The 1980s were famous for neon lights, synthesizer music, and bold fashion. But in quiet laboratories and dusty garages, a much quieter revolution was taking place. This was the decade where science fiction finally became reality. The concept of "Rapid Prototyping" was born, allowing engineers to turn digital data into physical matter for the first time in history.
1984 - The Big Bang: SLA Technology
The story begins with Chuck Hull. Working for a company that made tough coatings for tables using UV lamps, Hull had an epiphany. He realized that if he could stack these UV-curable layers on top of each other, he could build a shape.
In 1984, he filed the patent for "Stereolithography" (SLA). Two years later, he founded 3D Systems, a giant that still dominates the industry. The first object he ever printed? A small, simple eye-wash cup. It wasn't pretty, but it proved that light could turn liquid resin into solid plastic.
1987 - The Birth of the .STL File
You cannot have a 3D printer without a language to speak to it. Chuck Hull didn't just invent the machine; he invented the file format: .STL (Standard Triangle Language or Stereolithography).
Before STL, CAD models were defined by complex mathematical curves
(like the Bézier curves from the 60s). Hull realized printers
couldn't process infinite curves. The solution was
tessellation: breaking down every surface into tiny
triangles.
Every time you export a file for your Bambu Lab or Ender printer
today, you are using the exact standard Hull created nearly 40 years
ago.
1989 - The Glue Gun Revolution (FDM)
While Hull was playing with lasers and expensive resins, Scott Crump wanted to make a toy frog for his daughter. In his kitchen, he loaded a mixture of polyethylene and candle wax into a modified hot glue gun. He realized he could build the shape layer by layer.
This was the birth of Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM). Crump patented the technology and founded Stratasys.
Why is this important? Because 99% of home 3D printers today (including the Creality, Prusa, and Bambu Lab machines) are FDM printers. They are the direct descendants of Crump's glue gun experiment.
The Hidden Gem: SLS
Around the same time at the University of Texas, a student named Carl Deckard was developing Selective Laser Sintering (SLS). Unlike SLA (liquid) or FDM (filament), SLS used a laser to fuse powder particles.
The massive advantage of SLS was—and still is—that the unsintered powder acts as a support structure. This allows for incredibly complex geometries without the need to break off support material later.
Summary of the Decade
By the end of the 1980s, the "Holy Trinity" of 3D printing was complete: SLA, FDM, and SLS. The technologies were patented, the companies were formed, and the file formats were standardized. The stage was set for expansion, but there was one problem: these machines cost as much as a house.