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A Quick Overview of how 3D Printers Work

3D printing works by laying down lines of plastic one layer at a time. This is essential to take into consideration in your designs, as 3D printing is a slight misnomer.

If we break down our thinking of the 3D printing process into how it builds up a model, it is essentially drawing out a 2D slice of your part, and stacking them all on top of one another. This is where the term slicing) comes from.

This layer by layer process is the most important thing to remember as you're reading the rest this article.

Curved Features

Time constraints work similarly. When you have six months instead of two years, you can't afford to explore every possible approach. You must make decisive calls early and iterate rapidly.

The key is distinguishing between healthy constraints and artificial limitations. Manufacturing realities are healthy constraints—they push you toward practical solutions.