From Industrial Research To 3D Trophies – The Story Of 3D Printing

In recent years, the term ‘3D printing’ has come, more and more, to evoke 3D trophies and other wacky novelty objects. The rapid expansion and mass commercialisation of the technology – along with its reduction in both size and price – has opened the field to pretty much anyone with a general knowledge of how the process works, and promises to continue to revolutionise several industries in years to come.

Until very recently, however, that was not the case at all. 3D trophies and other such items are quite recent when compared to the technology itself, which has actually been around for several decades but was, until a scant few years ago, considered extremely niche and unfeasible in mainstream markets.

How and when, then, did this shift in paradigm come to be? To understand that, we must first be aware of the history of three-dimensional printing as a whole, as well as of what exactly it represents.

Understanding the technology

The process of three-dimensional printing is also sometimes called ‘additive manufacturing’, and consists of a process whereby additives are used to create solid models of objects on a computer screen or some other type of machine. These models are created by layering, in a process that is the exact opposite of sculpting - wherein layers are removed rather than added; the latter technique is also known as additive subtraction.

Most recently, this technology has been streamlined, simplified and downsized enough to where machines capable of rendering physical copies of digital models have entered the mainstream. This explains the proliferation of companies and small outfits offering 3D trophies, personalised plaques and other such objects at competitive prices. However, what most of the customers marvelling over the potential of this new technology are likely not to know is that the origins of this advanced printing hark all the way back to the early 80s.

The first report of a solid three-dimensional model being printed comes from Japan, in the now far-off year of 1982. It was achieved by an employee of the Nagoya Industrial Research Institute, named Hideo Kodama. Two years later, a British company officially developed the very first three-dimensional printer, patenting a number of the processes the technology employs nowadays.

For the next two decades, however, the technology remained frighteningly expensive, and only affordable to large corporations or those with significant incomes. It was not until the new century that the equipment required began to be mass-marketed and its price to decrease, slowly shaping the field into its present form. The next step, which is already in motion, will be to take the usages of the printing beyond 3D trophies and quaint gifts and return it to its more scientific roots, with the benefit of the added advancements in technology witnessed since the 1980s. As the field moves forward, however, its specialists should not to forget its roots, detailed in the paragraphs above.

George Berdichevsky is the Founder of 3Design Center, which designs image files to be used in engraving machines for 3D trophies. His team of talented artists can create bespoke images suitable for 3D trophies from any idea or image. Visit the website for more information.

Writer and Online Marketing Manager in London.