3d Printer

3D printing - a new era

3D printing has more recently become more accessible to the general market, from earlier larger versions on an industrial scale to fitting on a desk today. Using various methods depending on the printer all of them achieve a 3-dimensional product. Currently, most of them use different forms of plastics as the material, printers that use metal directly are more expensive and also more hazardous as powdered metal is combustible. These metal 3D printers use a process called sintering to make metal objects.

Uses 

The uses are limitless, the dream is to be able to buy any product online and watch it get printed in front of you at home ready for use. Imagine what that would do to the consumer market and also what kinds of new designs that would inspire when there won't be limitations due to moulds and such.

More uses

Larger companies print prototypes of products to see what they would look like or how they fit together before putting them to mass production. At times if a part can be printed for an engine as a replacement till the actual part is available; this is in practice today making for extreme convenience. In one instance a company printed a helicopter engine comprising of 19 parts instead of the 900 it usually houses, which would change the speed at which the supply chain works by a huge margin.

Even more uses

In the medical realm there have already been advancements due to 3D printers, doctors have printed portions of a person's facial bones after an accident to replace pieces that were too damaged to reset. Or the time the heart of a baby was scanned and printed so the doctor could open up the printed version and see exactly what needed to be mended. As it was a tiny heart the margin for error was diminished; the doctor knew exactly what he was going to find when he went in for surgery. There is even debate about 3D printing eventually being able to print an organ specific to a person so chances of rejection after transplant are near nil, as it will contain the DNA of the receiver. 

Things to consider about 3D printing

As with all technology 3D printing has its hazards, emissions while it prints being one. The emissions are of fine particles and volatile chemicals that are part of the process to print. Aside from this, there is the danger of burns from hot print heads also the ones that incorporate a laser or ultraviolet light could be damaging. These issues can be avoided if the manufacturer provided guidelines are followed such as properly ventilated space, goggles and the right covers for equipment. 

In Pakistan, currently, smaller 3D printers are available as the market is still nascent.