What is 3d printing?
There are a bunch of different kinds of 3D printing available now –
Most people have heard of medical 3D printing where you might be able to print a blood vessel or perhaps even a kidney, and the concrete printer that does a house in a phenomenally short time was a viral video making the rounds recently.
The printer that I use though is called a FDM printer which stands for Fused Deposition Modelling.
More information here – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fused_deposition_modeling
How does it work?
Plastic filament (in a long strand that looks like whipper snipper line) is fed into the machine, run through a hot nozzle, and the tiny blob of molten plastic at the tip of the nozzle gets deposited on a flat surface. The machine moves up a tiny bit, and another layer is added. Layer by layer the print builds up.
What can you make?
Well anything that’s made of plastic. Props for cosplay, landscapes for model trains, curtain hooks, artistic sculpture, the only limit is your imagination.
For a bunch of pre made patterns, check out http://www.thingiverse.com/
How long will it take to make pattern X?
That all depends on what quality you need, and what material you want it printed in.
A large high quality model might take 24hours uninterrupted print time, not counting the time it takes to set the model up for printing and getting the settings right. A basic model that’s easy to print in a colour and type of plastic that’s actually in the workshop might take a couple of hours.
Can I have that in a different size or colour?
Absolutely. I have a range of colours on hand and can order more in on request. Re-sizing is easy, bearing in mind that the model needs to be able to be printed on an FDM machine. Really large models might need to be in several parts and glued together. Contact me and have a chat about what’s possible.
Can you create a model for me?
Yes, I have a team of modellers who do freelance work, and I do some modelling myself. Be aware though that 3D modelling takes a lot of time and it is expensive. We may be able to find an existing pattern that we can adapt to your purposes, which will be cheaper.
Can I just get you to print it and I do the glueing/sanding/finishing?
Absolutely.