The Fundamentals Of 3D Printing

• Also known as Desktop Manufacturing or Additive Manufacturing
• A 3D Printer is a powerful creation tool.
• Contrasts from typical manufacturing processes which have typically been subtractive
• A prototyping process whereby a real object is created from a 3D design file which is created with a 3D modeling program or scanner.
• As it is sent to the printer, the software slices the design into thousands of horizontal layers. These layers of material are then printed successively until your physical object is created.

• STL - Standard Tessellation Language - the
• SLA - Stereolithography is the original process of making three-dimensional objects from a digital file (.stl).
• FDM - Fused Deposition Modeling
• SLS - Selective Laser Sintering
• CLIP - Continuous Liquid Interface Production - Carbon3D (bought by Google)
  • A breakthrough technology that grows parts instead of printing them layer by layer.
  • Allows businesses to produce commercial quality parts at game-changing speeds, creating a clear path to 3D manufacturing

Materials Used In 3D printing

• Plastics
  • FDM - Fused Deposition Modeling is the most common process for 3D printing of plastics
    • ABS - widely used on entry level FDM 3D printers. Very popular since it can be bought from a variety of non-proprietary sources. ABS is most commonly used as the material for LEGO bricks
    • PLA - biodegradable plastic material that has become popular for 3D printers. PLA is less likely to warp but it is not as durable or flexible when compared to ABS

• Metals - Great prospects for the jewelry industry
  • Aluminum
  • Cobalt
  • Stainless Steel
  • Gold
  • Silver
  • Titanium

• Ceramics
  • Very brittle
  • Still needs to go through the firing and blazing process

• Bio Materials
  • Living tissue
  • Organs
  • Blood
  • Skin cells

• Food
  • Chocolate
  • Sugar
  • Pastries

Timeline of 3D Printing

• 1454 - Johannes Gutenberg introduces the printing press
• 1951 - Inkjet Printing
• 1969 - Laser Printing
• 1984 - Invention of stereolithography. First 3D Printer.
• 1986 - Charles Hull was issued the first patent for a stereolithography apparatus (SLA)
• 1992 - The first SLA machine is produced by 3D Systems
• 2002 - Scientists engineer a functioning 3D printed kidney
• 2006 - First self-replicating 3D printer is developed (RepRap)
• 2008 - Shapeways print-on-demand service is launched
• 2008 - First person to walk on a 3D printed prosthetic leg
• 2009 - Organovo bio-prints the first blood vessel
• 2010 - Urbee the first 3D printed car is created and presented
• 2012 - The first 3D printed prosthetic jaw is implemented
• 2013 - Stratasys acquires Makerbot
• 2014 - Amazon launches their 3D printing store
• 2015 - Google acquires Carbon3D

A video highlighting the important components of a 3D prints.

Major parts of a 3D printer:

• Filament Spool
• Motor
• Extruder/Hot End
• Cooling Fan
• Print Bed

• Where To Get A 3D Printer
  • Build
    • RepRap
  • Purchase
    • Amazon
    • Staples
    • Best Buy
    • Fry's Electronics

3D Printer Manufacturers

• M3D
• Makerbot
• BEEVERYCREATIVE
• Ultimaker
• Formlabs
• Airwolf 3D
• Deezmaker
• Hyrel 3D
• Solidoodle
• XYZPrinting

3D Printing Stocks

• Stratasys
• 3D Systems
• ExOne
• Arcam
• Voxeljet
• Materialise
• Organovo
• Autodesk
• Hewlett-Packard

Current Applications of 3D Printing

• Sols
• Feetz
• Spuni
• Protos Eyewear
• Shapify
• Twinkind
• You Kick Ass

• Medical & Dental Industries
• Aerospace
• Automotive
• Jewelry
• Art and Design
• Architecture
• Fashion
• Food

The Potential Global Impact Of 3D Printing

• Mass customization
• Reduce time and costs for transportation
• Decentralized manufacturing and elimination of inventory
• Increased complexity in design
• Environmentally friendly emissions
• Printing with the cloud

*NOTE* There are options within TinkerCAD to share your 3D files on Thingiverse, print on Shapeways and potentially even use someone else's printer through the 3D Hubs network.

Some alternative programs are Blender or Sketchup.

Make sure to check out the key trends.

Alternatives:

• i.materialise
• Sculpteo
• Ponoko
• Cubify
• MakeXYZ
• You3Dit
• Kraftwurx

They have a great mission of free 3D prints for everyone and their collection is constantly expanding. Check them out first before you start to create your own "things".

Students will learn how to monetize their 3D models. Essentially there are 7 fundamental ways to make money from 3D printing. Monetizing your 3D designs in a multitude of ways (revealed inside) is a great way to go in this emerging industry,

Since Amazon is the largest channel for selling products, imagine being able to sell your own 3D printed products (or rather files) through Amazon and have it all be automated because their 3D printers are creating everything for you. Basically you just pay for the cost of goods and transportation and keep the rest of the rest as royalty (Amazon might share the royalty as well).

I can foresee a future similar to this with Amazon and 3D printing as it integrates itself more in society. But how amazing would it be to tap into the world's largest marketplace, sell your designs and have them fulfilled almost automatically with 3D printing and logistical systems?

I discuss a multitude of ways anyone can begin to learn how to utilize 3D printing technology. Whether you are simply optimizing your business or changing the landscape of architecture, there are almost infinite possibilities for the use of 3D printing. I definitely encourage beginning 3D enthusiasts to first experiment with creative projects such as 3D modeling or simply sharing the 3D printer you already have. 3D printing is a phenomenal tool to start learning about the possibilities of next industrial revolution because of the front to end process that is available now worldwide.

Think it, design it, print it. It really has become that simple. The toughest challenge, as with most business, will be marketing your idea.