3DPrinting - Now on.

I recently replied to an article claiming "Stagnation" within the 3dprinted Industry - with the following statement:

I call BS on stagnation in 3Dprinting!

My flippant reply prompted me to think deeper about the current status of this nascent industry. The following is a very light over view based on my involvement in 3Dprinting since 1997 and subsequent career involving "making awesome" (it is not intended to be an exhaustive list).

We are at the Flint axe stage of the 3DPrinting industry

It is, I feel, crucial to realise that 3Dprinting is a tool to enable creative design, Engineering and product/idea iterative development. Not to assume the "print" button can be pressed and all will work out, this is rarely the case.

The subtleties, intricacies and innovations any of the following processes allow for open up an entirely new thought process involving materials, inherent mechanisms and different 3Dprinting technology quirks.

As with any tool, choose the right (3dprinting) one for the job in hand.

Always the most pivotal part of any consulting I undertake is the initial discussion:

What is needed, why is it needed and when?!

Answers to these questions drive the adoption of the correct approach or combination of approaches, including which 3dprinting technology to utilise (If any).

FDM (Fused Deposition Machines):

A myriad of similar FDM machines are available; all trying to differentiate by offering ever smaller incremental improvements and upgrades. Inevitable when  scores of companies and individuals are making cheap machines based on what is effectively mature technology.

Consumer home 3dprinters have recently exploded onto the market, via Kickstarter campaigns and into Hack spaces.

Steppers, belts and chassis are well proven "nuts and bolts" tech that works and is reliable and crucially cheap. Inevitably there can be adjustment issues, however decent engineering overcomes most fickleness. Prints can be strong and useful coming off the build plate ready to use with no post processing.

FDM is quick, cheap and accessible.

Obvious areas for improvement for consumer take up are speed, auto bed leveling and first layer adhesion followed by ever better stronger filaments/granules for tougher items and less pollution (in manufacturing and during printing).

3Dprinting Filament recycling is booming.

Multi colour/material heads and printing can work on FDM but can also be problematic.

Heated PLA / ABS Filament materials safety is currently a hot topic...for good reason!

PPM emissions of ABS compared to PLA filaments.

It should be noted that these type of machines, be they Cartesian, Polar or Delta coordinate based are fairly mature in their structures and mechanisms. A simple overview of the coordinate systems here, with some very interesting variations:

https://makezine.com/2015/03/10/cartesian-delta-polar-common-3d-printers/

Any FDM 3Dprint machine is ideal for children and beginners to learn the technology of mechanisms, 3dprinting, coordinates and the like.

Finally print filament is going down in price and up in quality all the time:

...available 3Dprint filament ecosystem is diverse, open-source and competitive. Real value is appearing along with novel materials combinations.

SLA (Stereo Lithography):

Fundamentally a focused or masked light source reacts with UV reactive polymer liquids to create a layered object as high resolution as the light source image allows.

This field is fascinating with numerous different approaches from epaper mask based designs with LED UV flooding to DLP projectors etc. A crucial issue here is resin cost and crucially the amount of safe post print finishing/rinsing that is required. Recent announcements such as CLIP technology and other advances are invigorating and show next stages in the technologies evolution.

New resins exhibiting better structural properties are announced often and the precision offered (currently hindered by time to print) is useful.

SLA 3Dprinting resin availability is somewhat limited and it is expensive.

This may change with wider adoption and as patents expire or open-source supply gains ground.

Stereo Lithography was the technology I studied during my funded post-grad in in 1997 - the computer for rendering alone cost ￡30,000!

SLS: (Selective Laser Sintering)

The heat or chemical sintering (combining or melting) of any material in a powder form is fairly mature approach and the expansion in the powders/materials available and their properties improving is huge. However such process rely on fairly complex mechanisms to move powders around and deposit across layers etc. This technology can be homemade by proficient persons and small machines are available for a few hundred dollars.

Selective Laser Sintering 3dprinting technology is rapidly evolving as research progresses.

It offers very high detail in quite tough materials. Distortion between multiple large thin items and thicker elements in a large build envelope can be an issue.

There are some post print operations to consider: whilst materials are improving there is extensive post print powder shepherding, separation and batch splitting to be done making this technology not completely ideal for consumer take up.

Fine powders used in SLS 3dprinting have inherent handling and safety issues.

SLS is ideal for offering as a commercial proposition such as shapeways etc:

Crucially metal powders are ideal for this process and as processes enlarge and improve large scale items and structural elements are being produced. The weight savings offered in aeronautics, vehicular, space and other industries is revolutionising efficiency and design.

Not only is design development iteration quicker, more efficient and cheaper - the items created for final use are lighter, more efficient and save money/energy/fuel over their product cycle.

Paper based 3Dprinting:

I feel a special mention should be made for MCor technologies and similar. Their approach is the most lateral use of old technology to offer new processes and seems to be logical and productive.

Mcor: basically a 2Dprinter and a paper plotter controlled cutter stack paper sheets together with an adhesive. Simple and vibrant.

The beauty of this is that full HD colour can be used to make inherently safe finished prints. It seems to be a win win process in my personal opinion. The complexity of the process (and patents) might make it difficult for individuals to mimic this technology and the machines are relatively expensive, yet it is a mature and simple procedure. 

The Mcor 3Dprinting base machine is relatively expensive but the results are safe, strong, full colour and ideal for education environments.

Printer Cartridge 3dprinting:

Numerous manufacturers have recently announced cartridge based layer building in full colour, in effect an ink/polymer based printer adding layers offering high resolution and detail. Or a hybrid powder/print head system with colour control within a binding fluid.

This technology could revolutionise certain sectors, my mind is drawn back 20 years or more when such 2D print systems had premium prices for machine specific cartridges. Making their use very expensive. Will this be the case this time?

I await release of  3dprint machines using printer cartridge technology and their associated running costs...

Full colour printing:

With newer 3Dprinting technologies offering full colour prints I the next barrier to breach is the actual design for printing. 

Full colour 3dprints demand more complex models, more colour information and better data handling.

Currently a required shape can be modelled within a few hours and printed. If a machine offers more than one colour or material this can be specified and the item split to suit using modelling tools or proprietary software/Apps.

Modelling and rendering for full colour 3Dprints adds a new dimension to the design process.

Once the item is modelled it then needs rendering in colour and texture to suit the form.

Fully textured 3Dmodels with full colour rendering starts to take the process into professional only territory.

On the flip side, the huge expansion in 3D scanning, soon to be offered in laptops, smart phones (link to Google search) and potentially smart watches make this simpler and more democratic.

Intuitive smart device 3Dscanning will simplify full colour 3Dprinting; democratising it.

Medical:

The field that will truly affect each and every one of us more than any other is Medical 3Dprinting.

This is a huge topic deserving of its own article, the same applies to architectural and composite 3dprinting.

Thank you for reading.

I appreciate your feedback and comments on the above and am happy to correct any omissions or errors. Please note I do not endorse companies and individuals mentioned in the above article. They are included as examples and useful refs.

Richard Grant