3D printing kicked off back in the 1980s mostly as a trick to whip up quick plastic models so people could see if their design idea actually made sense before dumping a ton of cash into hard tooling. It was pretty basic then—just enough to prove a point. Over time though it grew up. Shops…

3D printing has quietly worked its way into mechanical manufacturing shops over the past couple of decades. What started as a way to make quick plastic mock-ups for checking fit and feel has grown into a method that builds actual working parts from metals, polymers, and composites. The process takes a digital file, slices it…