3D printing has taken off over the last decade. As they grow in popularity and more people are able to access them we learn more cool things they can do. The things we find out 3D printers can do are only getting more numerous. 5 Cool Things You Can Print With A 3D Printer
In-home 3D printers have only helped the discovering process. As long as people are curious and willing to experiment, new things to create will keep being discovered. Humanity isn’t slowing down and neither are carbon fiber 3D printers.
There are so many interesting things you can make with a 3D printer. Bikes and cutlery are just the beginning. Here are five of the coolest things you can make with a 3D printer.
1. Human Limbs
3D printing in the medical field has been a miraculous thing. Doctors have been willing to print so many new things to try and increase the number of lives they can save. Each new printing that works is a huge step forward in the search for new body parts.
Bioprinting is a process that is allowing doctors to experiment with printing out new body parts for people who need them. It is still very much in the testing stages, but once bioprinting is perfected it will be one of the greatest medical discoveries ever made. There are so many things bioprinting can create and fix.
So far bioprinting has been able to create new limbs, kidneys, and even a heart. As doctors work more with 3D printing and try new things, more life-saving things will be printed. Eliminating the need for donors will save so many lives and take so many people off waiting lists they thought they would die on.
2. Turtle Shells
3D printing for body parts does not stop at helping humans. There are a lot of people working very hard to create new parts for animals who have been injured or were born a little off. Some of the coolest things 3D printing has been used for are to the benefit of an animal.
Turtles with deformed or broken shells are being given 3D printed shells. They are helping to reform the shells that can be fixed and adding structure to the shells that cannot be. There is something amazing about seeing turtles with colorful shells that were made by a machine to help the turtle heal.
It doesn’t stop with turtles. Toucans have been given new beaks, penguins have prosthetic flippers, dogs and cats have new paws. The amazing things 3D printing is doing in the veterinary field aren’t slowing down as long as animals are benefiting.
3. Food
There are people printing food. Not just hard candy, although that is an option, but full meals on a 3D printer. There are whole companies dedicated to making 3D food printers and creating more sustainable ways to make food.
Some of the most popular 3D foods are also the most popular normal foods. They can print pizza, burgers, pasta, and even chocolate. Having your food printed may not sound appetizing but it does sound really cool and tastes good according to people who have tried it.
There is something to be said for meat that does not require killing animals and making food without having to really cook. It also is just really cool to say you have printed food like someone out of a sci-fi movie. The future is now and it involves eating a 3D printed pizza.
4. Houses
3D printing houses is a process that is still being perfected. So far at least two houses have been made completely by 3D printing. One of those took only a twenty-four hour period. Neither required any human labor.
The process of building homes with a 3D printer is much more cost-effective than paying multiple people to build new homes. It also can be done much more quickly. One of the downsides is there have not been many homes built this way and the ones that have are very small and simple.
The material that could be used for 3D printing homes is much cheaper and even could be biodegradable. Building homes with a 3D printer is still in its experimental stages but as more homes are built they will only get better and more cost-effective. Eco-friendly, sustainable homes made with 3D printing is one of the coolest things being worked on right now.
5. Machine Parts
3D printing is being used to make pieces of machinery to exact size. Things like small gears that all need to fit exactly and bigger pieces that make up parts of a whole machine are being printed out. There are a lot of companies using 3D printing to make parts of the machines they use every day.
Even NASA has used 3D printing to help build their rockets. There are quite a few companies that are using 3D printing to make the building of machines cheaper and quicker by 3D printing parts. Bike and car manufacturers are also saving time and money by making parts with 3D printing.
As 3D printing is proven to be cheaper and quicker than making parts by hand more companies will adopt it. Because 3D printing works by building up material to make a product instead of cutting something down to make it to size, it wastes less material and saves money. The more 3D printed machinery proves itself the more companies will use it.
Conclusion
3D printing is proving itself as the future of technology. The things that people are discovering they can create using a 3D printer are interesting and numerous. As more people gain access to 3D printers more cool things are going to be made.
The medical field is creating new limbs for both humans and animals alike. They are printing organs. It is one of the greatest developments in modern medicine and it is happening in your lifetime.
So many industries are being streamlined and improved with 3D printing. Even as people worry about robots taking their jobs they have to acknowledge that 3D printing is doing jobs quickly and cheaply in most industries. There are so many cool things being done with 3D printers and people are only getting started.
