3D PRINTING

The Magic of the 3D printing

It is considered distinct from traditional machining techniques, because it removes material by subtraction like cutting and drilling.The primary advantage and obviously the purspose of it´s existence is the ability to create almost any shape or geometric feature.

This technology is used for prototyping and manufacturing with applications in architecture, engineering, construction, industrial design, automotive, military,FASHION!!! (woohoo), dental/medical industries as many other fields.

Modeling & Printing

The additive manufacturing takes virtual blueprints from CAD (Computer Aided Design) or animation modeling software "slices" them into digital cross-sections to use as a guideline for printing. A binding material is deposited on the build bed or platform until material/binder layering is complete and the final 3D model has been "printed."

Between the software and the machine to approximate the shape is the STL file format, you can print a slightly oversized version of the object, some techniques are capable of using multiple materials and print in multiple colors and color combinations simultaneously. 

With traditional techniques like injection molding, manufacturing polymer products in high qualities can be less expensive, but is slower, unflexible and expensive for small quantities. The 3D Printer gives to any designer less work on product prototypes that can be modified a any second, so the creativity departments launch products to production lines faster to later be sold and finaly in our bare hands!

Additive Processes

These methods melt or soften material to produce thin layers and join them together: Selective laser melting (SLM)
Selective laser sintering (SLS)
Fused deposition modeling (FDM)
Laminatedobject manufacturing (LOM)

Metal printers are expensive and less expensive printers can produce a mould to create thermoformed metal parts.

Rapid manufacturing

Advances in RP technology have introduced materials that are appropriate for final manufacture, which has in turn introduced the possibility of directly manufacturing finished components. One advantage of 3D printing for rapid manufacturing lies in the relatively inexpensive production of small numbers of parts.

Rapid manufacturing is a new method of manufacturing and many of its processes remain unproven. 3D printing is now entering the field of rapid manufacturing and was identified as a "next level" technology by many experts in a 2009 report. One of the most promising processes looks to be the adaptation of laser sintering (LS), one of the better-established rapid prototyping methods. As of 2006, however, these techniques were still very much in their infancy, with many obstacles to be overcome before RM could be considered a realistic manufacturing method.

3D printing services

Some companies offer on-line 3D printing services, it only requires to upload the 3D design to their website and after being printed, either is shipped to you or it has to be picked up.

Some companies, like Nokia, have created online services where you can customize your phone case and order the resulting item as 3D printed unique object. 

Buy a 3D Printing Machine

I know this kind of stuff is expensive,but when you safe enough money or have your own industry, having your own  3D Printing Machine will cost from $ 1.799,00 to $16.500,00 (dollars)

Mexico: http://landing.robteclatam.com/?gclid=CPrSpejexroCFURp7AodKjQASw
USA: http://www.mbot3d.com/collections/3d-printer

APPROACHABLE SOFTWARE!!!!

3DS MAX (3D modeling, animation, rendering, and compositing solution for games, film, and motion graphics artists) http://www.autodesk.com/products/autodesk-3ds-max/overview

Blender (FREE open source of 3D animation suite) http://www.blender.org/download/

Google SketchUp (FREE design professional 3D and 2D models ) http://sketchuppluginreviews.com/2011/06/20/what-is-google-sketchup/

NetFabb Studio (Free 3D printing software)http://www.netfabb.com/basic.php

Mesh Lab Autodesk123 D Make (FREE technology preview enables Inventor users to work with imported Mesh Data) http://labs.autodesk.com/utilities/inventor_mesh