this post was submitted on 21 Jan 2024
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Showerthoughts

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A 3d printer is basically just a really fancy hot glue gun (pawb.social)
submitted 10 months ago by [email protected] to c/showerthoughts
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Specifically the type of printer that prints using spools of plastic filament, but that seems like the most common type anyway

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Those are plotters, not printers.

[–] EtherWhack 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I think you got mixed up a bit.

A plotter is a specialized printer used for drafting and generally uses big (usu. 3-4ft length) rolls of paper. Some types do use pens, though they're usually short and specially shaped making them difficult to use manually

The OC was referring to the pens that work like an auto-feeding hot glue gun using colorized glue, or PLA if the heating element gets hot enough.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

I think the main difference between printer and plotter is rasterization vs vector graphics.