Summary
In this chapter, we looked at one of the most exciting manufacturing tools of today, 3D printers. As discussed, 3D printers come in all shapes and sizes and can turn rolls or bottles of material into a solid part, based on your 3D designs.
3D printers also come in many different types, including FFF or FDM printers that melt rolls of filament that are bonded, layer by layer, to create parts. Or resin-style printers that use a light source to convert liquid resin into a solid models. Each type of 3D printer has its own set of benefits and drawbacks, and it’s up to us to choose the best type of printer and printing material, based on our needs.
Most beginners find success and ease when working with FFF-style printers, while FDM-style printers offer similar flexibility to FFF printers but with greater detail, which makes them suitable for more industrial settings. When striving for exceptionally high detail or making intricate models, using a vat photopolymerization...