How 3D Printing Actually Works

Now that 3D printing — the process of making three-dimensional solid objects from digital designs — is available and affordable to individual consumers, it's piqued a lot of interest across the tech space in the past few years.

From scale models, gifts and clothing to prosthetic limbs, hearing aids and the prospect of 3D-printed homes, the possibilities seem endless.

The concept of 3D printing is by no means new, however. Chuck Hull invented and patented stereolithography (also known as solid imaging) in the mid-1980s, when he founded 3D Systems, Inc. Since then, advances in the technology have been (and continue to be) made, including the size of the printers themselves, the materials they can use and more. Read more...