How far 3D printing has come since Good Morning America - January 1989 (video)

qqq.3ders.org ^ | Feb 26, 2013 | 3ders

[Vince Ferrer]

How far we have come - 3D Printing is just as exciting today as it was in 1989. A little bit of 3D printing history:

1984 - Charles Hull developed the technology for printing physical 3D objects from digital data.

1986 - Charles Hull named the technique as Stereolithography and obtained a patent.

1986 - Charles Hull founded 3D Systems and developed the first commercial 3D Printing machine, it was called as Stereolithography Apparatus.

1988 - 3D Systems developed model SLA-250, which was the first version to the general public.

1988 - Scott Crump invented Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM).

1989 - Scott Crump founded Stratasys.

And in 1989 3D printing was first viewed on the Good Morning America tv show. Science Editor Michael Guillen says in the video below that it is revolutionizing American industries. Until recently a professional 3D printer still costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. But entry-level 3D printers are now available for just thousand dollars and used by enthusiasts and researchers for making prototypes.

"It will be really interesting to see how scientists take this now and apply it in the future." says Journalist Joan Lunden.

We still say "3D printing is in its early days", after 24 years. Fortunately the use of 3D printers is growing, especially for short manufacturing runs. It is also a great tool for research and development. Because of the limitation of materials and size of printed objects, the industrial experts think widespread use of 3D printing is still more than five years away.

[Vince Ferrer]

3D Systems on Good Morning America - January 1989

[4Liberty]

cool!!! :)

[al_c]

Cool, yes. But I’m growing weary of the term 3D Printing. Print involves ink and paper. This should be called modeling, or replicating, or something.

[Atlas Sneezed]

I’m growing weary of the term 3D Printing. Print involves ink and paper. This should be called modeling, or replicating, or something.

---

“Printing” nicely conveys the additive nature of the process. “3D” tells how it’s different from regular printing.

Traditional printing might involve many passes of different colors. Like lithography, hence the original name, stereo lithography. Which basically means 3D printing.

[Vince Ferrer]

Cool, yes. But I’m growing weary of the term 3D Printing. Print involves ink and paper. This should be called modeling, or replicating, or something.

Years ago the industry settled on "additive manufacturing," as opposed to the traditional "subtractive manufacturing" where a machinist would take a block of metal and cut out anything that didn't look like the final part. It is as good and descriptive of a term as any, since the term includes all of the many methods now used to do the part manufacturing. But the term has never stuck with the general public, so the public still uses 3d printing. Notice in the video, the inventor of the stereo lithography process, and the founder of one of the two big 3d printing companies, calls it "3d printing" in 1989.