{"id":564,"date":"2022-07-26T12:30:17","date_gmt":"2022-07-26T02:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tonercity.com.au\/blog\/?p=564"},"modified":"2022-07-21T12:10:24","modified_gmt":"2022-07-21T02:10:24","slug":"what-is-3d-printing-and-what-are-the-advantages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tonercity.com.au\/blog\/what-is-3d-printing-and-what-are-the-advantages\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is 3D Printing and What Are the Advantages?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Diversity startup business team working together by 3D printer. Looking at printed objects and discussing. Selective focus to 3D printer printing an object with creative team in background.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

3D printing is the most innovative technology to have ever hit the printing industry in the past few decades. The first 3D printing experiments were done on 3D printing dating back to 1981 in Japan, however, it wasn\u2019t patented until 1986 by Charles Hull and the first item ever to be printed was a small cup. Although it\u2019s supposedly been around for a long time, 3D printing still has a long way to go before it truly takes off. There are many costs and obstacles that need to be overcome before it becomes common practice in our world. <\/span><\/p>\n

What is 3D printing?<\/b><\/h1>\n

The process of 3D printing refers to the creation of three dimensional objects from a digital computer design. 3D printers work using an additive process which involves layers and layers of materials being laid down until the 3D object is made. It is a quick process compared to manufacturing and allows for complex designs to come to life.<\/span><\/p>\n

The process of 3D printing<\/b><\/h2>\n

The first thing you need is a digital 3D model which you can either create from scratch with specialised software or download it from a 3D library. The next step is to slice up the model in hundreds if not thousands of layers for the device to be able to print layer by layer. This is done with a slicing program.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

3D Printing Applications<\/b><\/h2>\n

You\u2019ll be surprised how versatile 3D printing technology is as you can create almost anything with a 3D printer. It has been used in the following applications:<\/span><\/p>\n