Rapid Prototyping

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What is rapid prototyping? Well interestingly enough, its just what the name implies - using digital tools to make a physical object, rather than traditionally sculpting. What used to take days can now take hours.

Starting with a 3D model, usually created in a CAD/CAM program, the user must make sure their model is a solid and "water tight". This means that it must be fully enclosed with no holes or seams. Applications like Rhino can verify the solid model before exporting it to a 3D printer as a stereo lithography file (.stl).

There are a number of methods and printers for 3D printing. Some use melted wax and spray it in precise locations much like a inkjet printer, only in 3D space. Others harden a polymer with a laser.