3d printing anyone doing this?

[MREDD]

Hi All

For someone who openly admits that they're technically challenged (it's an age thing!) I was fascinated by a documentary about 3D printing, I never knew it was possible to create actual objects on a printer, mind blowing!

I have seen a printer called makerbot on the market for around £450.00 & you can go to a website called Thingiverse & download products like phone cases, not sure how it works but you download the information to the makerbot & hey presto you have a phone case.

So questions please folks;

Anyone doing this?
How easy or difficult a process is it to understand?
How long to make a phone cover?
Average cost, is it any cheaper than blank cases in bulk?

Hope someone knows the answers

Thanks

Ed

[bigj2552]

Hi All

For someone who openly admits that they're technically challenged (it's an age thing!) I was fascinated by a documentary about 3D printing, I never knew it was possible to create actual objects on a printer, mind blowing!

I have seen a printer called makerbot on the market for around £450.00 & you can go to a website called Thingiverse & download products like phone cases, not sure how it works but you download the information to the makerbot & hey presto you have a phone case.

So questions please folks;

Anyone doing this?
How easy or difficult a process is it to understand?
How long to make a phone cover?
Average cost, is it any cheaper than blank cases in bulk?

Hope someone knows the answers

Thanks

Ed

fantastic machine at what it does but......
where does it fit in the retail selling world ?
takes age to make anything....
so bulk runs are way out the question...

only thing i can see any use for this is for architects to print there designs before the actual build takes place....
but for selling products with it ?...Hmm......er.....
maybe some of the other guys on here can see more but i really cant tbh - yeh they are cheap as chips @ under £500 but for what :rolleyes:

[MREDD]

fantastic machine at what it does but......
where does it fit in the retail selling world ?
takes age to make anything....
so bulk runs are way out the question...

only thing i can see any use for this is for architects to print there designs before the actual build takes place....
but for selling products with it ?...Hmm......er.....
maybe some of the other guys on here can see more but i really cant tbh - yeh they are cheap as chips @ under £500 but for what :rolleyes:

Yes understood, just seen on one youtube clip that someone says it takes 12 hours to make an i phone cover, so don't the techonolgy is there yet, I will stick to bulk buying.

[A11kns]

I've been looking in to this... http://3dprinter-collection.com

[spongerobinson]

I've been looking in to this... http://3dprinter-collection.com

Is that the magazine I've seen advertised on telly? £1.99 for first issue, and then £11.99 for 90 issues or something like that?

To be honest, I think you'll get a kit online to build a 3d printer for cheaper then that, and by the time you get all those magazines and build your printer, the technology will probably have moved on a long way. I also know it'd drive me crazy waiting for the next magazine to come out, a bit like watching a tv show each week!!

[NikGrey]

I recently saw advertised a Magazine Subscription to build the Millennium Falcon (a Star Wars thing - Doesn't interest me at all) but it worked out at almost £900 for this model...


Anyway as for 3D printing, it just goes to show what we will be able to do very soon just based on this technology - I love it as it gives people like me the ability to make prototypes (I have an idea for a new design of Hand Plier I have been thinking about since I was at school).
But at the moment I think they are too limited (the printers I mean), slow and expensive.

I wouldn't consider buying One at the moment even if money were no object (anyone want to buy some Ink..lol).

[ArtyGamer]

3D printing is something I plan on getting into at some point, purely because I'm a tech freak and can't resist... so I'd likely end up making myself custom Monopoly pieces or something stupid and unjustified... but the tech right now is still so bad it's ridiculous. All these people showing off their masterpieces from £3k+ machines and I can't understand why anyone would want to spend that much money on something that produces an end result where there's more stepping than you'd find in a 1980s video game. As soon as the home market moves away from using melted plastic and into fusing powders like the big guys, I'll be saving up.

[A11kns]

The printer you get in that mag will be up for sale in March for £600 I think.

[arko]

I read about a kid whose mother made him a 3D model of him into a superhero. I cant find the report but it cost her approx. £60. I cant remember the name of the company but I found this link you might find interesting. It does actually take a while to produce a multi-coloured model and requires some decent hardware. I actually think there is a niche for this kind of thing with maybe people reproducing their pets and the like!?

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=1282&sid=32323196

[Photomouse]

Anyone doing this?

I have had one for a few years now and love it. I've made things for all over the house and the cars, things break and rather than buying a new light because the clips broke that hold the shade on, and I’ll print new ones. Plastic clips that have broken on the car, I've printed them as well. There is a alot of new filaments/plastics coming onto the market now that are very strong and easier to print with, I've just ordered one called brassfill that seems interesting.

I bought mine to prototype ideas and that's what I mainly use it for.

How easy or difficult a process is it to understand?

It's not as easy as the adverts make it seem, it's not just plug and play. There is alot of levelling of the bed needed, calibrating how much filament is being extruded, print speeds, heat, etc etc. but it's worth it in the end and it's really not that hard once you understand it.

How long to make a phone cover?

It all depends on the level of detail your after and the complexity of the model. I print most things at 0.2 or 0.3 of an mm but you can go down to 0.1, but it will take a lot longer. A phone case for my iphone 6 may take about 30 minutes if I have the speed set to average but I could print it in 10 minutes if I wanted to.

Average cost; is it any cheaper than blank cases in bulk?

Average cost to print the phone case?? Pennies.

Hope that helps a little.