What I have learned in a week of 3D printing

We have all heard about the promise of 3D printing. Some would have you believe that this is the future of all mankind and that in the future everyone will own a 3D printer and print products instead of purchasing them from the store. I am here to tell you, if that is our future, we are many decades away from it. 3D printing or what is known as “Fused Filament Fabrication” by those in the know, basically squirts a plastic like substance down on a glass plate until it forms a thing. The things are the result of any 3D modeling program that can export in the STL file…