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3D Printing For Dummies (For Dummies

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The bestselling book on 3D printing

3D printing is one of the coolest inventions we've seen in our lifetime, and now you can join the ranks of businesspeople, entrepreneurs, and hobbyists who use it to do everything from printing foods and candles to replacement parts for older technologies—and tons of mind-blowing stuff in between! With 3D Printing For Dummies at the helm, you'll find all the fast and easy-to-follow guidance you need to grasp the methods available to create 3D printable objects using software, 3D scanners, and even photographs through open source software applications like 123D Catch.

Thanks to the growing availability of 3D printers, this remarkable technology is coming to the masses, and there's no time like the present to let your imagination run wild and actually create whatever you dream up—quickly and inexpensively. When it comes to 3D printing, the sky's the limit!

Covers each type of 3D printing technology available today: stereolithology, selective sintering, used deposition, and granular binding Provides information on the potential for the transformation of production and manufacturing, reuse and recycling, intellectual property design controls, and the commoditization of products Walks you through the process of creating a RepRap printer using open source designs, software, and hardware Offers strategies for improved success in 3D printing

On your marks, get set, innovate!

379 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 5, 2017

68 people are currently reading
60 people want to read

About the author

Richard Horne

30 books11 followers

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5 stars
3 (7%)
4 stars
14 (35%)
3 stars
10 (25%)
2 stars
7 (17%)
1 star
6 (15%)
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
Profile Image for Amjad Abdullah.
72 reviews2 followers
April 24, 2018
Very good book for beginners. It provides versatile information about 3D printing technology, a bit about its history, its variations, RepRap project, printer components, common 3D printer (RepRap) models, software used in the pre-printing process, filament types and other info (like usage of 3D printing in current market and industry).

I liked this book and I am giving it 5 stars. More reading and, more importantly, practice is needed though if you'd like to print. This book doesn't make one eligible to go and use a 3D printer. It only prepares her/him to get a vision about almost all aspects of 3D printing so s/he know how the process goes.
Profile Image for Marty Vik.
12 reviews
February 5, 2023
100% Not what I expected

After receiving a gift of an entry level 3D printer, I wanted something to help inform some basic decisions around filament types, design tools, slicers, etc. The table of contents read like that would be included. However, this is geared toward a hard core hobbyist that wanted to build a new printer by printing additional parts, adding home grown electronics and Raspberry Pi drivers. It ended with a discussions of 3D printed food, robots, industrial 3D metal printing, etc. Almost nothing in this book was useful to a beginner hobbyist with a new printer.
Profile Image for Ietrio.
6,932 reviews24 followers
October 16, 2018
This book is an ugly mess of trivia and not much more.

3d printing starts with the Industrial Revolution. And by the next chapter I was grateful it did not go back to Lascaux. Anyway, you will find out that Microsoft is using 3d printing for their console controllers. And it's Microsoft and not the engineers working at Microsoft.
Profile Image for Ben.
2,734 reviews228 followers
March 23, 2024
It's Printin' Time

This is a truly great book on learning 3D printing.

I am glad to have read it and learned all that I need to know to get started with 3D printing, design, and the process of getting going on projects.

I learned a lot, and would recommend you read this book if you want to 3D print as well.

4.4/5
Profile Image for Jason.
34 reviews
March 10, 2018
Some useful information on 3d printing terminology, printer models, and 3d design software surrounded by a lot of fluff. The book is sporadically organized and you find yourself reading the same information in several different sections of the book.
Profile Image for Sherlock Watson.
43 reviews13 followers
December 28, 2024
It was a pretty good overview about 3D printing, its history and possible future, with a lot of serious hobbyist stuff (building them, etc., RepRap/Prusa mostly). Not sure how I'll apply much of the info any time soon as a library staffer with an old Dremel machine, but it was worth a read.
45 reviews
July 21, 2018
Disjointed and poorly edited. Could have gotten the same info from spending 30 minutes on wikipedia.
Profile Image for Luis de la Rosa.
34 reviews5 followers
April 8, 2019
Nice overview of 3D printing. Dives into building a RepRap i3 printer. The author, aka RichRap, has a deep background in the RepRap project.
Profile Image for Eric Berntson.
43 reviews
January 21, 2025
It will get you started with a beginning printer and helps with understanding the basic.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews

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