Sliced Light: 3D Printing by Replacing Filament with Light
When it comes to 3D printing on FDM based 3D printers, there are an increasing amount of materials and colors to choose from. One man, named Ekaggrat Singh Kalsi, however, decided to try something entirely out of the ordinary; print with light.
As many of us know, 3D printers use a technique where they print layer-by-layer until a design is complete. The objects come off the printer as whole 3-dimensional items. Ekarggrat decided to implement an entirely new concept within the print process. He wonder what would happen if instead of using traditional filament, he used LED lights, thus he set out on a mission to find out.
Of course, tangible objects couldn’t be printed in lights, as we all know that light is intangible. However, utilizing a camera, Ekaggrat was able to visuallize a complete 3D printed object, built entirely out of light.
“What I did was attach a LED to the print head of a 3dr delta printer,” Ekaggrat told 3DPrint.com. “The LED is attached to pin 1 on the Ramps board of the printer. I wrote a custom script in grasshopper 3d. This script takes any 3D model, and converts it into a gcode which is specially meant to control the printer with the LED. This gcode just makes the printer move on a path and turns on and turns off a led without actually printing anything.”
He then took his NIKON D3100 camera, set it to BULB mode, and took a photograph using a very long exposure value. This was while the 3D printer moved using the LED light on the path he defined in the gcode. The extruder on the printer was turned off, so that it didn’t actually print with traditional filament.
“This is a twist to an age old technique called ‘light painting’,” Ekaggrat explained to us.
The results? They were quite incredible. You can see each layer that the 3D printer moved around, shining its LED light as it went layer-by-layer until the print was complete. Of course, there is no end product other than these fascinating photos that were taken.
The entire project took Ekaggrat only two days to complete, and he isn’t stopping here. He plans on implementing a RGB LED to add color to his modern day ‘light painting’ technique.
What do you think? Is this not one of the most amazing looking 3D prints you have ever seen? Discuss in the 3D Light Printing thread on 3DPB.com. Check out the video showing the process which Ekaggrat used, below:
Subscribe to Our Email Newsletter
Stay up-to-date on all the latest news from the 3D printing industry and receive information and offers from third party vendors.
Print Services
Upload your 3D Models and get them printed quickly and efficiently.
You May Also Like
50,000 Orders and Counting: EPlus3D & Chinese AM Services Provider Are Scaling Liquid Cooling Solutions for AI Servers
An under-appreciated story driving the additive manufacturing (AM) industry this year has been the divergence between what’s driving the market in China and what’s driving it everywhere else. Let’s start...
Seven Trends Reveal What’s Next for 3D Printing at TCT Shenzhen 2026
TCT Shenzhen 2026 opened on October 14 in Hall 15 of the Shenzhen World Exhibition & Convention Center in Bao’an, and ran through October 16. The event brought together equipment...
With Increased Aerospace & Defense Focus, CORE Industrial Partners Buys More Manufacturing Firms
Private equity’s march into manufacturing continues with CORE Industrial Partners’ latest acquisitions. CORE purchased Fathom a few years ago, and later bought 3DXTECH LLC, Triton 3D LLC, and Gearbox3D. It...
Can India’s AM Push Help Make it a Viable Supplement to China?
Diversifying manufacturing supply chains to locales outside of China has nothing to do with actually cultivating “substitutes” to the Chinese economy. The real stakes are these: China is an irreplaceable...
