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We have been researching 3D-Printer specs for about 2 years now for Product Chart. Today I enabled this tool for the 3D-Printer section. When given a 3D-Printer

We have been researching 3D-Printer specs for about 2 years now for Product Chart. Today I enabled this tool for the 3D-Printer section. When given a 3D-Printer, it finds similar ones based on specs. I originally developed the similarity tool for the phone section. Not sure how well it works for 3D-Printers. Feedback is very welcome.

mmcwilliams 10y ago
This is a really neat tool, thanks for sharing it. I've been into 3D printing as a hobby for a while now and have gone through a handful of printers. Searching the models I'm familiar with, I'm pretty floored by how much the prices have dipped (even in the last year) and how feature-loaded new printers are. I haven't really been in the market for a new printer for a while, but this app is changing my mind. :) The only suggestion I have, and I don't know how readily available this data is or how hard it would be to generate, but a visual representation of the print quality for each printer would be great. I've always found the advertised resolution of a printer to be a really sub-standard way of determining print quality before I buy. For me, printing something uniform [0] and comparing it to the same thing from another printer (using the same slicer) is the best demonstration. [0] Been using this one for a bit: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5683 http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5683
- no_gravity 10y ago
  It's an interesting idea. To have a picture of the same "thing" printed on all printers. But it would be hard to come by these images. Would have to be crowdsourced somehow.
  - mmcwilliams 10y ago
    It definitely would require a lot of effort. One method could be to collect data from 3D printer reviewers who do that sort of thing (mostly printing Yoda or something). Another would be to add a user-submitted form for collecting the data, but even as I'm typing that out it seems like a crappy idea. Obviously all of this is coming from the peanut gallery, and would be a lot of effort to add little value, but I was imagining some kind of enlargement like this: http://tobuya3dprinter.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/3d-printing-layer-height.jpg http://tobuya3dprinter.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/3d-pri...
  - cweagans 10y ago
    People post their 3d Benchy on reddit (/r/3dprinting) all the time. Might be a good place to start.
    - mmcwilliams 10y ago
      Oh yeah that's a great idea. I forgot about benchy. Love that boat.

mmcwilliams 10y ago

This is a really neat tool, thanks for sharing it. I've been into 3D printing as a hobby for a while now and have gone through a handful of printers. Searching the models I'm familiar with, I'm pretty floored by how much the prices have dipped (even in the last year) and how feature-loaded new printers are. I haven't really been in the market for a new printer for a while, but this app is changing my mind. :) The only suggestion I have, and I don't know how readily available this data is or how hard it would be to generate, but a visual representation of the print quality for each printer would be great. I've always found the advertised resolution of a printer to be a really sub-standard way of determining print quality before I buy. For me, printing something uniform [0] and comparing it to the same thing from another printer (using the same slicer) is the best demonstration. [0] Been using this one for a bit: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5683 http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5683

no_gravity 10y ago
It's an interesting idea. To have a picture of the same "thing" printed on all printers. But it would be hard to come by these images. Would have to be crowdsourced somehow.
- mmcwilliams 10y ago
  It definitely would require a lot of effort. One method could be to collect data from 3D printer reviewers who do that sort of thing (mostly printing Yoda or something). Another would be to add a user-submitted form for collecting the data, but even as I'm typing that out it seems like a crappy idea. Obviously all of this is coming from the peanut gallery, and would be a lot of effort to add little value, but I was imagining some kind of enlargement like this: http://tobuya3dprinter.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/3d-printing-layer-height.jpg http://tobuya3dprinter.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/3d-pri...
- cweagans 10y ago
  People post their 3d Benchy on reddit (/r/3dprinting) all the time. Might be a good place to start.
  - mmcwilliams 10y ago
    Oh yeah that's a great idea. I forgot about benchy. Love that boat.