This guide will take you through the technologies found in desktop models today, and how they may differ to make a certain type of 3D printer better suited to any given job. It is worth mentioning that although this group of devices share the name ‘printer’ with many paper based traditional printers, they have very little in common – more can be learnt about ‘regular’ printers in our Printers Buyers Guide.
Every 3D printer builds parts based on the same main principle: a CAD model is turned into a physical 3D object by adding material a layer at a time. This is where the term additive manufacturing comes from. 3D printing is a fundamentally different way of producing parts compared to traditional subtractive manufacturing such as CNC machining or formative manufacturing such as injection moulding. In 3D printing, no special tools are required (for example, a cutting tool with certain geometry or a mould). Instead the part is manufactured directly onto the build platform layer-by-layer, which leads to a unique set of advantages, but also some limitations.
Many industries have now adopted 3D printing within their business models to benefit from the factors we’ve mentioned above. Just a handful of these are listed here.
Typically, architects can spend days creating physical models to explain their designs to clients. Using modern technology, they can use their existing CAD drawings to rapidly create a model and print it in 3D. Not only do they save time but complex geometries that can’t be modelled by hand can be produced efficiently and at a low cost.
Affordable desktop 3D printers are being used to create custom prosthetics for children at a very low production cost. Being such a low-cost option benefits children in particular because they grow out of their prosthetics quickly. Additionally, 3D printing allows children to choose custom options for their prosthetics such as superhero designs.
One of the key benefits of 3D printing is the ability to customise objects at no extra cost. The medical sector is taking advantage of this in various ways and one prominent field is that of hearing aids. The process begins by taking a 3D scan of the patient’s ear, which ensures an accurate 3D print can be made that has a perfect fit for that specific patient.
3D printing enables product and industrial designers to create prototypes within hours as opposed to weeks through traditional methods. The cost to create a prototype can be in excess of £10,000 when you consider the tooling required for processes like injection moulding. With 3D printing, prototypes can be achieved at a fraction of the cost.
3D printing for aerospace purposes allows complex geometries to be created with no waste material and no tooling required. This results in innovative functional parts and huge savings. Larger jet engines can now be produced that are more efficient, lighter and powerful due to their 3D printed components.
Desktop 3D printers can now be acquired for well under £1,000, which has gained the interest of many hobbyists. One of the main benefits is unlimited spare parts without having to rely on external sources. Users can easily improve their designs and create new and better concepts.
So now we’re familiar with what it is and how it can be used, let’s look at how it works in detail. The process always begins with a digital 3D model – the blueprint of the physical object. This model can be created in a 3D design software package, of which there are many on the market. Typically the 3D digital model is then saved in either an STL or OBJ file format. Some models will also support GIF, JPG and PNG file formats too. The 3D printer then has software that slices the 3D file into thin, 2-dimensional layers and turns it into a set of instructions in machine language (called G-code) for the printer to execute.
From here, the way a 3D printer works varies by the process it uses to make the physical model. There are many types of 3D printing processes – resin stereolithography, sheet lamination, material jetting, vat polymerisation to name a few, however these tend to be more industrial means. The common desktop method is a material extrusion technique commonly called Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) or Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF).
In FDM or FFF printing, a spool of filament is loaded into the printer and then fed to the extrusion head, which is equipped with a heated nozzle. Once the nozzle reaches the desired temperature, a motor drives the filament through it, melting it. The printer moves the extrusion head, laying down melted material at precise locations, where it cools and solidifies – like a very precise hot-glue gun. When a layer is finished, the build platform moves down and the process repeats until the part is complete.
FDM or FFF printing is the most cost-effective way of producing custom thermoplastic parts and prototypes. It also has the shortest lead times due to the high availability of the technology. As for limitations, this technique has the lowest dimensional accuracy and resolution compared to more industrial 3D printing technologies, and as extruded parts are likely to have visible layer lines, post-processing is often required for a smooth surface finish.
Support removal is typically the first stage of post-processing for any 3D printing technologies that require support to accurately produce parts. Support can generally be separated into two categories: standard and dissolvable. Standard support material can generally be removed from the print with little effort, and cleaning of support material in hard to reach places (like holes or hollows) can be achieved with dental picks and needle-nose pliers. Well placed support structures, and proper print orientation, can greatly reduce the aesthetic impact of support material on the final print.
With dissolvable support, the support material will differ depending on the type of filament being used, but all are removed from a print by placing it in a bath of solvent appropriate to the material until the support elements have dissolved. The part is then finished using techniques such as sanding, polishing, priming and painting to achieve the finished article.
When 3D printing, the resolution refers to the quality, or level of detail, at which your part is created. In general, the printer’s movement on both the XY and Z planes determines how fine the resolution will be, with smaller movements typically yielding higher resolutions. Resolution numbers will be shown in microns whilst the nozzle diameter will be shown in millimetres (mm). The lower these two numbers are, the finer detail is possible.
The XY resolution of a part occurs on the horizontal plane, which runs parallel to the printer’s build platform or bed. It is defined by the smallest movement that a 3D printer’s print head can make on this plane, and depends on how fine the movements of the printer’s motors are as well as the diameter of the print nozzle. As these numerical values decrease, the resolution becomes finer, and smaller features can be defined. It is important to note that the XY resolution may never be finer than the diameter of the print nozzle. A good analogy for XY resolution is DPI, or dots per inch – the finer a 3D printer’s motor can turn, the more “dots” it can fit in a square inch, resulting in more detailed parts.
The other part determining resolution is the Z resolution, which occurs on the vertical plane. This is more commonly referred to as layer thickness or layer height. When a 3D printer creates an object from a design file, it first slices the part into hundreds or thousands of cross sections, with the thickness of each cross section being equal to the layer height. The shorter the layer height, the more layers there are per vertical inch and the higher the resolution of your parts – though this also increases build time.
Minimum feature size is a term that refers to the smallest “dot” a printer can make. This is determined by the diameter of the nozzle on the 3D printer and the height of one layer. Regardless of how close or far apart these dots are, any features on your model that are smaller than an individual dot will not resolve correctly when printed. To produce finer features, a printer with a smaller minimum feature size will be required.
Now we’re familiar with the process of how 3D printing works, it’s time to look at the features of 3D printers. Before you buy a 3D printer, it helps to know what you want to print. 3D printers are available in a multitude of sizes which will have a bearing on the objects you print, but additionally they may have different nozzle sizes, finer layer resolution and better axis adjustability.
Desktop 3D printers come in a variety of sizes and clearly the size of the unit will restrict the size of the prints that can be made, so this is the first thing you should consider. A larger size model will allow for greater flexibility in what you can create both in length, height and overall volume. It is also worth mentioning that although a printer will have a physical platform or bed size, you may not be able to use the entirety of it depending on the software you are using to create your 3D model. It is worth checking compatibilities of these prior to purchase.
Among the most sought-after 3D printer features is a self-levelling build platform or bed. Many printers come with auto bed levelling features where a sensor tests various points on the print bed to best calculate the distance between the nozzle and print bed. If the bed is not level, your print will not be produced properly. It is also worth considering a heated bed, as the first few layers of your prints are critical to the foundation of your final object. A heated bed ensures this foundation is well-formed, solid, and sticking in place.
You don’t have to have dual filament support to get multicoloured prints, but it does help make it easier. Instead of relying on multicoloured spools of filament, consider looking for a 3D printer that supports more than one roll at a time. You can slice G-code files to alternate between colours, or even apply a colour to a specific part of a print-in-place object. A dual extruder printer also lets you print using multiple materials, opening up the complexity of shapes you can print.
The speed of 3D printing is determined by two main factors – the speed range the printer is capable of, which can vary from 10 to 200 millimetres per second (mm/sec), and the speed set in the slicing software used to prepare your model. Typically, faster 3D printing speed means lower quality – above 150mm/s, the quality drops noticeably and the filament tends to slip. It’s also worth checking for a print resume feature, so your print job continues where it left off after any unexpected pause.
Noise from a 3D printer can be a huge factor. The average 3D printer is around 50 decibels, which is as loud as a normal conversation. The main things that make a 3D printer loud are motors, fans, bearings and drivers. Lower cost printers do tend to be a lot noisier due to the cheaper mechanical parts installed, resulting in more vibrations. Physical set up can help – a slower print will always result in less noise, and placing your printer on a solid surface, on top of a padded mat or carpet, will act to dampen surfaces and aid noise reduction.
You can never be too safe when it comes to working with hot electrical equipment – a 3D printer will operate in the region of 180°C to 300°C, depending on what material you are using, and a heated bed can also reach over 150°C. Look out for safety features such as automatic nozzle cooling when a print is complete, an automatic bed shut-off, or a built-in camera for remote monitoring. It is also wise to wear gloves whilst removing prints or adjusting the machine, and to print in a well-ventilated area, as filaments may give off harmful fumes and nanoparticles when melted and extruded.
The CAD model must be transferred to the printer in order to print, and this can be achieved in a number of ways. A direct USB cable connection lets you monitor and control the device manually from the printing software. Many mid-range 3D printers also come with an SD card reader or a separate USB port for direct upload from flash drives, allowing the printer to operate independently. High-end 3D printers are likely to feature additional options such as a network port or wireless connectivity, useful if you are sharing the printer between multiple users.
As we’ve seen, FDM / FFF 3D printers use spools of filament to produce the 3D designs. These filaments can be made from a wide variety of materials, so let’s take a look at some of the most popular ones.
In the realm of consumer 3D printing, polylactic acid (PLA) is easily the most popular filament type. First and foremost, PLA is easy to print with, has a low printing temperature and it doesn’t warp easily, meaning it doesn’t require a heated bed (although it definitely helps). Another benefit of using PLA is that it doesn’t give off an odour during printing, and it’s available in a nearly endless abundance of colours and styles. As a biodegradable thermoplastic, PLA is more environmentally friendly than most types of 3D printer filament, being made from annually renewable resources such as corn starch or sugar cane.
Although PLA filaments are suitable for most uses, compared to other types of 3D printer filament it is brittle, so it is best to avoid using it when making items that might be bent, twisted, or dropped repeatedly, such as phone cases, high-wear toys, or tool handles. You should also avoid using it with items that need to withstand higher temperatures, as PLA tends to deform around 60°C or higher. For all other applications, PLA makes for a good overall choice in 3D printer filament.
Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) typically ranks as the second most popular 3D printer filament, after PLA. With respect to its material properties, ABS is actually moderately superior to PLA, despite being slightly more difficult to print with. Products made of ABS boast high durability and a capacity to withstand high temperatures, but 3D printer enthusiasts should be mindful of the filament’s high printing temperature, tendency to warp during cooling, and intense, potentially hazardous fumes, so always print with a heated bed and in a well-ventilated space.
ABS is tough, so able to withstand high stress and temperature. It’s also moderately flexible, though there are certainly better options for that further down the list. Together these properties make ABS a good general-purpose 3D printer filament, but where it really shines is with items that are frequently handled, dropped, or heated.
Polyethylene terephthalate glycol-modified (PETG) is derived from the most commonly used plastic in use today, but this modified form is clearer, less brittle, and most importantly, easy to print with. For this reason, PETG is often considered a good middle ground between ABS and PLA, as it is more flexible and durable than PLA and easier to print than ABS.
PETG is a good all-rounder but stands out from many other types of 3D printer filament due to its flexibility, strength, and resistance to both high temperature and impact. This makes it an ideal 3D printer filament for functional objects which might experience sustained or sudden stress, such as mechanical parts, printer parts, and protective components. It should be noted however that PETG is hygroscopic, meaning it absorbs moisture from the air, so make sure to store it in a cool, dry place.
Compared to most other types of 3D printer filament, Nylon ranks as the number one contender when considering strength, flexibility, and durability together. It can also be dyed, either before or after the printing process.
Nylon’s strength, flexibility, and durability allows it to be used to create tools, functional prototypes, or mechanical parts – however Nylon, like PETG, is hygroscopic, so it must be stored in a cool, dry place to keep the filament in prime condition and ensure better quality prints.
High impact polystyrene (HIPS) is used in the 3D printing world as support. For instance, when paired with ABS in a dual extrusion printer, HIPS acts as an excellent support material, as they are of similar strength, stiffness, and require a comparable print temperature. Although its primary use is as a support material, HIPS is a good 3D printer filament in its own right. It is stronger than both PLA and ABS, warps less than ABS, and can easily be glued, sanded, and painted.
It is worth noting that if you use HIPS as a support material it does limit your printing to ABS, as other 3D printer filament materials will be damaged by the limonene required to dissolve it afterwards.
There are too many more options for filament material to cover every possibility in this guide. The wide range available includes polycarbonate (PC), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), polypropylene (PP), carbon fibre, wood, ceramic and metal filaments – plus ones with specific properties like conductivity, magnetism, and the ability to change colour with temperature or glow in the dark.
Enhance your 3D printing experiences with these accessories.
You can achieve superior printing results by storing filament at specific atmospheric conditions. These filament dryers not only maintain the right moisture level, but also control temperature. Make sure to buy the right size dryer for your filament spools, most commonly 150 or 200mm.
3D scanners enable you to create accurate 3D models of objects, without having to draw out everything by hand. Some alteration and fine tuning of the 3D model will still be needed in your CAD or 3D printing software. As such, make sure to choose a scanner that is compatible with your chosen software.
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If you have any further questions you’d like answering about 3D printers, don’t hesitate to contact one of our friendly advisors.
No, each type of filament (of which there are many) is incompatible with the others. Check out the ‘3D Printer Filaments’ section of this guide for more information and the specifications of individual printers to see which filaments they support.
3D printers work by laying down melted material at precise locations, where it cools and solidifies (like a very precise hot-glue gun). When a layer is finished, the build platform moves down and the process repeats until the part is complete.
3D printers can be hazardous due to the release of ultrafine particles (UFPs) and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) when heating materials, which can cause respiratory issues, headaches, and eye irritation. While materials such as PLA are generally safer, materials such as ABS emit more toxic fumes, requiring proper ventilation, air purification, and a dedicated, well-ventilated space.