3D PRINT Pro-level EDUCATION?? - which is something about barriers in the world of 3D printing - Part 2

The level of knowledge of the #3dprinter determines the quality of the print, its durability, properties?and affects the utility prices. But can't it be done more simply? Without studying materials science, without delving into thermoplastics. It is probably not possible in 100%, but I decided to face this problem and throw another point of discussion into the world of #3Dprinting , about how "our" 3D world should look like and which way it could go if we set a goal together. Definitely one of them is the level of knowledge (what should it be).

Plug and play - that is, easy difficult beginnings

One of the biggest advantages of 3D printing is the relatively clear and simple design of the devices and clear working rules. Some devices that are present on the market still function with 8 or 16 bit electronics. The one that we know from 90s. It is a thing which shows what reserves are in the #additive world. Such a simple design determines the use, which is very often limited to the simplest materials. This was the main point what made the world of 3D printing grow so rapidly after 2009 and has become a widely used technology over the course of a decade. Cheap, quite simple and easy-to-use devices have dominated the world of 3D printers. With these simple prints, the user does not need to have a lot of knowledge. The printing basics and the first start are simple, you might say "plug and play". When I became the owner of my 3D printer, in just 1 hour I had the first printout, which was close to perfect. This how the image of 3D printers was created in the first stage. But on the one hand, named as a "big toys" covered the future difficulties that the user will have to deal with more professional 3D printing.

3D printing - what's so difficult?

Good advice is - don't go beyond the standard. In one of my first conversations about 3D printing and my tangle of questions about how it is printed, the person who spoke to me said: "keep your head down" – “do not be so optimistic” – “don’t go beyond the well known standards”.

Indeed, I felt it on my own skin - trying to print even from basic materials, but slightly beyond the generally accepted geometry. It was then that I found out what it means to warp, thread, split, etc. The standards include all the models that are so beautifully displayed on the Internet. Models without sharp edges, with a relatively small filling (25%), with a standard layer height, a compact model structure, printed from materials with "low shrinkage" and in rooms with constant conditions - this is a "simple" start of 3D printing. Any deviation from the norm, "going beyond" reveals stairs or even walls that will be difficult or sometimes impossible to climb.

List of basic stairs in 3D printing:

- first layer adhesion,

- warping of the printout,

- threading - occurring at the transitions between points,

- cracking or delamination.

This list can be extended with other, more complicated difficulties that the "Printer" has to face with.

What's difficult in 3D printing?

Oozing, warping, shrinking, - it's just the top of a mountain, and maybe even the tops of several mountains, which will be a "difficult" path to go in your world of more advance 3D printing. Returning, however, to the main topic - #educational . Each 3D printing technologist who currently works with 3D printers faces many obstacles that can be overcome after a few or a dozen attempts. Each such "new path" opens up a new field of activity. We can only feel unsatisfied that we do not have a "knowledge base", updated every time such a new path is found. Often hidden information in various threads make technologists, or more broadly printers, become “detectives” who put together various clues and discover the "truth". With the emergence of new materials, the knowledge of how to print should increase. Producers do not make it easier for us to learn all the secrets, because by adding new products - every week, they make a significant group of 3D printing "detectives" focus on new products. As the number of materials grows, newer and newer problems appear or reveal those that were "hidden" in the previous variant.

Top of the pro problem list - it looks like this

- gluing layers,

- layer deformation,

- speed (engine vibration, ghosting),

- missing steps,

- oozing - oozing,

- predictability of printing behavior during and after printing.

And this list can be extended and extended ...

Knowledge level - how much you need to know to be the best

It's a bit like with computers or other devices that are currently building our world. When we look back at the past, most devices had to be handled by "professionals". With the popularization, the operation became much simpler. The current level of advancement of 3D printers determines the enormity of knowledge that every professional user of a 3D printer should have. From my perspective, in 3D printing, we are only at the beginning of a path that should make everyone use a 3D printer. Here, too, a certain dissonance arises between the structural simplicity of printers and a real willingness to develop them. Simplicity in this case limits many manufacturers to rely on basic functions - that is, the printer only gets the path to print in a certain way. It would be reasonable to ask whether this is actually the end of the possibilities of devices? Can they go beyond the original action? There is a trend in the world of professional 3D printers that extends the basic operations and wants to go a little further. We are only starting to look more closely at the printing processes and the results they give. There are more and more mechanisms collecting data about the course of printing, which open the door to further breakthroughs. We begin to analyze filament extrusion, look at it from many perspectives. It's great to watch the world of print slowly transform itself into the next level. Nevertheless, today the knowledge that a professional printer must have is enormous and therefore the real development of professional 3D printer applications is clearly slower than any other plug and play device.

A list of the ingredients of a good printer's knowledge

- materials science of plastics and more,

- thermoplastic - knowledge about the behavior of plastics at different temperatures,

- plastic extrusion,

- mechanical engineering,

- Electromechanical,

And much more - and all this just to be good - to be the best, you have to print every day and learn from the "living" organism.

Or maybe it would be easier - I just want to print, not learn

I see the future of 3D printing so that everyone can print just like anyone can use a computer. At the same time, 3D printing will not be limited only to the simplest things - the simplest materials. The future of the additive world is clear, it will create our world, everyone will be a printer user, and only the most complex applications will require broader knowledge and will be narrowed to the group of specialists. This is my picture of the future. You will probably still need knowledge to open another door and push 3D printing even further. This is what I'm waiting for. The only way to do this is to gather technological knowledge and engage programmers and designers who will get the maximum from the printers. Only cooperation at the technological and technical level will lead to a breakthrough. Imagine a printer that continuously analyzes the flow of printing and reacts appropriately to all disturbances. Imagine a printer that analyzes the print environment and the print itself - adjusting the conditions to the needs of the materials. Imagine the devices that intelligently examine what we put into the printer and optimize all parameters for a given process. Finally, let us imagine that, on the basis of this data, devices "learn" to react and cope with difficulties on their own. All this to minimize user involvement and go down to the level of necessary knowledge. In the previous part I wrote about the time barrier and in it, I included the thesis about the simplification of printers. It does not contradict this part, because design simplicity is not the same as technological and technical development. On the contrary, what is the point of building more and more complex systems if we have not used the potential of those already present. For me, the source of the future use of 3D printing is to lead to a situation where the high level of printer advancement will be equal to advanced systems that can use it in 100%. I am waiting for it.

I will end the same as before: Additive world, get to work. Everyone is waiting for it.