3D PRINTING
FINE PRINT
Recreating and archiving ancient artefacts is just one of the benefi ts that 3D printers can off er attractions operators, says John Nuttall
The technology has moved from the industrial sphere to the creative industries like fi lm and TV
s an exhibitor at the
Museum & Heritage show at Olympia, London, UK in May 2013, what struck me most was the diversity of projects that people in this sector were undertaking and the level of interest shown in how they could realise these projects through 3D scanning and printing technologies. For several years now, the global media has been awash with stories of 3D scan- ning and printing (including the infamous ‘plastic’ gun) and everyone wants to be a part of the new technology, wondering how it may contribute to their sales and services in the coming years. With the advent of sub-US$1,000 (£650,
€770) 3D scanners and printers, there’s an urge to get involved because of the low level of investment needed. However, there’s a downside with production qual- ity in this entry-level equipment, which is aimed at the home and hobby market. You get what you pay for, and greater
levels of complexity are required – both in the 3D scanning process and in 3D printing – to create professional exhib- its, props, models, archive material and other items. The equipment involved at this level runs into tens of thousands of dollars and requires an intricate knowl- edge of the associated 3D software and hardware, so some people may fi nd it wiser to invest in a professional 3D scan- ning service for their project rather than purchasing high-end equipment.
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The applications of 3D scanning and printing
are starting to become limitless. Virtually anything is possible
3D SCANNING Scanning in 3D has been around for a couple of decades and has developed mainly in engineering circles to scan, manipulate data and manufacture or reverse-engineer industrial parts for the automotive and aerospace industries. The development of 3D scanning equipment in this time has resulted in extremely accurate point-clouds of infor- mation creating a mesh, which can then be manipulated, rendered, used for cast- ing or milling purposes, or printed out in 3D. Static 3D scanners are available for accurately scanning very small objects, such as jewellery or machine parts. Hand-held and laser-arm scanners are used for larger scale objects which need more comprehensive capture of the sur- face area, and large tracking scanners are capable of scanning whole buildings.
3D PRINTING 3D printing allows 3D data to be “printed” in thin layers of ceramic, plastic and wax (for casting purposes) to build up the model and is ideal for industrial prototyp- ing. Like 3D scanning, it has been around for a while in the engineering industries, but in the last few years the technology has improved with the demand. For large-scale items, which can’t be
printed on the footprint of even the larg- est 3D printers on the market, the 3D data can be used for milling purposes
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