Ever since the emergence of the 3D printer, people have been so amazed by the technology of this machine and its endless possibilities. It’s a technological marvel since it can create any object you want as long as you have the proper components, like the epoxy resins, ABS plastics, and cartridge heaters.
While this machine is revolutionary, you’ll find that it’s just a simple tool with so many applications. Read on to know how a 3D printer really works.
Like molding a clay pot
A 3D printer slightly resembles what a potter does when creating a vase. Potters use a horizontal wheel where they put clay on top and then spins it continuously. While the wheel is spinning, potters pour a small amount of water on the clay to soften it and then use their hands to mold it. They will keep spinning the wheel and shaping the clay until it looks like a real vase.
With the 3D printer, the mechanics are almost the same. The difference is that the person operating the machine doesn’t have to use their hands to mold the object into whatever shape they want. Here, the machine does all the work and all the person has to do is design the item using a computer.
The computer will then feed the image to the 3D printer and the machine will use ABS plastics or any epoxy resin to create the object. The machine will melt the resin or the plastic and as it liquefies, a mechanical arm will start building the image into a 3D object on a platform. The resin will harden immediately as the mechanical arm builds the image into a 3D item.
The reason it’s called 3D printing is that it shares the same mechanics as ordinary printing. When you print a document, the text that you see on the paper isn’t exactly just painted on. If you look real close to the surface of that paper, you’ll notice that the text is slightly protruding upwards like mini-molehills.
So, if you print text on a page thousands of times, eventually the ink will protrude so much that the letter would look like a 3D version of a paper printout. And that’s why the 3D printer is called as such.
Why use it?
If you have a 3D printer, the possibilities of what you can do with this machine are endless. If you love action figures, for example, but collecting them is too expensive for you, you can make your very own action figures using a 3D printer.
Or, if you have an antique clock that’s broken and you can no longer find spare parts to repair it, you can use your 3D printing machine to build those spare parts. If you have a habit of losing your keys, you can also make spare keys without having to go to a locksmith.
There are endless possibilities for using a 3D printer. If you’re a hobbyist or even simply looking to explore the applications of this machine, you should definitely get one soon.
