3D printing in Brussels
Back in 2021, we wrote an article about how innovative 3D printing is, especially in the medical field and the building industry.
During the pandemic, people like you and I decided to dive right into the world of 3D printing, creating figurines, tools and gadgets. This massive success lead small businesses to pop up, providing different kind of services.
Do you have a vivid imagination? Do you want to bring some of your projects to life but you don’t know where to start? Follow the guide!
Printers and Models
Among the 3D printers you can find on the market, the FDM (Fused Deposition Method) is the most common, affordable and accessible technology, with almost an infinite color palette for the filaments. You can also find SLA, SLS, TPU printers, offering variable results (flexibility, thickness…).
If you want to learn more about 3D printing, cityfab1.brussels is a workshop dedicated to digital creation located in Brussels. This fabrication laboratory provides training courses and allows you to work on personal projects regardless of your current knowledge about this technology.
Thanks to the Internet, you can find plenty of small businesses and creators selling 3D models for a fair price. Once you’ve purchased the model, you receive a file with everything you need to start printing. Feeling nervous about doing it by yourself? No worries, on Etsy you can find all sorts of products already 3D printed or you can commission a creator to bring your project to life.
DIY or Renting services?
As mentioned in the introduction, the pandemic introduced new activities, pushing forward this idea of DIY with absolutely everything. We may have developed new skills and interests to keep us busy, but with life coming back as it was before covid, some of them do not combine well with an active lifestyle. This may apply to 3D printing since the process can sometimes go wrong if you’re not monitoring the machine: a knot in the filaments, not enough material, a default coming from the 3D model, … Besides that, 3D printing at home gives you a lot of freedom, you depend on nobody to create whatever you want (it only requires a bit of patience).
Not convinced yet? No worries, some Belgian companies that specialized in 3D printing offer different services where you can rent printers, ask for a demonstration or a quotation, so that you don’t have to immediately invest in a technology you don’t master yet.
At the end of the day, it’s really up to you to chose what suits you best and meets your need. Ready, set, print!
