Hands-on learning is quickly becoming the best-known way for students to fully grasp concepts and curriculum, especially in the world of technical CNC machine education. To this end, classrooms have started to change in accommodation for this type of hands-on teaching. Because 3D printers are becoming more regular in everyday classrooms (not just tech ed rooms), machine tools, like multi-axis CNC mills and lathes, are more commonplace in the shop.

Over the last decade, 3D printing has grown in popularity and decreased significantly in price. Even though 3D printing is a long way from bettering CNC machining in speed, materials, or reliability, additive manufacturing technology may have a place in everybody’s shop. If you have a mill, why do you need a 3D printer in your shop?

This last weekend, bus-loads of makers descended on the New York Hall of Science in Queens to attend the 2016 World Maker Faire.

Now that 3D printers have emerged as the tool-of-choice for many makers and educators, there seems to be a line drawn in the sand between CNC and additive manufacturing. Many manufacturers even worry that 3D printing may one day replace traditional manufacturing in the form of at-home production (perhaps sooner than we think).

Founded by Nathan Patterson, Kevin Harris, and Nathan Schumacher, Radiant Fabrication in Fitchburg, Wisconsin hopes to bring 3D printing into the mainstream.