Do you remember when printers were first invented and everyone thought it was the greatest invention in the world? The ability to take something from a screen and turn it into a real life replica was pretty amazing. Everyone thinks nothing of a printer these days. You can walk into any library in the world and have something printed for a few cents. I bet you couldn't even imagine business being able to operate without them. At the moment most businesses definitely couldn't.
But there's a new kid in town. People don't really know about it because it's so new. It's now possible to actually print 3D models, from the computer to an actual living creation. There's some huge projects deep in development and soon they will revolutionize the way everything is built. Can you picture a massive printer that actually builds houses with the click of a button? Soon, my friend, they will be here. Let's have a look at some of the different techniques they use to print 3D models.
Fused deposition modeling
FDM is the technique that's used by the largest number of people at the moment. All the commercial machines will use this and if you wanted anything done, you'd use it too. They basically take a big spool of metal wire or plastic and it's melted then placed next to the nozzle of the printer. One layer is done at a time and it's hardened before the printer moves onto the next layer.
Inkjet printing
This one is a little like your printer at home, although it's a long time yet before you can turn your work into 3D models. Special inks are used and they are inclusive of resins and binders. Now layer upon layer is added to the model until your chosen 3D shape is formed. This is unfortunately the only way you can print something with custom colors at the moment.
Selective laser sintering
Sintering means the product is created from powders. You're probably wondering how you could ever create a solid object from powder, but this powder can be anything: metals, glass, even ceramics. The laser basically solidifies the powder as it draws the shape. As you can imagine, the laser involved has to be very powerful, so you'll only see this type of thing happening in industrial projects.
Digital light processing
Now we move onto liquids which are solidified by light. It's also a very powerful light and will only ever be seen on industrial projects. The light is not something you'd want to look directly at unless you wanted your eyeballs to melt. The best thing about this method is the accuracy you can achieve, so for more complex projects it's definitely top drawer. Think space shuttle parts.
And the rest
There's a few other ways that are not nearly as popular is the methods already mentioned. As time progresses they will keep coming and eventually we will find a great technique that's easy to use in a commercial setting.
The future is coming
As I mentioned before, when you think of printers in business it's hard to imagine them not being around. The exact same thing will eventually happen with 3D printers. It's going to replace millions of jobs around the world and will eventually replace most methods of manufacturing. When it does we will only need people to operate and perform maintenance on the printers. The world is going to change in the next 50 years and it's going to be an exciting time indeed. Let's hope we are all around to see it because we're going to be amazed. Now try to imagine what you could do to change the world if you had the power of a 3D printer at your disposal.
Jayden Corris is the author of the article who loves to writes guest blogs on technology and business. He also writes guest articles for On Time Screen who deals with screen printing and printed t-shirts in Connecticut.
