People Show Off The Infinite Potential Of 3D Printing With These 60 Cool Creations

It might seem like 3D printers only entered the scene fairly recently but they've actually been around since the 80s. The first one was invented by a guy called Chuck Hull back in 1984. The seed had been planted a few years earlier when, in 1981, Dr. Hideo Kodama of the Nagoya Municipal Industrial Research Institute published a paper detailing a rapid prototyping system.

"His idea involved using a UV light to harden photosensitive polymers layer by layer," explains Snapmaker.com. "Unfortunately, Dr. Kodama failed to file the full patent requirements before his one-year deadline, and his groundbreaking concept was never officially credited as the first patented 3D printer."

Hull, an American engineer, won the race in 1984, when successfully filed a patent for a process he called Stereolithography (SLA).

"Hull’s machine used a UV laser to trace shapes into a vat of liquid photopolymer resin, curing it into solid plastic layer by layer," the site explains, adding that Hull didn't just invent the hardware; he also co-created the .stl file format. The pioneer later went on to found 3D Systems, one of the largest additive manufacturing companies in the world.

Someone called Scott Crump came along in 1989 and decided to turn 3D printing on its head a little bit. At a time when SLA was using liquid resin and lasers, Crump introduced and patented Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM).

"FDM melted a continuous spool of thermoplastic filament and extruded it through a heated nozzle, building the object layer by layer," explains Snapmaker, an innovative printer manufacturer. "Crump founded Stratasys, and FDM quickly became the most widely recognized form of 3D printing."

Nowadays, ordinary people and even school children, have access to 3D printers. But in the early days, the machines cost a fortune, and were pretty much reserved for automotive and aerospace engineers who needed rapid prototyping.

Today's 3D printing hobbyists have Dr. Adrian Bowyer to thank. In In 2005, he launched the RepRap (Replicating Rapid Prototyper) project at the University of Bath. Bowyer was on a mission to create an open-source 3D printer that could print most of its own components, making everything much more accessible to the general public.

"The true catalyst for the desktop 3D printing boom occurred in 2009 when the original FDM patents filed by Stratasys expired," reveals the site. "Suddenly, startups and open-source communities could legally build, innovate, and sell affordable FDM 3D printers. The technology moved out of the corporate warehouse and into the garage."

And now we see people's amazing creations all over the internet, and in listicles like this one.

The first object ever 3D printed back in the 80s was a small, solid plastic eye wash cup. It was Chuck Hull's test piece while he was developing his UV resin hardening system. And like the technology, 3D printed creations have come an incredibly long way.

In a few short years, 3D printing has changed face of medicine in more ways than one. And helped to save lives...

In 2011, baby Kaiba Gionfriddo was born prematurely in America, and suffered from tracheobronchomalacia. It's a congenital condition that causes the windpipe to collapse. Surgeons performed a tracheostomy and put the infant on a ventilator. But little Kaiba continued to stop breathing almost daily. This would cause his heart to stop.

Doctors were worried, and his family was devastated.

Enter 3D printing...

"His caregivers 3D printed a bioresorbable device that instantly helped Kaiba breathe," reports the Medical Futurist. "After the operation, Kaiba’s trachea gradually reconstructed itself. His body reabsorbed the inserted splint. A year later, the tube was also removed without causing any harm."

Blood vessels, bones, prosthetic limbs, heart valves, ears, noses, synthetic organs, and even skin, are just a few of the incredible creations popping out of 3D printers in this day and age.