Introduction to 3D Printing
Pierre Baillargeon, Dr. Louis Scampavia and Tim Spicer

What are we going to cover today?
What is a 3D printer?1
How does a 3D printer
work?2
What can I do with a 3D
printer?3

A brief history of 3D printing
(note: utility patents last 20 years)
http://individual.troweprice.com/staticFiles/Retail/Sh
ared/PDFs/3D_Printing_Infographic_FINAL.pdf

Intro to 3D printing by way of 2D
printing
1 2Create content using text
editing software
Content transmitted to
device that creates physical
copy

Intro to 3D printing by way of 2D
printing
1 2Create content using 3D
modeling software
Content transmitted to
device that creates physical
copy

What does a 3D printer look like?
Hobby grade cartesian
printer
Hobby grade delta printer
Commercial grade cartesian
printer

How much does a hobby grade 3D
printer cost?

● Wood
● Pizza
● Chocolate
● A house
● Moon dust
● An ear
● Metal
● A full size car
● Pancakes
● Scallop nuggets
What kind of things can be 3D
printed?

● Rapid Prototyping: Commonly used at
universities and commercial companies.
● Rapid Manufacturing: Inexpensive
production of small numbers of parts.
● Customized Products: Companies have
created services where consumers can
create customize objects.
● Architectural Design: Modeling and design.
● Biomedical Devices: Implants and
reconstructive surgery.
● Exploratory Uses: Reconstructing fossils
for paleontology; replicating artifacts in
archaeology; Reconstruction of damaged
evidence and body parts for forensic
pathology.
How is 3d printing currently used?
http://www.makerbot.com/blog/2013/05/07/r
obohand/
Or google for “makerbot robohand”

What are we going to cover today?
What is a 3D printer?1
How does a 3D printer
work?2
What can I do with a 3D
printer?3

How does a 3D printer work?
1
Heat and extrude material,
similar to hot glue gun
2 Build object up in
subsequent layers
3
Use computer controlled gantry to
extrude material in precise
locations

https://vimeo.com/48379740
How do industrial 3D printers work?

How do hobby 3D printers work?
https://vimeo.com/90298422

Primary components of a hobby
grade 3D printer
1 Motors
2 Print surface
3 Hot end
4 Controller
(electronics)
5 Frame

Can a 3D printer print another 3D
printer?
RepRap: an initiative to develop a 3D
printer that can print most of its own
components. Short for “replicating rapid
prototyper”.

How do I design parts to 3D print?
CAD software (drawing)
CAD software
(scripting/programming)
3D scanning

Where can I find objects to print?
Thingiverse Youmagine

How do we prepare objects for
printing?
How Slicing software works Example of layout & slicing
software (Makerbot’s makerware)

Does it always work?
No. 3D printing isn’t as reliable as
most other consumer electronic
devices in your house (yet). But it’s
still pretty awesome!
More ‘epic 3D printing fail’ pictures
at epic3dprintingfail.tumblr.com

What are we going to cover today?
What is a 3D printer?1
How does a 3D printer
work?2
What can I do with a 3D
printer?3

3D printing examples
Resulting 3D full color print
(Shapeways)
3D scanning from Miami Mini
Maker Faire (Zero Point 3D)
3D scanner setup

3D printing examples
Source image
3D printed lithopane
Source image3D printed lithopane

3D printing examples
3D printed quadcopter Aerial photograph from 3D printed quadcopter

Other 3D printing ideas
Using vacuum forming with 3D printed objects to create custom
chocolate molds

Where can I get things 3D printed?
1
Shapeways
(commercial
printing)
2
MAKEXYZ, 3D Hubs
(LOCAL hobby grade
printers)
3 Your local
makerspace

More about Shapeways
(because they are awesome)!
On june 19th, shapeways announced a partnership with
Google to inspire kids to code & create – the project is
called made with code and kids can design and print
their own custom bracelet for free!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Og2EBG4N5M

Where can I find more information?
1
Make magazine guide
to 3D printing (via
makershed.com)
2 3D printing websites
● Reprap.org
● 3ders.org
● Reddit.com/r/3dprinting
● Printrbottalk.com
3 This library!

http://www.pbled.org/
An open community facility where people of common interests in
computers, technology, fabrication, science, digital/electronic arts can
meet, discovery new technologies and work on individual or
collaborative projects.
A Makerspace can have workshops, meetings, classroom instruction and
serve as a great place for people to network and socialize.
What is a makerspace? What is Palm
Beach LED?

2013 Maker Camp
1 Introduction to
electronics
4 weekend sessions:
2
Introduction to
microcontrollers
& programming
3 Introduction to
robotics
4 Introduction to
3D printing
… back in 2014!
What is a makerspace? What is Palm
Beach LED?

Thank you!
Questions?