The WOW factor of 3D printing

If you have ever watched Star Trek, you know what a replicator is. Address the computer and say what you want. Your requested item instantaneously appears on a platen.

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3D printers are not replicators – at least not in the Star Trek sense of the word. That said, you will probably be astounded when you see a 3D printer in action for the first time. When you start a print, there is nothing. When it finishes, there is something. Something needed. Something wanted. Something cool. Wow.

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Introduction to 3D Printing provides a comprehensive look at what it takes to get started with 3D printers. It stresses fused filament fabrication (FFF) which is the most common type of 3D printing. With this 3D printing technology, thermoplastic is heated to its melting point and extruded through a tiny hole in a nozzle and deposited on a build plate – layer by layer – to create the printed model.

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Nine lessons:

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• 1: Know the technologies surrounding your 3D printer

• 2: Know your 3D printer

• 3: Know your printing material

• 4: Know how your 3D printer is calibrated

• 5: Get ready to print a model

• 6: Know how to print models and perform related tasks

• 7: Understand G-code: commands that drive your 3D printer

• 8: Know how to design models for 3D printing

• 9: Learn design software – and other software for 3D printing

 

When you are finished, you will have a thorough understanding of what it takes to download/create models, “slice” them to create G-code programs, and print them on your 3D printer.