3D Printing by Barry Lord

On Thursday May 21^st, our newest member Barry Lord gave us a demonstration of his 3D printing equipment.

Barry said that whereas carving is taking material away, 3D printing is adding material to create a finished object.

Printer

3D printing is the process of building physical 3 dimensional objects from a digital model. It works by depositing and fusing materials – typically heated plastics or resins layer by layer. It is widely used for rapid prototyping, customized parts and household items.

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The material, in his case, plastic, although corn starch and resins can be used, is held on a spool which lasts for approximately 18 hours and is forced through a nozzle as the machine’s print head moves forwards and backwards. The print head rises as more layers are produced. The temperature in the print head builds up to 220C as the material is extruded whilst the printer bed is heated to 60C.    With clever software the printed item comes out articulated, so toys and other things needing moving parts can be made .  Clay can also be used and comes out soft and can then be fired in the same way as normal pottery.

Barry said that the prices of these printers had dropped over the last few years as the technology became more advanced.  An average price was between £150 and £300. The printers are very quiet and can be left chugging away all night if necessary.

It is necessary to have a computer to work with the printer and many programmes are free to use. Dimensions can be altered and colours changed to create many coloured objects.  Three dimensioned objects like models have a mesh pattered interior which saves material and is also very strong.  He showed us a model head based on a 2dimensional photograph of a friend. A specialised programme can imagine the contours of a head and build it on to the features in the photograph.  This amazed his audience as the model looked exactly like a sculpture of his friend’s head.

Friend’s head

While Barry was giving his talk, he had set up the smaller printer to make a butterfly and after approximately an hour, a perfectly articulated yellow butterfly could be picked up and moved.

Printing the Yellow Butterfly

Articulated Yellow Butterfly

He said that this technology can be used for all sorts of purposes like dentistry, bone replacements, parts for cars and aircraft and jewellery and personal items. He had created an item that helped with using a shower which was something he had found really useful.

Everyone was really interested and asked many questions and Barry was thanked for showing us something that most of us had no experience.