Most people think 3D printing means melting plastic with a desktop extruder. Additive manufacturing is broader: seven different processes, multiple materials, and any method that builds layer-by-layer instead of removing material.
So often, you know, there's a mix-up between additive manufacturing and 3D printing, okay? Everybody understands 3D printing, but when you think about 3D printing, your mind immediately goes to an extrusion-based 3D printer that may be sitting at a makerspace that prints out of plastic, effectively a hot glue gun on a CNC machine is how I define it. Additive manufacturing is a broader term. It covers 7 different processes that have many different materials, many different capabilities. But essentially ASTM defines it as, you know, additive is a process of building object layer by layer as opposed to a subtractive process where you're removing material.
