A good prototype increases the appeal of your product, which is sure to impress your boss or investors. Furthermore, because 3D printing is so simple and inexpensive, there is no excuse for using tape and glue.
3D printing, whether done at home or through an online service, allows you to bring your idea to market faster. Depending on your product, you can print a working prototype in a matter of hours, enabling you to test for functionality and aesthetic appeal while also redesigning and printing new iterations the same day.
The company has used 3D printing in its design workflow for years to create prototypes or scaled-down models in-house. Larger full-scale prototypes were often outsourced to a prototyping firm because the standard size of desktop 3D printers was too small until they found the Formlabs Form 3L — stereolithography (SLA) 3D printer with a build volume that can handle human-scale prototyping of products such as helmets and the mountaineering shovel pictured below.
Creating a prototype in the same material the final product will be manufactured in, such as carbon fiber or stainless steel. With the ability to quickly 3D print stainless steel parts in-house and through on-demand services, design teams can produce functional prototypes for testing, such as the 3D printed aluminum bicycle frame as sown in the picture.
You can 3D print your prototype in almost any material, including soft silicons, metals, rigid plastics, conductive copper, sustainable wood, and even chocolate. There are thousands of 3D printing materials and methods for 3D printing with multiple materials simultaneously.
Because of the variety of available materials and low cost, FDM, which uses rolls of plastic filament as the material, is the most widely used 3D printing method for prototypes. FDM is the most cost-effective method of purchasing a machine or ordering through a service. However, FDM is also a commercial method. Manufacturing-grade FDM machines can print with engineering materials like carbon fiber in fine detail and super strength, so don't dismiss it as a low-cost option. This technology and metal filament, a powder-infused plastic filament, can also be used to print metal.
You need a metal prototype if your final product is made of metal. Any metal 3D printing technologies will be more expensive than polymer options. Still, they will be faster and cheaper than any traditional methods for making metal parts, such as casting or machining.
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