3D Printing: Oscar Award Dress Can Also Be Done.

When you mention "3D printing", you may think of different pictures, from the DIY box that you can print to the magic machine that can print human organs.

But few people think of 3D printers as more modest: smaller, prettier, printers that move freely in the room, or become better and cooler supplies because of technological advances.

In fact, 3D printing has developed in this direction.

This year there are smaller 3D printers than microwave ovens, quiet and odorless 3D printers, and portable all-weather printer.

These home printers and all kinds of exquisite factory printers can produce toys, tools and clothes that were not possible before, and even use 3D scans to make the human models exactly the same as users.

1, the price Mini Mini printers screen is getting bigger and bigger, but 3D printers tend to get smaller and smaller.

M3D's Micro printer looks like a small toy, but it can print almost the same size as its own, and print the object with the largest size of 11.5x11.5x11.5 centimeters. The output efficiency is almost the same as that of many large printers.

Micro is printed with PLA (poly lactic acid) plastic.

This plastic is lower than other plastics and does not require additional high temperature printing base.

M3D will launch the Micro printers this summer at a price of $349 after the launch of its Kickstarter supporters.

Micro is one of the smallest 3D printers, but it is not unique.

Traditional large 3D printer manufacturers, such as Robo and Lulzbot, have also introduced Mini printers, such as Lulzbot Mini.

2. Super silent printer

Trends are not always moving in a smaller direction.

Up printer, maker of 3D printer, once launched Up Mini series small printer, now has developed another silent printers Up Box in another direction.

This printer is almost the same size as a mini refrigerator, and can print objects with a size of 20.3x25.4x20.3 cm.

Up Box is very quiet. When you print, you can only hear the buzz.

Moreover, because of the seal design and equipped with the HEPA air filter, it will not smell.

The price of Up Box is US $1899, which includes free replacement of parts and all-weather technical support for one year.

3, cool custom toys

3D printing toy company InsaniTOY Mark Trageser is using 3D printing technology to turn any wild idea into a creative toy, and it is desirable.

For example, he wants a table lamp with spider shape and light bulb mounted on the spider's body.

Trageser said: "it takes only 7 hours to sell the lamp to Amazon from this idea."

He also said that users could test various printing materials, for example, users could use semi flexible nylon printing toy cars on the SLS (selective laser sintering) printers. When the cars were printed, the wheels had been assembled and the axles were installed on the shock absorbers.

3D printing and online sales have opened up a niche market for custom made products. Trageser has no need to worry about warehousing and store problems. His toys are sold on the side of production.

4. Whole body 3D scan.

Human beings are not able to clone themselves at will, but we can make extremely accurate reproductions that can match the Tussauds of Madame Tussauds and do not require special equipment.

Artec, which specializes in making 3D scanners, has recently launched a full body scanner Shapify, a revolving drum shaped cabin equipped with multiple cameras and lights.

Shapify's customers include shopping malls and supermarkets.

It takes only 12 seconds to complete the whole body scan, and you remain completely inactive in such a short time to maintain some creative gestures.

The well scanned 3D model will be automatically trimmed.

If the customer decides to order a "mini version of me" souvenir, Shapify will send your model to the printer.

If you want to burn money, you can buy a human body scanner for 99000 dollars.

5. The rise of resin printing.

Conventional FDM (fused deposition modeling) 3D printers usually have a resolution of 0.1 mm per layer.

This resolution sounds very fine, but the raised bulge is easy to see and touch.

Resin printing is different from the FDM printer that is extruded by plastic. It uses light to pform the photosensitive liquid into a solid. It prints one layer at a time, the thickness of each layer is only 1/5 of DFM printing, which is 0.02 millimeters.

It is fine enough to make miniature hand and complex jewelry moulds.

Resin printing is not new, but now it is getting cheaper.

For example, in Tom 's Guide website evaluation, the Formlabs Form +1 printer with excellent indicators is priced at 3299 US dollars.

A company called SprintRay is launching a Kickstarter crowd raising project for its MoonRay resin printer, which is priced at $2499.

The price is almost the same as that of high-end FDM printers, such as MakerBot Replicator, which sells for $2899.

SprintRay intends to reduce costs by using fewer components.

Another difference in resin printers is that their printing heads are ultraviolet.

Rather than laser printing.

6. Carbon fiber printing

Carbon fiber is an ideal material with high strength and low specific gravity, but carbon fiber has no adhesion.

In the traditional FDM printing process, MarkForged mixed the carbon fiber and Kevlar synthetic fiber (Kevlar) into one layer to solve the above problems.

The company's Mark One printers can print high strength objects that can replace metals.

Using traditional forging methods to produce professional tools is expensive, while printing with carbon fiber printers can save a lot of cost.

The Mark One printer starts at $5500.

The target customers of this printer are not family users, but Aerospace Corporation and army.

7. Printing of special materials

Carbon fiber is not the only new 3D printing material. Other special materials include nylon, metal containing fibers and a substance similar to rubber, called NinjaFlex.

Objects printed with NinjaFlex will produce different elasticity due to different printing methods.

For example, printed solid objects may be very rigid, but honeycomb inside will be flexible.

In addition to printing rubber toys, NinjaFLex can also be used to make use of objects, such as shoes.

8.

clothing

N Topology, a fashion design company, recently showed an intricate and multi-layered woven dress printed with TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane).

TPU is flexible, and the clothes made of this material can be clung to the model body and allow the model to stretch freely.

Designer Melinda Looi follows

In collaboration with Materialise, Oscar made a dress that he could wear to participate in the gold medal presentation ceremony with several thousand pieces of white polyamide.

This dress does not need sewing. It can be printed on SLS printer.

The Materialise representative said that the cost of the dress was "thousands of euros", which was still priced before thousands of SWAROVSKI crystals.

Most 3D print clothing consumers will wear simpler, yet more practical products, such as sports shoes.

NTopology designer Greg Schroy said: "the first batch of consumer oriented 3D printing products may come from sportswear manufacturers.