Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by bobds 5602 days ago
They come a lot cheaper than that. The biggest cost is the proprietary materials they use, I'm guessing it would easily add up to more than the cost of the printer over time. Servicing costs should also be pretty high.

I've compiled a list of most cheap printers (slightly out of date, I am going to add more soon): http://punkmanufacturing.com/wiki/

As far as usefulness, the open-source printers are not that different from the cheap commercial machines. A well-tuned RepRap should have comparable accuracy. The printing materials are a lot cheaper, as well as the parts (which you can print) and servicing costs. The commercial printers have better resolution, better materials and better software, at least at the moment, but I think that's going to change.
2 comments
steveklabnik 5602 days ago
Most of those materials are reverse engineer-able, though. This has a significant impact on the big manufacturer's bottom lines... they derive most of their profit from materials, just like regular printers.

I'll just leave this here: http://open3dp.me.washington.edu/

Specifically: http://open3dp.me.washington.edu/2009/10/plaster-based-powde...

See how cheap that is? Crazy...

link
bobds 5602 days ago
You can probably get a spec-sheet for their proprietary materials if you ask. You might have to reverse-engineer cartridges with security features though.

The Fab@Home guys are trying out various different materials, since their syringe-based extruder allows more flexibility than the RepRap.

http://fabathome.org/wiki/index.php/Fab%40Home:Materials

As far as cheap materials go, it doesn't get much cheaper than garbage plastic.

http://reprap.org/wiki/Recycler

link
steveklabnik 5602 days ago
> You can probably get a spec-sheet for their proprietary materials if you ask.

Or you could just go here (this is my old startup): http://marketplace.cloudfab.com/fab_facts (click through for every datasheet on every machine and material)

link
jonhohle 5602 days ago
The biggest cost is probably the manual labor that goes into finishing a part. 3D printers are hardly analogous to the current state of paper printers: all of the technologies require some form of post processing (cutting away supports, curing materials, sanding, etc.).

Most of the discussion I see about 3D printers ignores the significant amount of physical effort you have to put into a part if it will be used for anything (and depending on the method, just to see the part).

link