The Imaging Center provides access to a few different tools to help you turn a digital file into a physical object. This guide will help you determine which method(s) will be most efficient for your project, allowing you to optimize your use of time and materials.
Whichever tool(s) you use, keep in mind that the product that comes out of a machine is rarely finished. The machine will streamline certain tedious aspects of creation, but you will almost always post-process the model in some way, often by some combination of the following:
- Assembling separate parts
- Performing sanding or other cleanup
- Painting
- Adapting the item to your use in whatever other way may be necessary
Another important thing to keep in mind is that a single project may involve multiple tools and approaches. Think about ways to break your model down into individual components that could be created by different means. One example could be that the walls of an architectural model might be created on the laser cutter, whereas scale models of furniture inside the structure or trees on the site could make more sense as 3D prints.
The following are some of the tools at your disposal.
Your Hands
Hand methods include using a ruler and X-Acto knife, using wood shop saws and tools, carving styrofoam or other soft material, or any other method you can think of for making something yourself. You may not need digital tools at all if:
- Your model could be constructed of very simple shapes, like rectangular blocks
- You enjoy working with your hands
- You need only a single instance of your object. One of the advantages of digital methods is that they make it easy to create multiples of the same thing. If you don’t need multiples of the same thing, factor in the time it will take to design it digitally and prototype it. Even if the object’s shape is somewhat complex, it may be more efficient to simply make it by hand to begin with.
Laser Cutter
The laser cutter makes fast cuts and engravings in flat materials such as chipboard, wood, and acrylic. Using the laser cutter makes sense if one or more of the following is true:
- Your model easily can be separated into multiple flat panels
- Your model’s flat panels have many intricate cut-out parts
- Your digital file is a two-dimensional drawing or easily can be turned into one
The laser cutter is typically much faster than the 3D printer.
3D Printer
3D printing is relatively slow because it is an additive process. All the material of a 3D print is created as the machine extrudes a thin line of plastic to build up the model layer by layer. You may want to use the 3D printer if:
- Your digital file is a 3D mesh (i.e. a complex volume defined by a grid of triangles) that would be difficult to separate into individual flat planes
- Your model contains lots of fine details or flowing, organic shapes that would be difficult or impossible to create by another method
The 3D printer is typically much slower than the laser cutter. 3D printing also requires developing an intuition for how to orient a model to make most efficient use of the material. Click here for our Imaging Center guide to 3D printing using Bambu Studio.