The majority of current DIY 3D printers on the market are based around FDM technology which is a great simple 3D printing process. Put simply it takes a plastic filament, melts it down and pushes it out a tiny nozzle which is directed on to a bed which moves around in the X and Y directions to effectively draw your object. The print head is raised and the next layer is drawn on top until the part is complete. The process is slow and is limited in resolution due to the size of the nozzle opening and the Z stepping for each layer.

DLP (Digital Light Projection) on the other hand is a much faster printing process that is capable of printing very high resolution models and is a technology that is slowly creeping into the DIY 3D printer scene. Continue Reading →