Illawarra company Modfab is the first in Australia to train teachers in how to use the technology in classrooms.

The company's husband-and-wife team, Ben and Heike Roberts, road tested a variety of printers before deciding on a model likely to withstand the rigours of the classroom.

"We worked them 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and they're the ones we put in schools," said Mrs Roberts, herself a primary school teacher.

The three-month, nationally recognised training pilot involved 17 Illawarra primary school, high school and TAFE teachers.

They were taught how to operate and troubleshoot a Fused Deposition Modelling 3D printer, change filaments, download free, open source software and use a computer-aided drafting program. Four of the printers are at Figtree High School.

The training also included teachers from Wollongong High School of the Performing Arts, Woonona High School, Wollongong TAFE, Alesco Wollongong, Dapto High School, Figtree Heights Public School and Kanahooka High School.

Mrs Roberts said she expected the machines to become commonplace as other area schools awoke to their potential uses in food technology, textile design, robotics, engineering, arts, maths and history.

"Some museums are making a lot of rare artefacts available to educational bodies to bring into the classroom and use them to teach," Mrs Roberts said.

Cost is likely to remain a factor in the take-up of the machines, which sell for about $1400 for a dual extruder, capable of printing with two materials, or $985 for single extruder machines.

"We wanted to make it affordable for schools, that was really important to us," Mrs Roberts said.

Mr Roberts, an engineer, said the machines had varied uses in high school and tertiary education.

"Primary schools will have to do a fair bit more thinking to really imagine where 3D printing is going to fit into their curriculum," he said. "I think that within probably three years there'll hardly be a high school without 3D printers."