It seems that it wasn't so long ago that I was just hearing about 3D printers. The concept was a little hard to visualize. I ended up seeing my first 3D printer in real life at the Bay Area Maker Faire (I think it was there) in 2012. At that time, 3D Printers had been around for a while.
I'm not talking about the industrial 3D printers that company Stratasys makes. Those machines are high-end, high-quality, precision machines that are used in industrial manufacturing. They have been around since the late 80s, and some even produce FAA qualified flight ready parts.
What I am talking about is the lower-cost product that is making its way into home offices, dens, school campuses, libraries and community centers near you.
You may think that this explosion was started by New York based Makerbot Industries. Wikipedia told me that the Rep Rap project, which sought to create a 3D printer that would print its own offspring (or parts of them, anyway), came first.
Started in 2005 by Britain's University of Bath professor Dr. Adrian Bowyer, the Rep Rap project sought to define an open design for a 3D printer, distributed under the General Public License (GPL).
Makerbot 3D printers were built on the early designs of the Rep Rap project. Their first model, the Cupcake, was released in 2009. Rumors have it that the Cupcake design wasn't quite baked, and that only a small percentage of the Cupcake kits ever worked. It was a kit for hackers. For tinkerers.
Today, the Makerbot printers have matured. There's no question of reliability. They will work. This top-of-the-consumer-line 3D printer is sufficiently mature to have justified the company's purchase by top-of-the-industrial-line 3D printer company, Stratasys Systems.
During the 5 years that have passed since the Cupcake's release, the Rep Rap project has continued evolving new designs. New companies have emerged, led by those who would tinker.
The 3D Printer has grown up. It even has its own expo. I attended the 3D Printer Expo a few weeks ago and saw so many printers! I'll be writing a bit more on what I saw at the expo... later.
For now, if you'd like to check out the videos I took at the expo, check out the 3D Printer Expo Playlist.
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