Under constructionWe are still building the catalogue. Prices are not being tracked yet, and many sections are still being written — what is here is real, there is just not much of it.
geekhead.shop
3D printing
Section 31 · Workshop

3D printing

3D printing is the construction of a three-dimensional object from a CAD model or a digital 3D model, done through processes in which material is deposited, joined or solidified under computer control, typically layer by layer. Its key advantage is the ability to produce very complex shapes or geometries that would be otherwise infeasible to construct by hand, including hollow parts or parts with internal truss structures to reduce weight while creating less material waste. As of 2019, the precision, repeatability, and material range have increased to the point that some processes are considered viable as an industrial-production technology. Source

Picture: Jan Beránek · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

The essentials

Checked against 3D printing. Source

01
3D printing
also called additive manufacturing; builds 3D objects from CAD or digital 3D models
02
Fused deposition modeling (FDM)
most common 3D printing process in use as of 2020; uses a continuous thermoplastic filament
03
Prototypes in the 1980s
3D printing seen as suited only to functional or aesthetic prototypes; then called rapid prototyping
04
Industrial production
as of 2019 some processes considered viable; additive manufacturing is the synonymous term there
05
Complex geometries
key advantage; hollow parts and internal truss structures cut weight and waste
06
Additive manufacturing (AM)
umbrella term that gained popularity in the 2000s
07
Subtractive manufacturing
retronym for machining processes that remove material
08
Subtractive
complements machining rather than replacing it
09
Agile tooling
modular tooling made by additive methods for quick prototyping and fixture responses; used in hydroforming, stamping and injection molding
10
ANSI distinction
ISO/ASTM 52900 defines AM as building parts layer by layer from 3D model data; 3D printing is depositing material via print head or nozzle
11
Murray Leinster
1945 short story "Things Pass By" first described the general concept
12
Johannes F Gottwald
received US patent 3596285A on 27 July 1971 for the "Liquid Metal Recorder"