Page 40 2025 Spring Home and Garden LINCOLN DAILY NEWS April 2025 Three dimensional printing is a process that has really come a long way in the past few decades. It all started in 1983 when a man named Charles Chuck Hull. He worked for a company that made coating for tables. The process took liquid plastic and hardened it with ultraviolet lights. This gave him the idea that a similar process could be used to print three dimensional objects. In 1988, another man named Scott Crump created a new process for 3D printing called fused deposition modeling (FDM), which is the process that is still used today. FDM uses heat to melt plastic and lay it down layer-bylayer until the item being printed is complete. Another process called selective laser sintering (SLS) was created at about the same time. This process took powdered materials and melted them with a laser for the purposes of 3D printing. This allowed other materials, like metal for example, to be used in 3D printing rather than the traditional plastic or resin. In the mid 2000’s, desktop 3D printers started becoming more popular, and people were able to make their own designs to be printed. This is when 3D printing started making its way into schools and the home. Since then, it has become even more common. NASA has used 3D printing to make tools and parts in space. The healthcare industry has used 3D printing to make dental implants, prosthetics, and even organs. Three dimensional printing has even been used in the construction industry, The Future of Construction? Why not print the house of your dreams! 3D Printed Homes: allowing for lighter building parts to be created. This then begs the question: can 3D printing be used to create an entire house? This is a bit of a trick question, as 3D printed homes are already being made. In fact, 3D printing construction companies are already a thing as well. According to Construction Digital, the top three 3D construction printing companies are ICON, Apis Cor, and COBOD International. How are 3D printed homes even made? COBOD International’s website has a short introduction to what a 3D printed home is as well as the process of printing one. According to this article, like other 3D printed items, a 3D printed home is created in layers. They also say that, at least in most cases, 3D printed houses are “more time and cost efficient than traditional construction techniques.” The article goes on to say that 3D printing a house focuses on the basic structure. This means that things such as windows and doors are installed after the printing is finished. COBOD’s article then goes on to give a brief overview of the process of 3D printing a home. Like with more traditional methods of home building, this process begins with a blueprint. In this process, the materials used for the home are going to be decided upon. Things such as weather and how the materials will stand up to the environment are taken into consideration here. Continued --
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