3D Printing

Guy 1:  ”Oh bummer, I forgot to bring my wrench to work.”

Guy 2:  ”Forget about it.  I’ll just print you another one.”

3D printing is an additive technology, wherein objects are developed in layers over a period of many hours. Stereolithography, a printing technique invented by Charles Hull in 1984, was used in the first commercial 3D printer. Printers that use this kind of technology are called SLAs or stereolithography apparatus.) They work by positioning a perforated platform just underneath the surface of a container of liquid photocurable polymer. A UV laser traces the first slice of an object on the surface of the liquid, hardening a very thin layer of photopolymer.

The part of the platform that has been carved out is then lowered almost imperceptibly while another slice is traced and hardened by the laser beam. This process is repeated many times, until a complete 3D object is produced.  Although there are several current methods of 3D printing, stereolithography is still considered to be the most accurate of the techniques being used at this time.   If you are both an artist and a true geek, you likely find this beyond fascinating.  A friend of mine actually ordered a coffee mug that had been printed in this way for Christmas, just to have as a curiosity.   Here is an infographic that will help explain how 3D printing works.