3 ms·

From outsider perspective (fdm) 3d printers plateaued relatively quickly; while the speed improvement is undoubtedly nice for heavy users, even at 3x speed I do

by zokier 4y ago

From outsider perspective (fdm) 3d printers plateaued relatively quickly; while the speed improvement is undoubtedly nice for heavy users, even at 3x speed I don't know if it is really transformative. Meanwhile the print quality hasn't changed really that much afaik? Of course being more reliable and less fiddly are certainly good improvements but I don't see them being transformative or making 3d printing conquer new areas.

ferminaut 4y ago
If you are designing something, being able to rapidly iterate is great. The difference is 4-5 prints a working day vs 1-2 prints a day.
Filligree 4y ago
One of the things you can do with higher speeds is use a smaller nozzle, which translates directly to higher visual quality. There’s also constant improvements to the algorithms; what can be printed in the first place. To name one, it used to be that anything above a 25 degree overhang would cause problems… These days 60 degrees isn’t too bad, and there are experimental algorithms that can handle 90. Support algorithms have also improved dramatically lately, so we’re pretty close to the point where any and all geometries will just work.
mitthrowaway2 4y ago
The main FDM 3D printer patents expired at around the time the first iphone came out. I've been involved with them since those early days. If you ask me, the pace of improvement in usability, quality, reliability, and functionality of 3D printers has been as good if not better than smartphones. And it continues today. These upgrades in first-layer sensing and nozzle exchanges are a bigger relative improvement than the incremental increase in smartphone camera resolution. And the ecosystem of filament suppliers, G-code slicers, and 3D models available for download for people who don't want to do their own CAD has also grown. Reliability is a huge, huge deal. Back in 2009 we were dealing with constant nozzle jams, delamination from the print bed, print errors, drifting, ooze, extruder slip, and all sorts of other problems. You had to keep a constant eye on the printer, and manually tweak the G-code generation parameters to get good results. It's come a long way and still going.
deelowe 4y ago
> Meanwhile the print quality hasn't changed really that much afaik? Several of the features in the MK4 are for quality (but also help speed). For example, VFA steppers are purely for quality improvement.
JofArnold 4y ago
The speed is far more important than immediately obvious. To be able to iterate on the scale of minutes and hours and not hours and days is a game-changer. Imagine how productive a programmer would be if their compiler used to take 1.5 hours every time they saved something and it now took 10 minutes.
- tdiggity 4y ago
  This is so true. My iteration time for printed parts has gone down from 4 hours to 1 hour with the faster speeds. At first, I couldn’t iterate fast enough to keep up. I can pump out a few revisions in a day or play with several concepts in little time. It’s a great time to be get into 3d printing.

by zokier 4y ago

ferminaut 4y ago

If you are designing something, being able to rapidly iterate is great. The difference is 4-5 prints a working day vs 1-2 prints a day.

Filligree 4y ago

One of the things you can do with higher speeds is use a smaller nozzle, which translates directly to higher visual quality. There’s also constant improvements to the algorithms; what can be printed in the first place. To name one, it used to be that anything above a 25 degree overhang would cause problems… These days 60 degrees isn’t too bad, and there are experimental algorithms that can handle 90. Support algorithms have also improved dramatically lately, so we’re pretty close to the point where any and all geometries will just work.

mitthrowaway2 4y ago

The main FDM 3D printer patents expired at around the time the first iphone came out. I've been involved with them since those early days. If you ask me, the pace of improvement in usability, quality, reliability, and functionality of 3D printers has been as good if not better than smartphones. And it continues today. These upgrades in first-layer sensing and nozzle exchanges are a bigger relative improvement than the incremental increase in smartphone camera resolution. And the ecosystem of filament suppliers, G-code slicers, and 3D models available for download for people who don't want to do their own CAD has also grown. Reliability is a huge, huge deal. Back in 2009 we were dealing with constant nozzle jams, delamination from the print bed, print errors, drifting, ooze, extruder slip, and all sorts of other problems. You had to keep a constant eye on the printer, and manually tweak the G-code generation parameters to get good results. It's come a long way and still going.

deelowe 4y ago

> Meanwhile the print quality hasn't changed really that much afaik? Several of the features in the MK4 are for quality (but also help speed). For example, VFA steppers are purely for quality improvement.

JofArnold 4y ago

The speed is far more important than immediately obvious. To be able to iterate on the scale of minutes and hours and not hours and days is a game-changer. Imagine how productive a programmer would be if their compiler used to take 1.5 hours every time they saved something and it now took 10 minutes.

tdiggity 4y ago
This is so true. My iteration time for printed parts has gone down from 4 hours to 1 hour with the faster speeds. At first, I couldn’t iterate fast enough to keep up. I can pump out a few revisions in a day or play with several concepts in little time. It’s a great time to be get into 3d printing.