3D Printing Misconceptions: 10 Myths, Answered

3D printing has been around since the 1980s, yet the technology is still routinely misrepresented: both favourably and adversely. A balance exists between knowing the capabilities and the shortcomings of any current technology.

People who are misled about a new technology frequently avoid it, or use it poorly. 3D printing has reached a tipping point in recent years: for decades it was an essential prototyping tool, and it is now rapidly becoming a feasible alternative for production applications.

This article examines ten of the most frequently held beliefs about 3D printing, and debunks the ones that do not hold up.

1. Is 3D printing a new technology?

The myth: 3D printing is a new technology.

3D printing is not as new as you may think. It first appeared in the 1980s, and its origins trace to the late 1970s. Dr Hideo Kodama, working at the Nagoya Municipal Industrial Research Institute in Japan, published the first account of a layer-by-layer approach using photopolymers cured by UV light: the direct ancestor of stereolithography. He was unable to complete his patent application, so the credit for the first patent went elsewhere.

Charles 'Chuck' Hull filed his patent for stereolithography in August 1984; it was granted in March 1986, and the first commercial system, the SLA-1, shipped in 1987. Hull's 3D printed eyewash cup is widely cited as the first 3D printed object.

As proprietary patents expired, advancement accelerated: and continues to. Printers are getting cheaper and precision is improving with each generation. In the late 1990s the technology reached major milestones in other fields, including the creation of a human bladder by the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine. In 2005 the commercial potential opened up through Adrian Bowyer's RepRap project, an open-source initiative that built a 3D printer capable of printing parts of itself.

3D printing is going to be way bigger than what the 3D printing companies are saying.
- Credit Suisse

2. ABS vs PLA: which is better?

The myth: ABS is superior to PLA.

These are the two most popular 3D printing filaments, and most hobby and prototype-level prints use one or the other. ABS is widely believed to be superior, but PLA has properties that make it attractive in its own right.

Where PLA wins:

• It is simple to use and cheap. Because it does not depend on petroleum, it can be produced at considerably lower cost: lowering consumer prices and reducing environmental impact.
• Its glass transition temperature is low, around 65°C, so it needs far less heat and electricity to print. The trade-off: PLA is not suited to anything that must resist heat for long.
• It smells better. The sugar-based material has a faintly sweet aroma when heated; ABS has a harsher odour and needs ventilation, since the fumes can be unpleasant.
• It prints fine or complicated features well, which is why it is common for prototyping and architectural mockups.

Where ABS wins:

• It is more technically demanding in terms of print settings, which makes it harder for hobbyists but well suited to professional use.
• It is the material of choice for end-user tools, moving components, and parts that must resist severe mechanical stress.

So neither is simply better. PLA suits plastic films, bottles and biodegradable medical devices; ABS suits parts under load. The right answer depends on what the part has to do.

3. Can anything be 3D printed?

The myth: Anything you can think of can be 3D printed.

Every technology comes with underlying technical constraints, and 3D printing is no exception. Understanding them in depth is what lets you get the most out of it.

3D printing is already shaking our age-old notions of what can and can't be made.
- Hod Lipson, Director, Columbia University's Creative Machines Lab

It works wonders for speeding up design development and opens new production possibilities. But in the end it is another tool in the toolbox, with its own limits: material availability, size, and strength. Some examples:

• Some shapes and geometries do not print readily. You can fabricate parts with fractions of a millimetre of metal, but printed parts still need a minimum wall thickness to be stable in use. Parts needing strength in the through-thickness direction: perpendicular to the printed layers: are also poorly suited.
• Additive manufacturing is not ideal for parts demanding specific dimensional precision or surface finish; those usually need a secondary operation afterwards.
• A thin, long cylindrical object is awkward: printers have limited Z travel, so printable height is capped. Printed horizontally instead, the circular profile ends up with a stepped perimeter because layers have finite thickness.

4. Will 3D printing replace high-volume manufacturing?

The myth: High-volume manufacturing will be outpaced by 3D printers.

3D printers produce components cheaply and rapidly for low-volume items, and for products needing quick design iterations or custom features they are far better. But the claim that 3D printing is replacing high-volume manufacturing is not true yet.

The cost of additive parts will fall in the coming years, but it will remain an expensive option for large-scale production, particularly for low-value goods. Mass manufacturing processes have been refined over decades, and 3D printing cannot currently compete with injection moulding or casting on volume. Some firms are building printers capable of higher-volume output, but these will most likely complement existing processes rather than replace them.

What 3D printing does offer is speed of iteration at low cost. It reduces cycle time for iterative design, allows design flexibility, and makes complex geometries feasible. Traditional methods can be capital-intensive up front, which is what makes printers ideal for low-volume, custom-made prototypes, tooling and fixtures.

5. Is 3D printing only useful for prototypes?

The myth: 3D printing is only useful for creating prototypes.

3D printers are predominantly seen as a prototyping tool, and that perception has held back wider adoption: along with the opportunities the technology actually offers.

3D printing can deliver significant improvements in both time and cost-effectiveness over conventional techniques in industrial applications. It can generate objects straight from the initial concept, though it faces the same design limitations as manual fabrication or CNC machining.

In traditional methods, each physical prototype required a new design, outsourced to a manufacturer who produced it subtractively or additively. Tooling and logistics are involved in every transaction, which means delays and expense. 3D printing removes the equipment step and takes a concept from design file to physical object faster, because input can be translated into an updated design file and printed in a few hours.

It is true that fused deposition modelling suits rapid prototyping best. But organisations are using printers to create tools, jigs and fixtures for precise or general use: at Heineken's bottling plant and on the assembly lines of Volkswagen Autoeuropa, among others. Companies are printing end-use parts in small and large batches to avoid high costs and long lead times.

Businesses should examine their whole manufacturing strategy to understand where 3D printing can add value, rather than treating it as a prototyping department.

6. How much does a 3D printer cost?

The myth: The cost of 3D printers is prohibitively high.

Many people have avoided 3D printing believing it is too expensive. When Chuck Hull's first commercial stereolithography system arrived, it would have cost in the region of $300,000. Things have changed considerably.

As global demand grew, output of printers multiplied and prices fell sharply. There are three broad printing types: SLS (selective laser sintering), SLA (stereolithography) and FDM (fused deposition modelling). FDM printers are the cheapest and SLS the most expensive. A decent FDM printer for hobby use can be had for a couple of hundred dollars.

Price varies with the technology used. A printer using newer technology, or printing at higher precision, costs more: but the entry point is nothing like it was.

7. How much investment does a 3D printing business need?

The myth: 3D printing demands an excessive amount of investment.

The 3D printing market has grown strongly year on year, and that growth has created a surge of interest in starting printing businesses. The sector offers several areas in which to establish one.

The actual cost depends on the emphasis you choose, but it can start as low as around $1,000: influenced by the printer you select, plus marketing, software and utilities. Printer cost varies with size, capability and the quality you need to produce.

A 3D printer itself is not a significant financial investment; against alternative production options, it often needs the smallest initial outlay. The caution is in what you buy: avoid unreliable technology and closed ecosystems that tie you into expensive consumables and service contracts. Select the right hardware, software and materials for your application and the payback period can be a matter of months: which is the same logic behind our own manufacturing infrastructure decisions.

8. Is 3D printing too slow for mass manufacturing?

The myth: 3D printing is too slow to be viable for mass manufacturing.

Rapid advances in printing technology, parts and components have pushed prices down and made it a more viable choice for wider manufacturing use.

Moving to 3D printing lets businesses pursue short-run component production, where dedicated product teams can introduce new products more often and work beyond the limitations of conventional techniques. It offers an agile development approach for physical components, and can compress both manufacturing time and time to market: which is what makes on-demand manufacturing practical.

There is no question that 3D printing is far ahead of traditional techniques for the first few hundred components. If time is the deciding factor, industries choose 3D printing for small-batch production.

9. Are 3D printers difficult to use?

The myth: 3D printers are difficult to use.

This is becoming less true every year. Printers once used unintuitive software requiring professional expertise, and early hobby-level machines shipped with barely any software at all: so producing a viable component demanded real operator knowledge of part design, alignment and machine parameters.

Manufacturers such as Prusa Research, Dremel and Elegoo now increasingly ship integrated, purpose-built hardware, software and materials together. That produces predictable machine performance and reduces the skill needed to operate it. Operating a 3D printer is no more complex than operating CAD software: you generate a 3D model of the part, and the slicer handles the rest. Better software means engineers spend more time designing good components and less time learning the machine.

10. Can 3D printers print metal?

The myth: 3D printing can only make plastic components; it cannot compete with metal.

Some still believe 3D printing only works with plastic, because the process involves melting and depositing material. In fact metal 3D printing is almost as widespread as plastic, and it is particularly established in sectors demanding superior strength and precision: aerospace, aviation and defence among them. Metal printing consumes more energy, but the parts can compete with, and often beat, those made by traditional methods.

Relativity Space is the best-known example, building complete rocket structures through additive manufacturing and printing the overwhelming majority of their rocket's parts: compressing total fabrication time to a fraction of conventional timelines.

And metal is not the only answer to the strength question. Continuous fiber printing produces carbon fiber composite parts with a strength-to-weight ratio metal cannot match: which is why aerospace and robotics increasingly specify composites where they once specified aluminium.

Conclusion

The technology has been available for a long time, yet many still underestimate what it can do. To some extent the field has suffered from its own success, generating misconceptions that are now holding back wider adoption.

As additive manufacturing grows in popularity, more resources become available for developing and refining it: producing machines that are quicker, more repeatable and less expensive.

The speed and flexibility that 3D printing enables is a useful tool that can facilitate first-to-market opportunities and validation of larger production demand.
- Carl Dekker, President, Met-L-Flo Inc.

Those unfamiliar with the reality of additive manufacturing are what prevent its broader acceptance. Knowing what works and what does not: distinguishing truth from fiction: is what lets organisations make good decisions.

Wondering whether 3D printing suits your part, or whether a composite would serve it better? Talk to our team.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is ABS better than PLA?

Neither is simply better. PLA is cheaper, easier to print, needs less heat and smells better, which suits prototypes and detailed models. ABS is more demanding to print but tougher under mechanical stress and heat, which suits end-use tools and moving parts.

How much does a 3D printer cost?

A decent FDM printer for hobby use costs a couple of hundred dollars. Prices rise with technology and precision: SLA costs more than FDM, and SLS printers are the most expensive of the three common types. Industrial machines are a different category again.

Can 3D printers print metal?

Yes. Metal 3D printing is now almost as widespread as plastic, and is established in aerospace, aviation and defence where strength and precision matter. Relativity Space builds rocket structures this way.

Can anything be 3D printed?

No. Printed parts need a minimum wall thickness, are weaker perpendicular to the layer direction, and are limited by printer build height. Parts needing tight dimensional precision or a fine surface finish usually need a secondary operation afterwards.

Is 3D printing only for prototypes?

No. While it remains excellent for prototyping, companies including Heineken and Volkswagen Autoeuropa use printed tools, jigs and fixtures in production, and end-use parts are printed in both small and large batches.