3D printer

Draft

<pageby nominor="false" comments="false"/>

Introduction

According to Wikipedia, retrieved 13:52, 14 October 2011 (CEST), 3D printing is a form of additive manufacturing technology where a three dimensional object is created by laying down successive layers of material. 3D printers are generally faster, more affordable and easier to use than other additive manufacturing technologies. 3D printers offer product developers the ability to print parts and assemblies made of several materials with different mechanical and physical properties in a single build process. Advanced 3D printing technologies yield models that can serve as product prototypes.}}

The two most popular 3D printing techniques are:

• fused deposition modeling, also called Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF). A typical example are low cost models like the RapMan
• Selective laser sintering: “an additive manufacturing technique that uses a high power laser (for example, a carbon dioxide laser) to fuse small particles of plastic, metal (direct metal laser sintering), ceramic, or glass powders into a mass that has a desired 3-dimensional shape” (Wikipedia, , retrieved 13:52, 14 October 2011 (CEST))

The opposite of additive manufacturing is substractive manufactoring, e.g. using milling machines that take away material from an initial form.

See also:

• 3D printers in education

Hardware

Do it (almost) entirely yourself

Reprap 3D printer

• RepRap, a British project, is short for Replicating Rapid-prototyper. This 3D printer builds the parts up in layers of plastics. It can be assembled from parts bought in various places.
• RepRap Project (Wikipedia)
• Introduction to Reprap, retrieved 17:25, 24June 2009 (UTC).
• RepRap Official Blog
• Designs can be shared on thingyverse.
• Spare parts: See reprapsource. German company that sells spare parts.

Cheap 3D open source printers

3D printer as geek campfire (Source:[1])

“We didn’t know it, but it turns out that sitting around a table with folks while the MakerBot Cupcake CNC is puttering away and doing its thing and making objects appear where there were none before is really a great community activity! One of the gatherers mentioned that it felt like a geek campfire and it did!” (Pre Pettis, retrieved 17:30, 25 June 2009 (UTC))

Below are the fabbers most popular in october 2011. See also the links in the general section above. All organizations and companies providing designs and selling parts or fully assembled tools do have web sites with a lot of information.

BitsfromBytes printers

Bits from Bytes produces and sells Reprap derivatives

• RapMan v3.11 (£750 / CHF 1270) is a device we acquired. We got it in January 2010 and was assembled by end of Feb 2010 Read the RapMan article. - Daniel K. Schneider Nov 2009/Feb 2010.

RepRap derivative - A1 Technologies

• A1 Technologies. Sells Rapman systems (£750 / CHF 1270).

RepRap derivative - Cupcake (MakerBot Industries)

Cupcake is a 3D printer that works with four kinds of plastic, e.g. ABS (Lego-like) and HDPE (milk-jug like). The founder of this company also is involved in the RepRap research project. So it's another derivative of Reprap

• MakerBot Industries sells CupCake (a 3D prototyper). It includes a Plastruder and an Arduino compatible microcontroller.
• CupCake CNC Basic Kit Product page ($750). A fully assembled tool costs $2'500.
• CupCake CNC overview.
• MakerBot Industries Blog

The CandyFab 6000 sugar-based 3D printer

CandyFab

• CandyFab Project home page
• CandyFab kits should be available in fall 2009 from Evil Mad Science. The CandyFab 6000 prototype is shown to the right (click to enlarge).
• CandyFab Wiki
• CandyFab (Wikipedia)
• CandyFab Forum

Fab@Home 3D printers

• Fab@Home, is a project dedicated to making and using fabbers - machines that can make almost anything, right on your desktop. This website provides everything you need to know in order to build or buy your own simple fabber, and to use it to print three dimensional object. Hardware designs and software on this website are open source. This printer can include a dual syringe tool for printing two materials simultaneously.
• The fab@home page lists several Vendors for buying parts.
• The NextFab store sells assembled systems at $3700 (single syringe, clear chassis) and $4175 (two synringe, color chassis). Shipping with FedEx to Switzerland would cost $452.
• Designs are available from the Design Library

web services for 3D printing

There exist probably several companies who do this.

• Shapeways. They take STL, VRML, Collada & X3D formats with some constraints, e.g. less than 500'000 polygons, a watertight mesh, etc.
• Sculpteo (added 1/2010)

Commercial entry-level 3D printers

See also: 3D Printer System Manufacturers - Systems for Less Than US$20,000 overview (parts for self-assembly can be as low as $600)

Up!

Light-weight UP! 3D printer

• PP3dp sells a light-weight 3D printer for about $2700 + shipping.
• According to the manufacturer the latest model includes a heated platform (good for ABS) and has 0.2 mm accuracy.
• Reviews: ponoko, ....

Other printers

• Desktop Factory 125ci 3D Printer (network compatible, about $5000, 1 cubic inch of "print" costs about $1). See also the Wikipedia entry.
• CreateItReal (Denmark) sells a 3D printer and a Laser Cuter, each for $5000. We found little information about these - Daniel K. Schneider 17:30, 25 June 2009 (UTC).
• Matrix 3D printer from Mcor technologies is a Laminated Object Manufacture printer, i.e. glues and cuts paper. About $20'000 USD. Cost per cc is low. Sold world-wide in Q1 2010.
• uPrint from Dimension (about £12'000).
• Alaris from Object (price ???)
• V-Flash from 3D Systems. (price about $10'000 ?)

Links

General

• 3D printing directory

• 3D Printing (Explaining the Future, oct. 2011). Includes a review of both commercial and open source printers.

• Three dimensional printing Laboratory (MIT,last update 2000)

On wikipedia

• 3D printing
• additive manufacturing
• selective laser sintering
• fused deposition modeling
• laminated object manufacturing