The second Glass 3D Printing project explored 3D printing glass at architectural dimensions with a new, large-scale 3D printer. G3DP2, however, took a larger approach – literally. Micron3DP took a lot of time to develop its technology, and it shows: the glass 3D printer is fast, and capable of producing items with very high resolution. The company hopes to develop additional glass materials in the future, too. Micron3DP’s 3D printing technology is similar to FFF, only much, much hotter, and capable of printing two types of glass materials: soda lime and borosilicate. The startup wowed the 3D printing world with its complex glass items, 3D printed at temperatures of up to 1640☌. In 2015, we heard about the emergence of an Israeli company called Micron3DP. Glass has been in the works in the 3D printing world for some time, with developments tracing back to around 2009 and efforts popping up from time to time around the world. This, of course, is great news for glass artists, but also for manufacturers, who can create glass items with embedded channels for microfluidics, for example, among other purposes. Like other forms of 3D printing, it has several distinct advantages over other methods of fabrication, and one big one is that 3D printing is capable of producing complex shapes and forms that other manufacturing methods can’t handle. Glass 3D printing isn’t just a novelty, either. Gone are the days when plastic and metal were the only two materials that could be 3D printed – we now have ceramics, sand, food, biological material, and yes, even glass. Until recently, glass 3D printing was unheard of – but that has changed dramatically over the last few years.

Prior to the Industrial Revolution, glass-blowing was the main method of producing glass products, but, like every other manufacturing method, glass production has evolved – and it’s still evolving. The practice is an ancient one, and it’s remained a much-loved art form, even though most glass products are manufactured using machinery now. If you’ve ever seen a glass-blowing demonstration, you’ve probably marveled at what a delicate process it is.

Glass 3d painting