10 September,2023 07:46 AM IST | Mumbai | Jaison Lewis
3D printing is now becoming accessible in India. For beginners, FDM printers are a good place to start
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.
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.
You may have noticed that while the world is moving fast in the world of 3D printers, these innovative ground-breaking machines are slow to arrive in India. The problem that affects the availability is the ongoing feud between India and China. This has resulted in trade sanctions and predatory taxation of imported goods. Unfortunately, most 3D printer companies are based out of China and this in turn has affected its availability in our country. So, while there are traders who have managed to buy and resell the latest 3D printers, these come at a significant markup that may affect the price of entry.
The hobby of 3D printing is serious business, and manufacturers have innovated significantly over the last few years to bring printers that are not only more reliable than their predecessors, but are also significantly cheaper. For beginners, the best type of printer to go in for is an FDM one. FDM printers are quite friendly on the pocket. They use a plastic filament to print, which is significantly cheaper to acquire. Depending on what filament you plan to use, they come with different tensile strengths and toxicity. However, most 3D printing enthusiasts use PLA (Polylactic acid), a plant-based thermo plastic that is less toxic and easy for beginners to work with. These printers are easy to set up and have a ton of literature behind them, with a supportive community on Reddit. They are great for building things that are functional and don't need to have a photo finish. That said, excellent finishes can be achieved by post-processing prints.
Resin printing is a little more nuanced. These printers can print in microns, producing impeccable 3D renderings of almost any object you want. It also has limitations, but if your object is to print jewellery, figurines or precision parts, then resin printing is for you. However, printing in resin is cumbersome. It requires you to set up a dedicated space with good ventilation, since most resin fumes are considered toxic. Non-cured resin is hazardous for the environment and can be corrosive to sensitive skin, which means gloves and masks are recommended when using resin to print. Regular resin is only soluble in alcohol; hence, isopropyl alcohol has to be used for cleaning prints, the workstation and everything else. Prints also need to be UV cured, which usually involves buying a UV curing station. Although you can cure prints in direct sun, the results are not great. You must also avoid direct sunlight coming in contact with your resin setup during print, since the UV light used in these printers can also harm your eyes, make sure the cover is on during operation. In resin prints, however, post-processing is minimal. It is so good that dentists use them to create things like dentures and bridges for patients. You can also electro-plate metal onto these prints by spraying on a conductive paint.
3D printers may be hard to find in India but the materials used in it are available easily. Amazon and several other sites regularly stock even the most exotic of filaments. You can buy everything from PLA to glow in the dark at a reasonable price. The same goes for UV-cured resin which you can find in many varities and at a fair price. It should be kept in mind that the price per piece of 3D printing may not compare to traditionally manufactured parts because the injection moulding process gets cheaper after a certain number of units. 3D printing is great for customisations, prototyping or even creating defunct parts of old machinery.
There are a few precautions you must take while using a 3D printer and these will influence your decision to buy one as well. For starters, 3D printing must always be done in a well-ventilated space and should never be done in living areas. 3D printers are known to dispense micro plastics in the air and in the case of resin, toxic fumes. You must also never leave a 3D printer alone while printing, while this may not apply so much to a resin printer, FDM printers can reach dangerously high temperatures. Since they are still not as consumer-friendly as a common refrigerator, faulty software can cause it to have a meltdown and cause a fire. Use protective gear and caution while handling 3D printers. Educate yourself about the device before attempting to print; reading the manual can help in this case.
Finding a 3D printable file is possibly the easiest thing to do. Several sites specialise in distributing community-made parts and devices. I frequent two sites, thingieverse.com and printables.com. You can find anything from a print-in-place car, to a working professional-grade guitar that you can print on these sites. You can also get custom fan creations like figurines and elaborate cosplay gear at stores like etsy.com and myminifactory.com. The more in-demand artists though, have their own Patreon accounts that you can pay for weekly to gain access. You can also create your own custom 3D printable files with softwares like Tinkercad and Blender.
Amazon India and Flipkart have several 3D printers on sale. These printers have been renamed and will still carry their brand in the name. Creality, Anycubic and FLSun are good 3D printer brands to consider, and if you have a good budget then nothing beats Bambu Labs for a beginner. In resin printers, Elegoo, Anycubic and Phrozen are your go-to options. The site 3ding.in seems to have all the newest 3D printers at a fair price. I would contact them for some decent deals.
For beginners with a huge budget, buy the Bambulabs X1 Carbon with the AMS kit. This printer is as hands-free as they come, you can operate it with your phone, and print multi-material or multicoloured prints. Not to mention have up to 16 colours on hand using multiple AMS kits. At R1,64,000 it costs a lot more than any entry-level printer, you can also consider its poorer cousin the P1P for almost half the price. These are available at 3Ding.in. For the absolute budget oriented there is the Anycubic Kobra Neo, which retails for R14,499 and is an absolute beast when it comes to printing in FDM. For resin, I recommend getting a basic Elegoo Mars 3 or 4 depending on your budget. An Anycubic Photon M3 is also a great budget printer. If you want a great experience though you can go in for the Creality Halot One Plus, which has a nice interactive colour screen and WiFi for wireless printing.
Yes, you can. If you have the fortitude to build your own printer, then you must visit Voron. They are an open-source 3D printer design with 3D printable parts and off-the-shelf components that you can buy and use to build your own 3D printer with complete step-by-step instructions. However, be warned, this is not cheap and not easy. Attempt this only if you have nerves of steel and unwavering focus. Manage to build one and you will have a top-of-the-line 3D printer with immense speed and accuracy. You can find a parts list and instructions here: vorondesign.com.
If you aren't sure about buying a 3D printer and just want to play with one, maker spaces are a great way to get your hands dirty. Here's a small list; Maker's Asylum in Andheri, Research Innovation Incubation Design Laboratory (RiiDL) in Somaiya Vidyavihar, Heramb MakerLab in Pune, and Vigyan Ashram FabLab in Pune. Also reach out to people on Reddit, the 3D printing community is very warm and welcoming. You never know, your neighbour might have a 3D printer they are willing to share.
