Research Computing Services Blog

3D Printing the Arts: an engineer’s perspective

by Vincent Khau

3D printing is a tech-innovation that is set to revolutionise the world as we know it, in every field imaginable. Over the past few years it has become THE buzz-word to use and a hot topic of conversation in the areas of engineering, architecture, fashion, medicine and dentistry. Yet there seems to be small (but increasing) interest from the arts and humanities; not to worry, this only means that the use of 3D printing is set to EXPLODE in these disciplines over the coming years, and the best time to get involved and started in the next big thing is NOW!

What is 3D Printing? Put simply it is an additive process in which a 3D object is created. Think of a block of wood and how you would create an object like a wooden spoon out of it.

Wooden spoon? 3D printing? Where are we going with this? What is this analogy? What happened to the rule of threes in comedy?

You’d have to carve it out of a larger wooden block. There would be a lot of waste. Now imagine if you had the ability to create it, layer by layer, using only the material you needed. Enter, 3D Printing! Not only do you save a ton on material cost but in addition the process is computer controlled allowing for a level of accuracy that cannot be achieved by mere mortals. 

So how can this incredible technology be applied to the arts? I personally don’t have an exact answer. What I do know is that if we equip artists and historians with the technical skills to use 3D Printing technologies many great leaps forward will be made. One must remember that with innovative technologies such as 3D printing, it is not the technology itself that innovates but rather the way in which it is applied. So as an engineer, it would be remiss of me to say how exactly 3D printing can be applied in this field; it comes down to YOU!

I will however, offer suggestions as to its use (so far) within the arts and humanities, as well as common uses within engineering, architecture, medicine and dentistry, in the hopes of inspiring you to imagine how it can be used within your area of expertise.

1. Artefact Documentation/Replication

Many artefacts can be very delicate to the point that it is impossible for anyone but a trained expert to handle these pieces. Such items are squirreled away, with public access only made available every now and then. Now imagine if these objects could be easily replicated and cheaply printed, allowing for publics to access artefacts regularly and without threatening preservation. Too good to be true? What about a digital repository documenting each and every artefact so that researchers need not travel to museums to conduct studies, but be able to view them from their hometown. Such dreams have become reality with museums like the Smithsonian digitising their collection, revolutionising the way we define museums. This allows researchers to save time, money and carbon footprints!

2.  Restorations

That artefact missing just the tip? Passage of time wearing the item down? It doesn’t have to be this way. With 3D printing technologies we can 3D scan objects and then manipulate the model using CAD software to digitally restore the piece. Furthermore, the model can then be 3D printed and displayed alongside the original, giving publics a better understanding of how the artefact once looked to past generations.

3. Rapid Prototyping

It may be that you have a design you’re working on with a couple of iterations that you simply can’t decide between. The cost of sending it off to be fabricated may be quite expensive, and the turn-around time too long. So why not 3D print it? In a couple of hours, you’ll have a few models to physically play around with for only a fraction of the price of fabrication. There’s a misconception that 3D printing must be the end destination, whilst in reality it can simply be part of a process to cut project time and costs. This way, we would be able to quickly go through many iterations in a very short time-frame in order to arrive at the design we want.

So hopefully I’ve given you something to think about. There are many other ways in which 3D printing is used, and if you want to see some physical examples, come to Research Platform’s 3D Printing Showcase held at the University of Melbourne on the 9th and 10th of October (free entry, although register here to avoid the queues!). I’m also holding a free tinkerCAD introductory workshop to help you go from pretty much nothing to a 3D printed model in minutes! Thanks for reading!