SLA 3D printers use a UV laser to cure liquid resin into hardened plastic on the print bed, turning the liquid resin into a solid, three-dimensional model. The resin is made from photosensitive monomers and oligomers, combined in short chains, which turn into long chains with post-curing. There’s an enormous variety of SLA resins available …
In addition to plastics, some FFF/FDM 3D printers are capable of printing metal filaments providing the extruder is rated for metals, and the nozzle can be upgraded to hardened steel to cope with the abrasive filament. Metal FFF is based around metal injection moulding (MIM), which uses a three-step process to fabricate metal parts using …
Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) is the simplest and most common additive manufacturing technology. Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) is the same thing, except it is a trademarked term owned by Stratasys. An FFF 3D printer extrudes melted thermoplastic in layers to form a three-dimensional model. Various thermoplastics are available, from standard plastics like ABS to specialist …
Nozzles screw into the hot end of a 3D printer extruder, acting as the exit point for the melted thermoplastic filament. 3D printer nozzles are made from solid metal, featuring a tiny nozzle opening. The nozzle opening size (bore size) defines the thickness of the melted filament on exit, with typical nozzle sizes ranging from …
An extruder is the part of a 3D printer responsible for moving the filament through the printer and melting it for the nozzle. Extruders are sometimes called printheads, but this name also encompasses the nozzle system, which is a simple, user-replaceable part. Extruders tend to be contained units, although some printers have upgradeable ones. The …
With additive manufacturing, we can precisely control two aspects of any part: the perimeter (walls) and the infill (insides). Contrary to popular belief, 3D printed models are rarely ever hollow. Most have at least a basic infill either to improve the physical characteristics of the part or where necessary to reduce the possibility of collapse …
