HOW TO MAKE A
PROTOTYPE USING
3D PRINTING
AND DIFFERENT
TYPES OF
MANUFACTURING
METHODS
15
CHAPTER
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3D Printing has revolutionized the way we produce physical prototypes, but it’s not the only “game in town.”
To fully understand 3D printing’s place in the many trillions of dollars world of manufacturing, you first
need to be familiar with the competing technologies that are bigger and have been around for longer. This
chapter gives a bird’s eye view of the prototyping process, the prototyping process using 3D printing, and
the general ways products are made. Suppose you have a conceptual form of your new invention. That’s a
great start but where do you go from there?
YOU MAKE A PROTOTYPE!
A prototype is an early sample or model of a product, created to test a concept or to act as a thing to be
replicated or learned from in the testing phase. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including design,
hardware, software programs. A physical prototype is used to evaluate a new design and make iterations
based on the feedback of test users. In this way, prototypes serve to provide a physical validation of a theo-
retical idea.
FIGURE 151: A model of a house made by a model maker using various materials
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THE PROTOTYPING PROCESS
Prototyping is a way of thinking and verifying your idea or concept. We recommend the following method to
save you time and to keep you focused.
HERE ARE SOME BASIC STEPS:
Research your idea: A simple Internet search on Google can give you an idea of what’s already in
the market and help you build your design.
Define the features: What does this product accomplish? What problem is it solving? What are
the main features?
Start to make drawings: Whether it’s on a piece of paper or in a professional CAD software
program, start to draw out the form. In CAD, the measurements will be provided in the model,
but in hand drawn sketches you will need to identify key units of measure. Make sure to confirm
the design with your partners or investors before proceeding to the next step.
Create a Prototype: Create a physical representation of your concept with accurate
measurements.
Get feedback: We suggest from a minimum of 10 people. You will document the feedback and
modify the design accordingly. This is an essential element of the prototyping process.
Rinse and Repeat: (Just kidding about the rinse) But seriously, go through the same process
mentioned above until you are satisfied with the design and are ready to get manufacturing
quotes.
In summary, the rapid prototyping process outlined above offers a quick and relatively inexpensive way to
test your idea before spending $10,000 or more on manufacturing tooling. It can help you mitigate manu-
facturing mistakes, discover important customer feedback, produce multiple design iterations quickly, and
generate ideas for your marketing!
GETTING A PHYSICAL PROTOTYPE MADE
In the past, we had fewer ways to make prototypes. For example, model making was a traditional
resource as shown in Figure 15-1. This option is still available today and materials include, styrene,
clay, metal, MDF, acetate, foam board, acrylic, wood, tooling board, plaster, silicone, latex, laminate
and fabric. The disadvantages include long lead times, little flexibility for mid project edits, no standard
consistency between multiple copies, and a lot of manual labor and cost.
These hand-crafted works of art look appealing, but they rely on the individual skill of each model
maker, which can vary greatly, and is difficult to reproduce identical versions. 3D printing takes those
variables out of the equation by replicating the model the same way every time (assuming the printers
and settings are equivalent). Enterprise level 3D printers even let you prototype in different high-quality
FIGURE 151: A model of a house made by a model maker using various materials
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FIGURE 152: The Rapid Prototyping Workflow using 3D Printing
materials and colors, all in one run. That’s why many people now use 3D printing instead of hiring a
model maker.
PROTOTYPING WITH 3D PRINTING
With 3D printing, you can have an idea, create the CAD model and then 3D print the physical prototype as
conceptualized in Figure 15-2.
Rapid prototyping refers to a group of techniques used to quickly fabricate a scale model of a physical part
or assembly using CAD (Computer Aided Design) software. 3D printing can be used to create a physical
prototype based on the CAD file. Each new version is created quickly, hence the name Rapid Prototyping.
The applications of prototyping with 3D printing differ widely, as workflows and design goals change from
industry to industry.
HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES:
JEWELRY PROTOTYPES: Rapid prototyping transformed not only the design process but also the man-
ufacturing of jewelry. 3D files can be printed in plastic for discussion, testing, research or to get feedback
from the client without having to spend money on expensive materials. 3D printing also saves time: going
from testing to production in the jewelry industry has become easier especially for the one-of-a-kind pieces
as shown in Figure 15-3.
ARCHITECTURE PROTOTYPES: Before 3D printing, architects didn’t have many options to create their pro-
totypes, so they hired model makers who would carve small scale Styrofoam models by hand in the model
shop. Some still use this method, but now architects can also use 3D printing to make models of buildings
and structures. Scaled 3D printed models are a cost-effective, precise tool for starting discussions about
the artistic, social and functional properties of projects. In addition, the architect can control the reduced
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FIGURE 153: An example of a prototyped ring, 3D printed in a wax medium, intended to be “burned out” with molten metal via a “lost
casting” method.
physical scale much better with 3D printing.
ENGINEERING PROTOTYPES: Engineers, on the other hand, have relied on 3D printed rapid prototyping
for decades, as shown in Figure 15-4. Accuracy is critical in evaluating a complex design, especially if it has
moving parts. 3D printing has the benefit of producing geometrically accurate models quickly 3D printed
prototypes are also useful because they can be subjected to rigorous testing and simulation scenarios in
CAD programs.
In all industries, many different materials can be used for 3D printing such as plastics, glass filled polyam-
ide, epoxy resins, metals, wax, photopolymers and polycarbonate. This wide variety of options allows users
to print their 3D files with materials that have similar properties to the finished product.
MANUFACTURING USING 3D PRINTING
Injection molding, defined later in this chapter, is highly efficient at producing large quantities of a fixed
geometry at a low price. However, this cost advantage comes with a striking disadvantage: the inability to
produce low volume product lines due to cost. Parts in low quantities have large initial molding investments
and may not be amortized over the cost of many individual units. With injection molding, companies are con-
strained to produce parts and products which conform to the economics, but not necessarily to the demand
for variability.
That’s where manufacturing with 3D printing can be a better option: You can produce one sample as a
prototype or as an end user product. You don’t have to wait long lead times to get your prototype back from
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