3D Printers

[pheoxs]

So I'm looking to buy a 3D printer in the next month for a small production run for my Etsy store. I've gone through a few prototype revisions using a friends but now I need to make ~100 copies so would like my own as it's only about 2$ in material each but most of the printer places I've contacted want 10$ per so it's more economical to just setup my own.

Does anyone have any experience with various kits? Or have one they're no longer using and interested in selling it?

Was looking at the monoprice select or the prusa i3 mk2 but both have 1+ month lead times so exploring alternate options.

[spikerS]

honestly, even at 100 pieces, you are probably further ahead to outsource it.

You are going to spend A LOT of time trying to get everything just right to make quality prints with any of the 3D printers out there. They're not at the same place a regular inkjet printer is. There are a ton of settings that you have to fiddle with, and then you have to worry about keeping your ambient temperatures stable, minimizing wind currents....the list goes on.

And then, there is the time involved. 3D printing is NOT fast, AT ALL! I swear, sometimes it feels like it would be faster to whittle something out of a hickory stump than to 3D print something...Most of these places that offer 3D printing have 3,4 or10 machines going all at the same time.

my $0.02, pay to have it done.

[spikerS]

and I can put you in touch with a couple people I know that offer 3D printing services if you are interested.

[ercchry]

For production I wouldn't use a filament printer, just too piss poor results without putting in some serious finishing labour

Resin printers are much better, but still around the $4k mark, so you'd have to give that some serious consideration depending on how big your business is

[pheoxs]

Originally posted by spikerS
honestly, even at 100 pieces, you are probably further ahead to outsource it.

You are going to spend A LOT of time trying to get everything just right to make quality prints with any of the 3D printers out there. They're not at the same place a regular inkjet printer is. There are a ton of settings that you have to fiddle with, and then you have to worry about keeping your ambient temperatures stable, minimizing wind currents....the list goes on.

And then, there is the time involved. 3D printing is NOT fast, AT ALL! I swear, sometimes it feels like it would be faster to whittle something out of a hickory stump than to 3D print something...Most of these places that offer 3D printing have 3,4 or10 machines going all at the same time.

my $0.02, pay to have it done.

I understand it'll still probably be more doing it myself, especially considering my time but it also lets me gave the printer for future prototype which is a huge point.

Yeah time kinda sucks but it's not so bad. I can make 3 per run at about 4.5hrs and I work from home so it's easy enough to set it up in the other room and run a few batches throughout the day.

Plus I enjoy the tinkering aspectd, it's my condo version of modding cars haha. Just figure if I'm going to start at once I should get a decent base instead of a 200$ printer and having to spend 600$ in upgrades on it

[AndyL]

Go sign up at protospace, print your model - then cast and form it properly. 3D printing is a development method - not a production method. JMHO.

But yeah protospace has multiple 3d printers you can use, buy some filament get trained, use theirs...

[pheoxs]

Originally posted by AndyL
Go sign up at protospace, print your model - then cast and form it properly. 3D printing is a development method - not a production method. JMHO.

But yeah protospace has multiple 3d printers you can use, buy some filament get trained, use theirs...

I tried looking into that but the places I looked to have an injection mould done were in the thousands for a mold.

I have a functioning prototype right now, any suggestions on where to cast it if I wanted to go that route?

[UndrgroundRider]

Originally posted by pheoxs
now I need to make ~100 copies

Just to expand on AndyL's comment, what you're looking for is a silicone mold. These are very easy to make yourself, tons of tutorials on youtube. Once you've created your mold you can make copies with a cycle time of about 5-10 minutes. Usually you would use RTV polyurethane, which will be much more durable than any FDM/FFF part.

At work we order our materials from these guys: https://bjbenterprises.com/

If you go onto their website under the education section there are step-by-step tutorials for molding.

To make the mold you'll need a master part. Instead of using a FDM/FFF printer, I would pony up a few bucks to buy a high-res SLA part from Quickparts/Protolab/Shapeways.

As far as I know Protospace does not have a lot of the gear for molding, although they do have a resin-based printer that would work for your master. I asked Chris, one of the 3D printing guys there a couple weeks ago and he wasn't aware of anyone who has ever done that. If you need a vacuum chamber to degas the silicone I could probably arrange something.

[pheoxs]

Originally posted by UndrgroundRider


Just to expand on AndyL's comment, what you're looking for is a silicone mold. These are very easy to make yourself, tons of tutorials on youtube. Once you've created your mold you can make copies with a cycle time of about 5-10 minutes. Usually you would use RTV polyurethane, which will be much more durable than any FDM/FFF part.

At work we order our materials from these guys: https://bjbenterprises.com/

If you go onto their website under the education section there are step-by-step tutorials for molding.

To make the mold you'll need a master part. Instead of using a FDM/FFF printer, I would pony up a few bucks to buy a high-res SLA part from Quickparts/Protolab/Shapeways.

As far as I know Protospace does not have a lot of the gear for molding, although they do have a resin-based printer that would work for your master. I asked Chris, one of the 3D printing guys there a couple weeks ago and he wasn't aware of anyone who has ever done that. If you need a vacuum chamber to degas the silicone I could probably arrange something.

Much appreciated for this! That would be an ideal way to go, I wrote off doing molds as far too expensive but seems I have a lot of reading ahead of me.

Thanks for the link

[AndyL]

Wasn't there a huge vacuum pump and chamber on a medcart? I know it was an ongoing project for someone for about a year...

But yeah - master one (or 6) off the 3d printer, PM hobbies and IPP has most of the casting stuff... Create a mould, then cast them yourself. There's lots of instructional videos on YouTube, you'll probably find a dozen or more members at Protospace who have tinkered with it over the years...

Commercial vs hobby casting is 2 different things

[v2kai]

pheoxs if youre still looking, I have an FDM 3D printer with a decent work envelope and have been working with silicone molding for some time. also have a degassing chamber and silicone in stock among other stuff for 3d print finishing stuff (no SLS resin printer though..... yet). Drop me a PM anytime and I can tell you more about what I have going on and we can see if maybe I can help you out with your project

[pheoxs]

Originally posted by v2kai
pheoxs if youre still looking, I have an FDM 3D printer with a decent work envelope and have been working with silicone molding for some time. also have a degassing chamber and silicone in stock among other stuff for 3d print finishing stuff (no SLS resin printer though..... yet). Drop me a PM anytime and I can tell you more about what I have going on and we can see if maybe I can help you out with your project

Thanks! I'll hopefully take you up on that next set of days off I'm back in town

[v2kai]

I'll pm you my contact details