3D Printing Guide
FDM 3D Printing
FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling) 3D Printing is what most people think of when they think of 3D Printing. Plastic filament is melted and pushed through a hot nozzle on to a build plate layer by layer to create your part. Because of the process and materials of this 3D Printing method layer lines are visible on parts produced. This is usually used for earlier prototypes, parts that need a lot of revisions, or parts that need a specific thermoplastic for engineering or high stress applications. It is also normally one of the most affordable forms of 3D Printing.
SLS 3D Printing
SLS (Selective Laser Sintering) 3D Printing is a method that uses powdered thermoplastics most notably, nylons. This allows the use of actual plastics like FDM 3D Printing but with higher precision. Layer by layer a laser melts the powder into a part, since each successive layer rests on the previous powder base, supports do not need to be used in this method which makes it more affordable than resins. However, since the parts are made from powder, finished parts tend to have a slightly rough surface akin to extremely fine sandpaper.
SLA & DLP 3D Printing
SLA (Stereolithography) 3D Printing uses a UV layer to harden a photosensitive liquid resin into actual parts. This process is again done layer by layer, however due to the high precision of lasers and laser systems these parts can look a lot more finished than FDM 3D Printed parts. These parts are usually used for parts that need less revisions, more detail, or need to be very visually appealing. Can also produce castable wax parts for casting metals such as jewelry.
PolyJet 3D Printing
Polyjet 3D Printing most closely resembles inkjet 2D Printing. A head squirts out various resins on to a build plate which then hardens using a UV light like in SLA. It excels at making multimaterial 3D Prints where mixed materials are needed. For example a helmet where the outside needs to be hard and the inside needs to be soft. Parts can come out looking like almost completely finished products from this process.