Where did 3D printing come from?
3D printing feels modern, but the core ideas are over 40 years old. What started as an expensive industrial process for rapid prototyping has become a technology you can run on your desk. Understanding that journey helps you appreciate the machine you are about to build.
Key milestones in the history of 3D printing
The timeline
1
1980 - The first 3D print technology is founded
The earliest additive manufacturing concepts appear. Dr. Hideo Kodama in Japan files some of the first patents describing a layer-by-layer photopolymer printing process.
2
1986 - Chuck Hull patents stereolithography
Chuck Hull patents stereolithography (SLA) and founds 3D Systems, Inc. SLA uses a UV laser to cure liquid resin layer by layer. Hull also invents the STL file format, still used today.
3
1987 - SLS becomes the second 3D print technology
Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) is developed at the University of Texas. Instead of resin, SLS fuses powdered material with a laser, enabling stronger, more functional parts.
4
1988 - The first 3D printer is sold
3D Systems ships the SLA-1, the first commercially available 3D printer. It costs hundreds of thousands of dollars and is aimed at industrial prototyping.
5
1989 - Stratasys is founded
Scott Crump patents Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) and co-founds Stratasys. FDM melts and extrudes plastic filament - the exact technology in your Adventurer 5M.
6
1999 - The first 3D-printed organ
Scientists engineer a lab-grown human bladder using a 3D-printed scaffold, launching the field of bioprinting.
7
2005 - The RepRap Project
Dr. Adrian Bowyer launches RepRap, an open-source project to build self-replicating 3D printers. RepRap made FDM cheap and accessible and sparked the desktop 3D printing revolution.
8
2011 - 3D-printed aircraft and cars
Engineers print the first 3D-printed aircraft (SULSA) and prototype cars, proving additive manufacturing can produce real, functional vehicles.
Why the RepRap project changed everything
Before 2005, 3D printers were locked behind patents and huge price tags. The RepRap Project released printer designs for free and encouraged people to build and improve them. Because early patents on FDM began expiring around 2009, companies could suddenly sell affordable FDM printers.Almost every hobbyist FDM printer today - including your Flashforge - traces its lineage back to the open-source RepRap movement. The community-driven spirit of “share and improve” is still alive in 3D printing.
The main types of 3D printing
Your printer uses FDM, but it helps to know the wider family of technologies.
The three main 3D printing technologies compared
FDM / FFF
Fused Deposition Modeling. Melts and extrudes plastic filament layer by layer. Affordable, versatile, and the most common desktop method - this is your printer.
SLA / Resin
Stereolithography. Cures liquid resin with a UV light source. Produces extremely fine detail, ideal for miniatures and dental or jewelry models.
SLS / Powder
Selective Laser Sintering. Fuses powdered nylon or metal with a laser. No supports needed and very strong parts, but industrial and expensive.
From industry to your desk
Then (1988)
A single printer cost as much as a house, filled a room, and required trained operators. Only large companies could afford one.
Now
A capable FDM printer costs a few hundred dollars, fits on a desk, calibrates itself, and prints from your phone over Wi-Fi. You are about to build one.
Where 3D printing is used today
- Prototyping: Engineers print and test designs in hours instead of weeks
- Medicine: Custom prosthetics, dental aligners, surgical models, and bioprinted tissue
- Aerospace and automotive: Lightweight, complex parts that are impossible to machine
- Construction: Entire houses printed from concrete
- Education and hobby: Learning design, engineering, and manufacturing hands-on (that’s you)