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3D printers...
- Thread starter Moonraker
- Start date
Has anyone any experience in this device or others at around the same price?
I am thinking I can just about justify one at this price and I am interested to hear if I will get output that is good or just a little gimmicky.
I am thinking I can just about justify one at this price and I am interested to hear if I will get output that is good or just a little gimmicky.
- Joined
- Jul 6, 2014
- Messages
- 35
I recently attended a 3d printer trade fair and was quite impressed with the ultimaker printer that you can buy in kit form - a very open source introduction in to 3d printing in my opinion. I was tempted myself to get involved [emoji3]
I had one for a while.
a makerbot.
I know things have moved on since then but it was a ball ache more than anything.
constant problems and constant calibration.
cost 2k maybe 4 years ago.
ended up collecting dust until I gave it away last month.
The american branch of the company I work for have 1 or 2 SLS printers.Different beast altogether but I think they cost 100k and can print in metal!
a makerbot.
I know things have moved on since then but it was a ball ache more than anything.
constant problems and constant calibration.
cost 2k maybe 4 years ago.
ended up collecting dust until I gave it away last month.
The american branch of the company I work for have 1 or 2 SLS printers.Different beast altogether but I think they cost 100k and can print in metal!
We've been keeping an eye on this technology for the last 2 or 3 years to see if there are any opportunities for use within our industry (Signmaking).
We've got some good local access to knowledge (local University has a well funded research and development facility for 'Additive Layer Manufcaturing' , which id the 'posh' name for 3D printing,) and have attended some full day seminars and most recently an evening presentation with the local branch of the Institute of Electrical Engineers on where the technology is and how it is developing. We're particularly interested to see if we can start printing 3D signs with depath & texture as the next step in our industry.
There have been, and continue to be, rapid developments but from our perspective it still seems to be a number of years away from the point of being able to apply with constraints on strength, use of colour and outdoor durability (as well as time to manufacture). This is particularly relevant for us, but the same constraints appear to apply to what might be classed as 'lower end users'. There's some fantastic stuff being done in Aerospace and related industries(e.g. reducing weight and cost of manufacture of wing & engine components) where savings can be millions over the lifetime of a product), but is probably fair to say that the technology is at least another 2 - 3 years away from reaching point where entry level machines start being capable of producing 'usable' commercial items for the 'masses'
We've got some good local access to knowledge (local University has a well funded research and development facility for 'Additive Layer Manufcaturing' , which id the 'posh' name for 3D printing,) and have attended some full day seminars and most recently an evening presentation with the local branch of the Institute of Electrical Engineers on where the technology is and how it is developing. We're particularly interested to see if we can start printing 3D signs with depath & texture as the next step in our industry.
There have been, and continue to be, rapid developments but from our perspective it still seems to be a number of years away from the point of being able to apply with constraints on strength, use of colour and outdoor durability (as well as time to manufacture). This is particularly relevant for us, but the same constraints appear to apply to what might be classed as 'lower end users'. There's some fantastic stuff being done in Aerospace and related industries(e.g. reducing weight and cost of manufacture of wing & engine components) where savings can be millions over the lifetime of a product), but is probably fair to say that the technology is at least another 2 - 3 years away from reaching point where entry level machines start being capable of producing 'usable' commercial items for the 'masses'
They can be picked up for £300. although you will need to build it yourself
But of course in the future ( our lifetime?
) the printers will be able to print a copy if themselves, so you won't have to buy one, just the raw materials.......
But of course in the future ( our lifetime?
They already can - it was a requirement with having one in space - that it can print it's own spare parts to repair it if it broke...!
RepRap has been around for a ages and can print it's own plastic components. http://reprap.org/. I guess printing electronic components and pcbs is a long way off?
I too have been keeping a layman's eye on 3d printers. I was hoping they'd get good enough as well as cheap enough for printing spares for vids/pins when there are no new old stock items available. I guess someone would have to make the model for it to print, but was hoping there'd be suitably advanced 3d scanners where you could pop the part into it, where it would scan it and send the scan to the computer where you could clean it up a little then 3d print it.
I'm mainly thinking of this to print new ramps for my SWT as they've seen better days and on closer inspection it looks look someone melted parts of it to fix cracks in a previous life ;(
Here's hoping for a 3d printing/scanning future full of awesomeness
Cheers,
Johnny
I'm mainly thinking of this to print new ramps for my SWT as they've seen better days and on closer inspection it looks look someone melted parts of it to fix cracks in a previous life ;(
Here's hoping for a 3d printing/scanning future full of awesomeness
Cheers,
Johnny
The da vinci aio 3d printer promises a bit of that scanning, cleanup then printing and it is not massively expensive. Materials will be and it might still be a bit of a gimmick.
Errr? If its broke how the **** can it print a new part?
At a guess... The printer arrives in space. It prints a full set of spares which get stored, then if it breaks use a stored part then reprint the replaced part first and store before continuing...
Or, they just have two of them...
These damn things are starting to tempt me in. There are some great looking mods springing up using this technology. I have a little 3D modelling experience and have access to Solidworks so wouldn't mind having a fettle with one of these.
