3 ms·

Exactly what I thought. Given that 3D printing is a whole family of technologies, purchasing a DIY model of one type of 3D printing technology would be a waste

by jonemo 13y ago

Exactly what I thought. Given that 3D printing is a whole family of technologies, purchasing a DIY model of one type of 3D printing technology would be a waste of money (for me). Thanks to online services I can get 3D prints in all sorts of high quality materials from SLS-printed plastic to ceramics, so much so that I have no idea why I would ever print anything out of a plastic spaghetti at home (I am referring to the FDM technology used by most DIY 3D printers). The only caveat with online 3D printing services is the delivery time, but in 99% of cases I'd rather wait a week (SLS plastic) or two (ceramic) for a piece to arrive in the mail than to spend a week or two tinkering with a DIY machine in order to get something remotely similar.

iamwil 13y ago
Depends on who you are, and what you're using it for. If you're printing stuff out that other people designed, more likely than not, you're willing to wait. If you're designing the object, a shorter iteration process means faster learning and better creative flow. There's a significant difference between being able to think something up and try it out within an hour vs waiting a week for it. If you're a programmer, it's the difference between having a REPL and sending a deck of punch cards for overnight batch processing. The current designs of single head FDM machines average about 60mm/s. The fastest XY heads can achieve 400mm/s, and the deltabots are around 300mm/s or so. There is an upper limit to how fast you can move a head around, but it doesn't feel like we've hit it yet. In addition, I think as the FDM designs get explored and played out, we'll see explorations in other possibly faster methods. So as the home desktop printers get faster, I believe it'll find a niche that's different than what you'd do with online 3D printing services.

by jonemo 13y ago

iamwil 13y ago

Depends on who you are, and what you're using it for. If you're printing stuff out that other people designed, more likely than not, you're willing to wait. If you're designing the object, a shorter iteration process means faster learning and better creative flow. There's a significant difference between being able to think something up and try it out within an hour vs waiting a week for it. If you're a programmer, it's the difference between having a REPL and sending a deck of punch cards for overnight batch processing. The current designs of single head FDM machines average about 60mm/s. The fastest XY heads can achieve 400mm/s, and the deltabots are around 300mm/s or so. There is an upper limit to how fast you can move a head around, but it doesn't feel like we've hit it yet. In addition, I think as the FDM designs get explored and played out, we'll see explorations in other possibly faster methods. So as the home desktop printers get faster, I believe it'll find a niche that's different than what you'd do with online 3D printing services.