INTRODUCTION

Today, everyone’s talking about it. To hear some manufacturers and journalists talk, you will have a 3D printer in your home in a few months or the next few years. Why wait for the future? For many people, there is already one available at your business, your school, your local library, or through online 3D printing services such as 3D Hubs.

All industries (at least those who produce physical things) use or will soon use 3D printing in their innovation processes: in the early development phase of prototyping as well as for the producing certain specialized or limited-run pieces, for which traditional methods of manufacturing are less adapted today.

At le FabShop, we use 3D printing every day: we set it up and teach our clients and the curious how to use it. We are “makers,” new and connected DIYers who use 3D printing regularly, and we share some of our work on our website and on community websites.

This book project was born from our experience. If 3D printing ends up changing the world and, tomorrow, it is universally available at home or just down the street, then it needs to be made practical for the largest number of people.

To print an object in 3D, you need a 3D model and a 3D printer. To obtain a 3D model, there are three possible sources: 3D modeling software that lets you create an original model, a 3D scanner that allows you to virtualize a real object, or websites for downloading 3D files. We will explain later how to use one or the other of these solutions through practical exercises. We will also see what the major 3D printing technologies are, and which 3D printer to choose depending on the project and available materials.

If, at the moment 3D printing processes are still rather slow compared to industrial manufacturing processes, the future of these technologies is being played out today.

Dimensions, manufacturing time, available materials and the possibilities of combining materials are the areas that researchers, enthusiasts, and businesses around the world are working on.

It’s time to get on this train because it’s already on its way!