By: Lottie Bynum
3D Printing in its many forms is now an accessible hobby to the public. Print farm businesses are one way people use them. They are able to buy the rights to print files for daily uses or something fun they are also able to make their own to print then sell. Props and fan merchandise are another use for them, whether it’s a full suit of Ironman armor or another prop from a show or movie, people make it on 3D printers.
There are a few different ways to 3D print: one is FDM(fused deposition modeling) printing where spools of plastic or other material such as ABS or Nylon are melted and come through a nozzle that set down thin layers of the melted material in whatever shape the person who is printing it wants. The thin layers cool before the machine puts on another layer allowing whatever it is making to be durable. Resin printing is the other main type of 3D printing many hobbyist’s know how to operate. It builds parts by curing resin in layers where a light is shined in the resin to harden it at different places and heights.
Each method of 3D printing lends itself to certain types of items it can print. For example, FDM printing is able to more efficiently print larger items whereas a resin printer takes longer the taller a print is. Although, a resin printer can produce higher quality prints than FDM printers can. Both can be finished by sanding and spray painting or can be used after printing; Resin printed pieces need to be processed in alcohol to cleanse it for 20 minutes to an hour depending on how large the print is. PLA, which is what most FDM printers use as filament to print, is durable but can melt or weaken due to heat or too much UV light. Similarly, resin prints can weaken because of UV light as it over hardens it but doesn’t react as much to water as PLA does.
Choosing which kind of printing to do depends on what would be printed and what kind of conditions it can be used for. Both methods of 3D printing are useful in many ways and are fun hobbies to pick up.
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