3D Printing

By Josiah Birchard

3D printing is a phenomenon that some people may not totally in tune with yet but should be. More and more people are jumping on the band wagon that is 3D printing.

For example, your company buys a new building and coat hangers are necessary at every cube and office. One option is to buy multiple adjustable coat hangers for every office. This could be pricey and not an area where you want money going to. Another option is using some cad software, some of which is even free to use, sketching up a custom coat hanger, and printing it for a fraction of the cost.

Another example in the office setting is name plates. Custom name plates that can be purchased online can run from $10-$15 a pop plus shipping and tax. Depending on the size of the company, that can add up to being a hefty sum. Using some simple Computer Aided Design work, I made custom name plates for the office, all of which cost $1 a piece.

Little things that can be made with a 3D printer aren’t thought about until they are lost or broken. Things that you could never think of that needed to be replaced can be fashioned up and in your hands in a jiff. An oven knob breaks, and you don’t want to hunt for the oven’s exact model and size, take some measurements and you can create your own.

3D Printing can be used in multiple ways. The applications can be as useful as your imagination. The more comfortable I’ve gotten with 3D printing, the more useful it has become.