3 ms·

You're wrong. There are massive 3D printing farms that are producing consumer products at scale in the united states now, and that is a direct result of the wo

You're wrong. There are massive 3D printing farms that are producing consumer products at scale in the united states now, and that is a direct result of the work that the maker community (both here and especially in China) has done on 3D printing.

legitster 4y ago
Sure. But the vast majority of products are not ever going to be 3D printed. Most of the things you are going to touch today are going to be injection-molded. Keyboards, keychains, car parts, cups, computer cases, etc. There's a 3d print shop that sells at my local farmer's market. But they only sell tchotchkes. I am imagining a world where the same size business could also phone cases or mugs or even supply a local manufacturer.
- dicknuckle 4y ago
  We're not at farmers markets, because our niches are too focused. One guy I follow on YouTube pretty much only sells tool trays for cannabis products and I only sell replacement brake cable guides for 1980's powersport machines. We've been at the very beginning of what you're describing for about 3-4 years now. I only started selling by request of the communities I'm part of because none of them knew anyone to print it.
  - legitster 4y ago
    > I only sell replacement brake cable guides for 1980's powersport machines Haha! Doing the Lord's work. Although, it should be noted that while I buy lots of hard to find car parts this way, as a buyer I almost universally prefer actual molded plastic parts in almost every situation. In some cases I have even requested my money back because the seller deceitfully tried to make their parts look OEM.
    - dicknuckle 4y ago
      I'm actually expanding to Fork Guard Guides in the near future and can appreciate the design differences, all of my stuff is blocky and minimalistic for the most part, and cannot be mistaken for OEM, moreso because the metal brackets are something I simply can't supply with my tiny operation. I've actually started recommending alternative parts that operate the same, but came from different machines, or even competing manufacturers (like a Suzuki brake cable guide that bolts directly on to a Yamaha but looks nothing like the original). In the end, this is a product of my frustrations with obsolete parts that become impossible to find. I'm also trying to stay cheaper than the OEM costs of 5 years ago to promote my alternatives ending up on machines that see dirt and rocks on the regular while NOS parts are more likely to end up on pristine restorations. Buying NOS parts for some rough examples never sat well.
  - HeyLaughingBoy 4y ago
    Hmmm. There's a (non-critical) switch for my 2000 Honda Foreman that I can't find anywhere except direct from Honda or a dealer and I don't think it's worth the $100+ they want from it. For other model years, I can find it from $20 - $60 which is more reasonable. I've been thinking of making my own for a while but now you have me thinking of making them for resale. I can't be the only person in this situation.
    - dicknuckle 4y ago
      Ideally you'd print it in PETG, and this can be done on a $100 Ender 2 clone with a $20 spool of filament, but if all you want is a few small parts and maybe a few batches for other people, you could find a local 3d printing service on FB market. I'm selling a pair of brake cable guides for $10 including shipping to the lower 48. I'll make more money if I find a cheaper way to ship, but I'm not really doing it to make money.
- dekhn 4y ago
  Don't think production floor, think tool room. Every production floor has a bunch of machines that are absolutely not very precise, with an extremely precise insert. The use that insert to make a widget. Over and over and over again. But, there has to be a room in the back of the production floor, isolated from all that, where you make the insert. That's where 3d printers do their work- not the production floor. Because at scale, it almost never makes sense to make things with 3d printers (or ultra-precise CNCs, etc).
- buildsjets 4y ago
  3D printing is great for prototyping, and for small production runs, but economies of scale are not in favor of 3D printing for mass production. The material deposition rate is too slow, and the machine cost is too high, compared to traditional manufacturing methods. I have one part that I designed several years ago which is part of the APU installation on a certified aircraft. The part we flew during flight test was 3D printed aluminum (AlSi10Mg). The turnaround time from completing the design, to having a completed, inspected part ready to be installed, was about a week. For a machined part, the turnaround would have been about 6 weeks, and about 6 months for a cast part. But then when we looked at manufacturing methods for the production part. 3D printing directly in metal was the most economical method for up to 10 parts, because there is no up-front tooling cost, but the recurring cost of both the raw material and the machine time is very high. For 10 to a hundred or so parts, the most economical method was investment casting using a 3D printed wax preform, and for more than 100 or so parts, the most economical method was to buy traditional permanent closed-die tooling for the casting.

legitster 4y ago

Sure. But the vast majority of products are not ever going to be 3D printed. Most of the things you are going to touch today are going to be injection-molded. Keyboards, keychains, car parts, cups, computer cases, etc. There's a 3d print shop that sells at my local farmer's market. But they only sell tchotchkes. I am imagining a world where the same size business could also phone cases or mugs or even supply a local manufacturer.

dicknuckle 4y ago
We're not at farmers markets, because our niches are too focused. One guy I follow on YouTube pretty much only sells tool trays for cannabis products and I only sell replacement brake cable guides for 1980's powersport machines. We've been at the very beginning of what you're describing for about 3-4 years now. I only started selling by request of the communities I'm part of because none of them knew anyone to print it.
- legitster 4y ago
  > I only sell replacement brake cable guides for 1980's powersport machines Haha! Doing the Lord's work. Although, it should be noted that while I buy lots of hard to find car parts this way, as a buyer I almost universally prefer actual molded plastic parts in almost every situation. In some cases I have even requested my money back because the seller deceitfully tried to make their parts look OEM.
  - dicknuckle 4y ago
    I'm actually expanding to Fork Guard Guides in the near future and can appreciate the design differences, all of my stuff is blocky and minimalistic for the most part, and cannot be mistaken for OEM, moreso because the metal brackets are something I simply can't supply with my tiny operation. I've actually started recommending alternative parts that operate the same, but came from different machines, or even competing manufacturers (like a Suzuki brake cable guide that bolts directly on to a Yamaha but looks nothing like the original). In the end, this is a product of my frustrations with obsolete parts that become impossible to find. I'm also trying to stay cheaper than the OEM costs of 5 years ago to promote my alternatives ending up on machines that see dirt and rocks on the regular while NOS parts are more likely to end up on pristine restorations. Buying NOS parts for some rough examples never sat well.
- HeyLaughingBoy 4y ago
  Hmmm. There's a (non-critical) switch for my 2000 Honda Foreman that I can't find anywhere except direct from Honda or a dealer and I don't think it's worth the $100+ they want from it. For other model years, I can find it from $20 - $60 which is more reasonable. I've been thinking of making my own for a while but now you have me thinking of making them for resale. I can't be the only person in this situation.
  - dicknuckle 4y ago
    Ideally you'd print it in PETG, and this can be done on a $100 Ender 2 clone with a $20 spool of filament, but if all you want is a few small parts and maybe a few batches for other people, you could find a local 3d printing service on FB market. I'm selling a pair of brake cable guides for $10 including shipping to the lower 48. I'll make more money if I find a cheaper way to ship, but I'm not really doing it to make money.
dekhn 4y ago
Don't think production floor, think tool room. Every production floor has a bunch of machines that are absolutely not very precise, with an extremely precise insert. The use that insert to make a widget. Over and over and over again. But, there has to be a room in the back of the production floor, isolated from all that, where you make the insert. That's where 3d printers do their work- not the production floor. Because at scale, it almost never makes sense to make things with 3d printers (or ultra-precise CNCs, etc).
buildsjets 4y ago
3D printing is great for prototyping, and for small production runs, but economies of scale are not in favor of 3D printing for mass production. The material deposition rate is too slow, and the machine cost is too high, compared to traditional manufacturing methods. I have one part that I designed several years ago which is part of the APU installation on a certified aircraft. The part we flew during flight test was 3D printed aluminum (AlSi10Mg). The turnaround time from completing the design, to having a completed, inspected part ready to be installed, was about a week. For a machined part, the turnaround would have been about 6 weeks, and about 6 months for a cast part. But then when we looked at manufacturing methods for the production part. 3D printing directly in metal was the most economical method for up to 10 parts, because there is no up-front tooling cost, but the recurring cost of both the raw material and the machine time is very high. For 10 to a hundred or so parts, the most economical method was investment casting using a 3D printed wax preform, and for more than 100 or so parts, the most economical method was to buy traditional permanent closed-die tooling for the casting.