Hello! This is the first of the series of articles on 3D-printing. Our aim with these will be to help you stay current with new trends in technology. We will do this by organizing tons of information available on the internet into interesting, succinct and well-organized articles on various aspects of 3D-printing. In our age of rapidly developing trends and technologies in order to achieve something one must keep in touch with the latest developments. Thousands of people have already found their niche in the rapidly growing industry of 3D-printing and millions have found great pleasure and benefits in exploring and using this cutting edge technology that is now available to everyone. Let\u2019s get started!<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve probably heard about 3D-printing already. This is not a new technology, it was invented in 1984. Until quite recently, though, it didn\u2019t receive quite as much attention as it does now, and this is not without a reason. 3D-printing has reached a point where it became a mass trend, whereas before it was a prerogative of technical people working with cutting edge technologies. 3D-printers were very expensive and hard to operate. Today there is a great variety of consumer-grade personal 3D-printers for any budget. The fact that many of the patents on various 3D-printing technologies have expired or are nearing their expiration dates has also given a great boost to the industry. Right now there are tons of blueprints and guides on how to make your own 3D-printer, ready to be downloaded for free.<\/p>\n
3D-printing 101<\/strong><\/p>\n Basically, 3D-printing is a process of additive manufacturing. That is, instead of subtracting material from a piece of material (like they do when carving something out of wood or metal), you gradually add material.<\/p>\n One of the simplest examples is Fused Deposition Modeling 3D-printing technology. Fused material is being extruded through a nozzle that is constantly moving above a platform, depositing the material where needed, just as it does in an inkjet printer. The main differences between an inkjet printer and a 3D-printer are that the latter can print with a wide variety of materials<\/a> (plastic, metal, chocolate, concrete\u2026 even live human cells!), and that in a 3D-printer the nozzle can move along the vertical axis (Z-axis), which makes it possible to deposit the next layer of the material on top of the previous one, thus printing out a 3-dimensional object.<\/p>\n See this video for a short time-lapse of an object being printed:<\/p>\n