Science museum showcases 3D printing technology

Free to attend exhibition shows more than 600 3D printed objects from different sectors and applications

Buried away at the back of the ground floor of building, the Science Museum’s "3D: printing the future" exhibition is probably as far away from the main entrance as you can get.

Its well worth the wander down there, plus its free, but the exhibition itself may not be substantial enough to make it your sole purpose of visiting. Once there though, you’ll be rewarded with a fair and professional representation of a rapidly developing and amorphous industry. 

Taking up about a third of the “Antenna” section, the exhibition’s best feature is the way it successfully mixes the industrial, medical and artistic applications of the technology in a balanced way. It also manages to hint at the potential of the technology without getting too carried away with 3D printing hubris.


The moving radial engine was printed in plastic powder in an Eos P760 additive manufacturing machine

You’re presented with more than 600 3D printed objects. The highlights of a diverse selection are the models you can touch, in particular a 3D printed engine which moves when you crank it. There are 3D printed mechanical hands, lightweight aircraft parts, scaffolding supports for bone growth and geometric sculptures. There’s also more trite exhibits, such as personalised trainers, badges, pens, models and music boxes. Videos show the manufacturing processes and there are descriptions of how 3D printing has improved products and development processes from engineers, designers and architects.


A controversial Liberator gun, which can be 3D printed using designs downloadable from the internet, is displayed in a glass case 

The only bum note is the display of a “Liberator” 3D printed gun. There’s little doubt that its inclusion will attract visitors and will encourage discussion of the potential dangers of open source 3D printing. But its doubtful this is a debate that is needed at the moment. It’s also a shame because people new to 3D printing tend to fixate on the gun, when the Liberator on display was built using a 17 year old Stratasys machine as part of a degree study. It hardly shows the cutting edge future of 3D printing and feels out of step with the rest of the exhibits.

The space may have been better dedicated to an exploration of how the different 3D printing technologies work, or the history of rapid prototyping’s development into 3D printing.

Nevertheless, overall the exhibition is a interesting and entertaining way to spend 20 to 30 minutes and a good introduction to a fascinating and growing area of engineering.

The exhibition is funded by Renishaw, the only UK manufacturer of metal based 3D printing systems. The company said: "We expect around 1 million people to visit over the next nine months, many of them children and this the exhibition highlights an area of engineering that boys and girls alike find very fascinating."

3D: printing the future opens this week at the London Science Museum, runs until July 2014 and is suitable for adults and children older than 8. More information here.