3D Printing

To successfully complete 3D Printing
READ this blog post.
DO and THINK about the information in the "Learn More About" activities.
LEARN by completing the Hands-On Activities. Your total time commitment is about 60 minutes.

Introduction to 3D Printing
3D printers are a new generation of machines that can make different things with different materials all from the same machine. They can make anything from plastic toys, metal machine parts, and stoneware cups, to human body parts. They are a disruptive technology.

They replace traditional factory production lines with a single machine -- just like home inkjet printers replaced bottles of ink, a printing press, hot metal type, and a drying rack. The personal computer, the printer, and the Internet made us all publishers. With 3D printers and 3D design software such as Tinkercad, we can all be manufacturers.

Why is it called 3D printing? Look closely with a microscope at a page of text produced by your home printer. The ink doesn’t stain the paper; the letters actually sit on top of the page surface. If you printed over that same page several thousand times, the ink will build up enough layers to create a solid 3D model of each letter. Building a physical form out of tiny layers is how the first 3D printers worked.

Today, 3D printing starts with designing a 3D object with CAD software on a computer, then connecting it to a 3D printer, press ‘print’ and sit back and watch. The 3D printing process turns the whole object you designed into thousands of tiny little slices, then makes it from the bottom-up, slice by slice. Those tiny layers stick together to form a solid object. Each layer can be very complex.

Future opportunities abound for 3D printing. Imagine a world where everyday items are made at home to your unique specifications. You could have anything you wanted at your own schedule. As Dale Dougherty, founder and publisher of MAKE says, “It’s Wal-Mart in the palm of your hand. That’s the crazy promise of it."

For now, though, early adopters are figuring things out and making way for the rest of us. Until 3D printing matches the smooth finish of industrial machines and the economies of mass production, the rest of us will continue shopping at regular stores. Prices of 3D printers will continue to decline and capabilities will improve over time. Then we’ll all have one and wonder how we ever survived without it.

Learning More about 3D Printing (30 to 45 minutes)

1. Read the article What is 3D printing? and watch the 52 second video on SLA. You can skip the first two videos (SLS and FDM processes) on the web page. (15 minutes)
2. Watch 3D Printing Explained by ExplainingtheFuture (6:11 minutes)
3. Read Pages 8 and 10 -16, Make Magazine, Winter 2013 (15 minutes)

Hands-on Activities (10 to 15 minutes) Tinkercad is a free, web-based 3D design software. During winter break, we're going to do training on Tinkercad. Today's hands-on activity just gets you started with this cool application and 3D design.

1. Watch the Intro to Tinkercad video (2:44 minutes)
2. Sign up for a free Tinkercad account.(30 seconds)
3. Do the first Tinkercad lesson ONLY. (2 to 8 minutes)

When You're Done...

Don't forget to submit this form to get credit! You'll also be entered to win a prize drawing to take place at the end of the blog training.