What Is 3D Printing and How Does It Work?

People who hear about 3D printing for the first time think it is complex and not straightforward. That is not true, in fact, 3D printing is quite easy to understand and utilize. 

In this post, 3D printing is explained in simple terms to clear any confusion that people may have.

What is 3D printing?

3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, is a method of creating a three-dimensional object layer-by-layer using a computer-created design. 3D printing enables everyone to make complex objects from the comfort of their homes. 3D printers are small, cheap, and easy to install and operate.

3D printing has become popular so fast because it makes manufacturing accessible to more people than ever before. The reason for that is the low price of 3D printers, and also the small size of the printers compared to traditional manufacturing.

How does it work?

In traditional printing, the printer takes a blank piece of paper and creates two-dimensional text and images out of seemingly nowhere. On the other side, 3D printing creates fully realized objects out of nothing. It’s a fascinating process that can be useful in so many fields.

The 3D printing process turns an object into thousands of tiny slices, then makes it from the bottom-up, slice by slice. Those tiny layers stick together to form a solid object. The process of 3D can take hours or even days, depending on the size and complexity of the project.

What Can You Make with a 3D Printer?

Almost anything you can imagine can be 3D printed. 3D printers are helping designers, engineers, and even everyday people create complex objects. 3D printers are being used to create toys, accessories, tools, wearables, pottery, art, and even cars.

3D printers have a very wide range of applications in basically all the fields you can think of. In recent times, 3D printing has been used in the following fields:

• Dental
• Optometry & glass frames
• Prototyping architecture & new products
• Prosthetics
• Fossil & artifact reconstruction
• Home construction
• Automotive parts & repairs
• Jewelry
• Footwear
• Bio-printing organs

Think about how big this industry is, and realize that 3D printing, in a matter of a few years took over this industry by being the main manufacturing method of over 90% of hearing aids.

What Materials are Available for 3D Printing?

Does plastic material the only thing a 3D printer can handle? Not entirely, there are more options than you may think. Using a desktop printer you can 3D print using a wide variety of materials including plastics, nylon, metal, and wood.

Keep in mind that when you use wood or metal filaments, you are basically using a plastic filament that has been coated or fused with metal or wood particles. Doesn’t matter much though, because the end product still looks amazing.

What do I Need to Start 3D Printing?

To start with 3D printing you are going to need a computer and a 3D printer. The computer will be used for 2 purposes:

1. Design a 3D object using CAD software like Tinkercad, or alternately you can download 3D objects from the internet, Thingiverse is a great source to get free 3D models.
2. Use slicer software to make your 3D object readable by your printer. The most common slicer software is Cura, it's free and easy to use.

The second thing you need is obviously a 3D printer to print the 3D object that you got from the slicer software.

Resources:

• What Is 3D Printing? – Simply Explained
• How Exactly Does 3D Printing Work? Explained Simply