3D printing a couple of years ago was a hobby for the rich and technically inclined. You couldn’t just buy a printer off the shelf and get started. It took a long time to hone the machine and get it to a place where it could reliably print something in plastic. Those days of struggle and privilege are long gone. 3D printers in India are ubiquitous even though they aren’t officially supported by their brands in India.

Types of 3D printers

There are two main types for our purpose. One is called FDM, which stands for fused deposition modelling. It is a method of 3D printing where a printer places melted plastic layer by layer to create a three-dimensional object. The second is MSLA, short for masked stereo lithography. This method of printing uses UV (ultraviolet light) cured resin to build layer upon layer of a three-dimensional object. There are of course more types of 3D printers, but for consumers, these are the two main types.