers typically come with user-friendly software.

Architects, Engineers and designers could benefit from 3-D printing by:

• Allowing them to efficiently test their product designs using the models made.


• The “prints” could also be used as working parts.


• Complex assemblies could be made that work. Pieces formed by a 3-D printer can actually snap or fit together.


• Outsourcing a prototype takes days or weeks and cost over $400 while using a 3-D printer to make a model takes only hours and cost less than $5.


• 3-D printing ensures that the designs remain inside the company, for greater protection rather than outsourcing a prototype.


• These quick and inexpensive models from 3-D printers allow designers to now make multiple concepts right from their desktops.


• Allows the designers to catch flaws early in the design process that could save them thousands (if not millions) of dollars.


• It could be used as a tool for visualizing and communicating your ideas as there’s no substitute for the tactile and visual feedback a physical model can provide. CAD files, prints and renderings can be misinterpreted by everyone from team members to clients.


• The “prints” can be drilled, tapped, sanded and even painted.

Advantages in Education:

• 3-D printers could be used in high schools, technical colleges and universities enabling students to build functional models and seeing their ideas firsthand.


• Makes teaching methods a lot simpler by showing the students certain models that it being discussed in class.


• Their easy to use software makes it perfect for students as using 3-D printers won’t need any complex programming requirements.


• 3-D printers could be a very useful tool for the designers and engineers of tomorrow.

3-D printing could have countless advantages in countless industries and fields. Click here To read some of the success stories from different companies that have used Dimensions 3-D Printers, one of the leading manufacturers of 3-D printers.

http://www.dimensionprinting.com/default.aspx
http://www.dimensionprinting.com/successstories/successstories-main.aspx
http://www.dimensionprinting.com/applications/educators.aspx
http://www.dimensionprinting.com/applications/design-engineers.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_printing

Disadvantages of 3D Printing

Although three-dimensional printing has many advantages, it also has a few disadvantages that come with it:

• Current 3D printing materials for investment casting tend to yield sporadically rough surfaces.
• Sometimes encourages informal design methods which may cause more problems to fix.
• It may not be suitable for large sized applications.
• The user may have very high expectations about the prototype’s performance and it might fail in the exact replication of the real product or systems.
• 3-D printers are still expensive.
• Although 3-D printers have the potential of creating many jobs and opportunities, they might also put certain jobs at risk (for example, you can make your toys at home so toy stores and toy makers might go out of business).

http://www.timecompress.com/magazine/magazine_articles.cfm?article_id=354&issue_id=85&articles=354,355,356,357,358,359,360,361,363,364,365,366,367,368,369,370,372,344,345,346,347,348,349,350,351,352,353,336,337,338,339,340,341,342,343,334,316,317,318,319,3

http://www.public.iastate.edu/~abowser/pdf/RPHandout.doc.pdf

http://goldenboar.com/rapidprototyping/prototyping-disadvantages/

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/07/technology/07copy.html?_r=4&pagewanted=1&ref=technology

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prototype

Videos of 3D Printers

Here are some interesting video links on 3D printers:

A 3D printer at work:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5scCMxuciY&feature=related

BMW using 3D printers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdiFkH5Ugwk&feature=related

A product from Thinglab, a manufacturer of 3D printers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0m1cVqNsRA

CSI NewYork using 3D printers (TV show):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKhpa5Nt6CkA