Tag: DIY 3D printers

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Desktop 3D Printer Buyers Guide Part1 – Fundamental Questions

Since you’ve already made up your mind to bring the dream machine to your home, there are a wide range of 3D printers that are available in the market. There are more than 150 different desktop 3D printers available. Out of so many options it’s quite difficult to choose one. This is where you need someone to walk to down the alley of 3D printers, that’s precisely why we are here, to suggest you the best 3D printer!

The first step would be to keep in mind why exactly do you need this printer? What purpose would it serve? Above all the main question should be what is the budget? Once you have the answers to these questions it will be a matter of time you unveil the right 3D printer for yourself.

Where do we start? As a starting point you must do a simple exercise. You just have to ask yourself these basic questions.

Will I have more fun building the printer or printing things? (What’s my Type)

There are two types of people who would love to acquire a 3D printer. The first kind, who belong to the tinker category, who love to dismantle stuff and then assemble them all over again, the DIYers! For such people the fun of it all is being able to make the machine from the scratch. It is possible to source the materials through online suppliers such as McMaster-Carr, Amazon Supply, and eBay.

The other, who just love to print out stuff that others have designed. For these people it would be better to focus on printers that come as kits, low cost and which has a relatively large community to ask questions when there’s a problem. For them the fun starts when they explore the possibilities of the 3D printer and what are all the things that they can print with the help of this printer. If you fall in this category its best to purchase a MakerBot Replicator 2 or Ultimaker, these are the two most commonly purchased 3D printers that are available in the market.

Why do I need this printer? (End Use)

Some people print functional art or desktop ornaments. Other people use it to prototype board game pieces, hardware enclosures, or product concepts. But some of the other people print functional objects to fix and solve their problems around the house. Some use it to create ornaments and while others use it to create metal fittings. These considerations are very important to determine the nature of the output including material used, output dimension, speed, layer width, strength, ductility etc, which in turn determine technology, budget and model of the printer.

What’s the amount of money you can spend? (Budget)

As a thumb rule of 3D printers, kit based printers are cheaper than the pre-assembled ones, and self sourced printers are cheaper than the kit-based printers. The range in which you can buy a decent pre-assembled printer would be $700 to $3000. The Solidoodle and the Printrbot Jr are two best examples of value 3D printers with reportedly consistently good prints for a low price. Many new companies are announcing their printers, and the prices are going down at a great extent. You can even keep visiting kickstarter for new announcements, though how many of them will be stable commercially is yet to be seen.

Once these questions are answered, we can move to the next part of the 2014 Desktop 3D Printer Buying Guide (4 Part Series) for more advanced considerations, which will be published shortly.

 

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Making the big bucks with 3DP

Now 3D printing is the newest entrant in the “ways to make money” list. 3D printing has become the fastest money making product available in the market. Of late it is one of the coolest technologies that have been introduced in the market. But many people especially the DIYers buy this printer so only to print some component or fabricate something that they need. Very limited section of people have been able to use their 3D printers in a commercial way successfully. But put to proper use, anybody can become an entrepreneur with the help of their 3D printers.

3D printing is becoming affordable with each passing day for individuals like engineers, innovators, designers, doctors- basically anyone who wants to get a new design and exhibit their innovative talents in front of others.

Now, the question stands how can you earn money and start a small business using 3D printing?

There are several designers who are making a living out of 3D products. Alex Horstein and Bilal Ghalib have made their way across the US with only four DIY 3D printers in the trunk of their car. They started this project aiming to start a business of designing, producing and selling products made out of low end 3D printers. The entire process of designing, testing and producing involves two or three days and then they sell the product at a very low price.

There are also many organizations that help individuals to make their dreams turn into reality by helping them print the model that they desire.

One such example would be that of Andreas, an IT guy in Austria customizes Lego “minifigs”, small plastic articulated figurines that are available as construction toy Lego. Since Lego stopped producing these parts, this designer designed a new hat and had it 3D printed at Shapeways. The product became so popular that he sold 5000 items up to now. There are many such designers who with the help of various 3D printing companies become entrepreneurs. Apart from Shapeways, There are various organizations that are enabling others to put their printer to work. Some of such organizations are Ponoko, Sculpteo etc. According to statistics about 10% of the designers selling their products online are making decent money.

Makexyz is the first and the largest print sourcing site. The working of the site is very simple and user friendly. If you have a 3D printer you just have to add it to the directory and the people in and around your area can commission you to get their 3D models at specific rates. This saves the loss of time and cost of shipping which was huge earlier. Another company called CowFab has the best bet for any consumer who wants to buy a 3D model. Instead of consumer tracking down printers, the people who have printers can bid online on the projects of the consumers. Since betting scenario makes it’s a bit competitive but the owner of CowFab are optimistic towards attracting more consumers.

Apart from all this for all those people who have a great idea but do have the CAD skills or a printer to bring their dreams into reality then the apt place to go would be you3dit.com. you can send them the design of the idea that you have and they will get a designer to fabricate the model.

Azavy is an organization that allows both the parties to a win-win situation. Both the designer as well as the printer can make money. you can upload the design and get it printed or you can list your printer and set bids for printing objects, if someone places an order then you might have to print it.

3D printing is a world full of possibilities and promises. It totally depends on an individual as to how to exploit this in the most beneficial way.