Getting Started with 3D Printing

Chapter 4. Understanding FDM Printers

There are two main types of consumer 3D printers: those that use filament for fused deposition modeling (called FDM) and those that use resin for stereolithography (called SLA). In this chapter, we will describe FDM technology, which is used in the most common consumer-level 3D printers. The next chapter will talk about SLA printers.

Consumer 3D printers only became readily available around 2009, with much of the growth starting in 2012. Because this industry is so new, you can still see the “roots” of where it originated. As we mentioned in the preface, many (if not all) of the consumer printers being used today came from a community-driven project called the RepRap Project.

RepRap stands for “Replicating ...