Meet the printer that can print your car parts

Here, the 3D printer's laser traces the outline of an object

Photo credit: Electro Optical Systems

The process of 3D printing has traditionally been used by companies as a way of rapidly producing prototypes - around 80 per cent of 3D printers are used for this purpose.

However, a number of companies are starting to use the process to manufacture products, with the Williams F1 racing team and Bentley using it to make parts for their cars and Dyson using it to make its vacuum cleaners.

A laser sintering machine was used to print out the prosthetic leg - similar to the one seen above - worn by Michael Teuber, the Paralympic cyclist who won a gold medal in Beijing last year.

Photo credit: Nick Heath/silicon.com

Here is a dental bridge that has been printed out by a laser sintering machine using a cobalt/chromium powder.

First a mold is taken of the patient's teeth, a 3D laser scan of which is turned into a CAD image that the printer can slice into layers.

The laser sintering then builds the bridge out of the metal powder layer by layer.

Show here on the left is a metal bridge that has been printed out but has not yet had a ceramic coating, which will make it look like it is made out of tooth enamel, applied. On the right is the finished, ceramic-coated bridge fitted to some teeth.

There are centers across Europe that are printing out crowns and bridges using the machines, including one in Newbury in the UK.

Photo credit: Nick Heath/silicon.com

The level of fine detail in the chess pieces on this tiny board shows how precisely the printer can control the laser.

While the machine on show at the Science Museum would set you back £150,000, a top-of-the-range machine that prints using a specialised form of plastic called peek, which is capable of withstanding high temperatures, would sell for £1m.

Photo credit: Electro Optical Systems

While the technology is too expensive for home use by consumers, they will soon be able to use it to customise trinkets for their homes.

A company called Digital Forming is about to launch software that large companies will be able to embed into their websites to allow their customers to tweak the designs of their products.

Consumers would be able to alter the shape and colour of objects using the online software and Digital Forming would then print off the product using a laser-sintering machine, allowing shoppers to create bespoke objects such as this lamp.

Photo credit: Nick Heath/silicon.com

Here's another bespoke item for the home designed using the Digital Forming service. This chair-like sculpture was printed in four parts and then fitted together.

Photo credit: Nick Heath/silicon.com