"3D Printing - confused over materials." Topic

I am confused over the materials used for printing. Looking on Shapeways they talk of WSF or FUD to print in. Looking at ads for 3D printers it is all about printing in PLA, ABS, nylon etc. and no mention of FUD or WSF. Can someone enlighten me here?

Shapeways $500,000 USD printers use different technologies and materials to $500 USD hobby printers.

Interesting. The low end printers seem to use plastics heated and extruded through a nozzle, which I assume is FDM tech. Do Shapeways use SLA tech?

FDM – Fused deposition modeling – link

3D printing in FUD involves a process called Multijet Modeling, in which ultraviolet light is used to cure layer upon layer of liquid plastic. Once the final layer has set and the 3D printer stops, the translucent pieces are heated, washed to remove wax supports, inspected for quality, and hand-dried.

Frosted Extreme Detail (FXD), which has layers almost twice as fine as FUD, follows a similar process.

link

Stereolithography (SLA or SL; also known as stereolithography apparatus, optical fabrication, photo-solidification, or resin printing) is a form of 3-D printing technology used for creating models, prototypes, patterns, and production parts in a layer by layer fashion using photopolymerization, a process by which light causes chains of molecules to link, forming polymers.[1] Those polymers then make up the body of a three-dimensional solid.

link

Home printers use typically PLA or ABS. Thre are far more but glow in the dark, rubber and Wood looking may not be what you want.

PLA is normally used for FDM printers its hard, and strong but not a s tough as ABS. ABS stinks and does not reproduce detail as well as PLA.

Models in PLA from the home printer and WSF from shapeways are capable in general of being dropped and suffering no damage. That said very small part like machine guns in PLA are a bit brittle. In these cases I get a few from Shapeways in WSF, but their small size means you can buy loads of spares fairly cheap.

FUD is more expensive and from the few model I have in it from Shapeways are not really durable enough for war-game use.

Hope this helps

There are also home printers that use SLA technology; the problem I see with SLA tech is that it seems messier (tanks of resin) and that you get higher resolution in some dimensions than others.

Shapeways FUD uses SLS technology. A good overview is here. link

Home printers are mostly FDM with a few more expensive SLA models.

PLA can become brittle over time too, its hygroscopic (absorbs water) which can cause problems if its not stored properly before being put thru your 3d printer.

Yeah, ABS stinks. It also requires a 'heated bed' on the printer and possibly an insulated enclosure (which makes piping the stink outside easier). Can easily warp while being printed despite heated beds etc. But it is relatively strong and durable.

There are some newer and possibly superior filament types – PET-G is one that prints at PLA temperatures, does not need a heated bed and is around ABS in strength. It is however translucent which may be a good or bad thing depending on what you are doing with the result.

Add to that several companies are coming out with proprietry plastic mixes, which of course have miraculous powers if you believe the hype…..

Then you can get into Delta vs conventional printers – you've already hit SLA vs FDM. Fun.

Check out YouTube channels like Makers Muse, 3d Nerd, 3D Professor.