3 ms·
$340 is more than the cost of the rest of the BOM, and it feels kind of crazy that the plastic housing would cost more than the electronics. I get that the par
by GordonS 6y ago
$340 is more than the cost of the rest of the BOM, and it feels kind of crazy that the plastic housing would cost more than the electronics.
I get that the parts are 3D printed, but are they being printed on-demand or something? I wonder if the 3D printing files have been open sourced - would be interesting to hear from a 3D printing enthusiast here about the costs (it's HN, there's bound to be many!).
- iso1631 6y agostl files are linked in a zip at the bottom. I've never touched a 3D printer before so I don't know what you do with them, the online 2d printers I see want me to create an account to generate a quote which seems tedious.
- rcar 6y agoSTL files are the 3D models that you put into your slicer of choice (which converts the project into the thin layers that the printer will gradually put down). There's a dozen things to print in the zip. I sliced 3-4 of them, and none seemed particularly heavy. Something like $0.50 of filament each for what I pay for PLA, which would put the whole thing at ~$6 of material. Perhaps the cost is being driven by some sort of print-on-demand costs? FWIW, you could also buy an Ender 3 for ~$200, and $140 buys a lot of filament, so you could get into the 3D printing hobby for less than the quoted cost.
- xsmasher 6y agoYeah, that might be the price to be 3d printed by a service. If you have the printer, the cost of materials should be ten bucks.