Small Soldiers: What's Next In 3D Printing

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Over the past twenty years, 3d printing has made its presence known within mainstream media. The first appearance of 3d printing in modern cinematography was released in 1998. The movie was titled “Small Soldiers” and it featured a scene where a toy was made layer by layer due to a laser, much like how a SLA printer functions. SLA printers are one of many different types of 3d printing commonly available today. The other most notable variety of 3d printing is FDM. FDM printers and SLA Printers function in relatively the same way, but both function differently, and are meant for much different purposes. However, no matter which form of printing you choose, you will be able to produce and prototype your projects, no matter the complexity. During …show more content…
The printer doesn’t care if it makes the most rudimentary shape or the most complex shape, and that is completely turning design and manufacturing on its head as we know it” (“What's next in 3D printing“).

FDM Printers

FDM is a common abbreviation for Fused Deposition Modeling. Fused Deposition Modeling is the process of “Heating thermoplastic until its melting point and then extruding it out of the printers nozzle onto the print bed, along a circulated path, slowly building the object layer by layer from the bottom up. Printing time depends on size and complexity of the object printed “. There are many different types of thermoplastics that are commonly used when it comes to FDM printing, each with their own uses and quirks. In his article Varotsis explained that “PLA is the most commonly used material on desktop FDM 3D printers. PLA is easy to print with and can produce parts with finer details. When higher strength, ductility and thermal stability is needed, ABS is commonly used…. Another
…show more content…
According to Bensoussan, “In 1992, the Fused Deposition Modeling patent was issued to Stratasys, who that developed many 3d printers for both professional and individuals” (“The History of 3D Printing: From the 80s to Today”). Even through FDM printing hasn’t been around as long as SLA, there was a large boom in popularity for the machines in 2004 when the RepRap Project was initiated. The RepRap Project was deigned to (Make self-replicating machines, and making them freely available for the benefit of everyone). This open source project led to the spreading of the FDM printers, leading to the growth of the manufacturing method. However, it wasn’t until 2009 for the FDM manufacturing to fall into the public domain, opening the way for smaller companies to innovate and excel the technology in new and exciting

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