3D Printing Could Save $2k a Year

[ylexot]

Study Finds 3D Printing Could Save The Average Home Up To $2,000 A Year | TechCrunch

While I don’t have to remind you about the value of studies – many company-funded studies are best dropped directly in the trash after publication – this one about 3D printing does have some merit. Produced by the authors at Michigan Technological University, it posits that at a home 3D printer can provide a return on investment of 200 to 40 percent and can save the average home up to $2,000 in avoided purchase costs.

I haven't read the study yet, but maybe I should finish up my printer sooner rather than later...

 

[czygvtwkr]

BS, I have used FDM for several years now and while it is great when you need a quick prototype when designing something I can't think of anything that I could have used one for in my house for. I just don't have that much stuff that I want made out of cheap plastic.

 

[migtig]

BS, I have used FDM for several years now and while it is great when you need a quick prototype when designing something I can't think of anything that I could have used one for in my house for. I just don't have that much stuff that I want made out of cheap plastic.

It's not cheap plastic. And 3D printing is being used for everything from replacement parts to casts for broken bones.

Try getting a replacement part for your car and tell me how cheap that plastic is.

 

[slotpuppy]

I'll buy one when it can make a replacment for my boss.

 

[Larry Gude]

I haven't read the study yet, but maybe I should finish up my printer sooner rather than later...

Here's the ball game;

These legs, if purchased at a hobby shop, would probably cost far more than the $40 or so I charged him simply because of their scarcity and demand. It is this exchange – my time and plastic for a few of his dollars – that is at the heart of this equation and the fact that he was able to design and print his own hardware on my machine is amazing to me.

The presumption is a static one, that the shop would not adapt, that it would not access the very same technology to likewise reduce their costs.

I mean, if you make those legs at home, you need material for the printer, right? You need to sift through and find the right blueprints, open source or otherwise, right? You need the printer itself, right?

While it sounds like a kewl novelty that some, like home re-loaders of ammunition, home canning and preserving of food and so forth, will certainly appeal to plenty of folks but, the only true economic advantage will be placing a very low value on ones time and/or access to someone like the author who is willing to donate the time, resources and expertise.

Most people won't do that. Especially as the technology advances and commercial enterprises, such as the hobby shop, access those advances more cheaply and efficiently, because it's their area of expertise, than what can viably be kept up with at home.

Presumably, we will reach a state of maturity, like we have, currently, with home computers where you no longer need to upgrade every 18 months like we did for over a decade so, hey, there is a future for it but, even then, print shops still exist because the simple technology of printing brochures and flyers is readily available for home production, sometimes, most of the time, it's still easier, and cheaper, if you value your time, than doing it yourself.

 

[desertrat]

It's not cheap plastic. And 3D printing is being used for everything from replacement parts to casts for broken bones.

Try getting a replacement part for your car and tell me how cheap that plastic is.

I can't imagine what I would make either. As far as a car part, how do you get the printer to copy the design? My BIL showed me a little box he designed and made on his company one. Made to hold a GPS tracking device. Seemed pretty tough.

 

[migtig]

I can't imagine what I would make either. As far as a car part, how do you get the printer to copy the design? My BIL showed me a little box he designed and made on his company one. Made to hold a GPS tracking device. Seemed pretty tough.

More and more things are open source. You can also add a 3D scanner to the mix and scan items for yourself.

 

[czygvtwkr]

More and more things are open source. You can also add a 3D scanner to the mix and scan items for yourself.

They don't scan the internals, do you really think the car companies are going to put blueprints online for everyone to make parts with?

The tolerences they can get to are not that great. If making your own parts was so great why doesnt everyone already have a CNC milling machine doing it out of metal.

 

[migtig]

They don't scan the internals, do you really think the car companies are going to put blueprints online for everyone to make parts with?

The tolerences they can get to are not that great. If making your own parts was so great why doesnt everyone already have a CNC milling machine doing it out of metal.

No, I wouldn't think that. But I do think that there are plenty of people who would scan something and make it open source. There are lots of free thinkers out there. I know you don't understand the concept, but I believe it's way cool.

Car's are made of plastic you know. You really can't think outside the box at all.

Example, your kid has broken your vent cover in your car repeatedly kicking it. Take another, open source or scan another and then make it open source, and print and replace.

I know for you, 3D printing has no benefits. But for free thinkers and innovators and garage tinkerers, the possibilities are endless. I'm encouraged by that.

Some guy with a 3D printer and some coding ability is going to build a free thinking robot in his garage one day.

 

[czygvtwkr]

No, I wouldn't think that. But I do think that there are plenty of people who would scan something and make it open source. There are lots of free thinkers out there. I know you don't understand the concept, but I believe it's way cool.

Car's are made of plastic you know. You really can't think outside the box at all.

Example, your kid has broken your vent cover in your car repeatedly kicking it. Take another, open source or scan another and then make it open source, and print and replace.

I know for you, 3D printing has no benefits. But for free thinkers and innovators and garage tinkerers, the possibilities are endless. I'm encouraged by that.

Some guy with a 3D printer and some coding ability is going to build a free thinking robot in his garage one day.

I understand the concept, I have used it for quite a few years now. 3D printing is nothing new, it is just coming down in cost.

There are prototype companies where you can just upload a drawing to their website, pay with a credit card and they will ship you the parts in no time flat. These companies have been around for most of the 2000's at least.

It really isn't any different than having a milling machine and lathe at your disposal.

Have a look at this webpage. Finish Options for Prototypes the parts do not come out with a smooth finish, they are quite rough almost like cutting wood with a chainsaw so to get any better finish you have to put quite a bit of work into the process, but all the websites that give people hopes these will do everything for them dont mention stuff like that.. like the magazines in the 60's that claimed everyone would have a hover car by now.

 

[migtig]

Report: 3D-Printed Rifle Successfully Fires 14 Rounds

A Canadian rifle maker has successfully fired a 3D-printed rifle, based on firearms designer Cody Wilson's work on a homemade handgun crafted from thermoplastics.
Mashable.com reports that "Matthew" has successfully fired 14 rounds from a .22 rifle created from a 3D printer.

 

[somdfunguy]

interesting review

Home 3D printers take us on a maddening journey into another dimension | Ars Technica

 

[czygvtwkr]

interesting review

Home 3D printers take us on a maddening journey into another dimension | Ars Technica

Like I said....

 

[PeoplesElbow]

Hmm 10 years later and consumer grade printers aren't what you would call reliable. Prints fail quite often, it is a troubleshooting, tinkering hobby, not a "I need a replacement _____" item.

 

[Clem72]

Study Finds 3D Printing Could Save The Average Home Up To $2,000 A Year | TechCrunch

I haven't read the study yet, but maybe I should finish up my printer sooner rather than later...

I have had many 3D printers over the years. From RepRap kits more than a decade ago to home-converted CNC router, LCD Resin, to top of the line Prusas.

No way in hell is the tech ready for the average person. Too much tinkering, too much post processing, too much everything. And you won't save money in a home scenario.

Not to mention unless you are printing something exotic like polycarbonate or fiber reinforced nylon the parts just don't have the strength. Certainly not for any application with pulling/twisting forces.

3D printing, especially with the normal plastics (ABS/PLA/PETG) can be used for compressive applications, where layer adhesion isn't as big an issue. It's great for printing ornaments or models or other toys that don't really get played with.

If you have an application for flexible plastics (belts gaskets etc.) then there are options like TPU that are fairly decent.

In all my years the most actually useful parts I have printed have been connectors (usually connecting a shop vac to something else like my table saw), covers (custom venting cover for my sump), and spacers which get compressed which is the only "strong" application for most 3d prints.

 

[Kyle]

One of my coworkers bought a used 3D printer off of ebay but it seems to be broken.

It must have belonged to Amazon because it only seems to print Jeff Bezos Blue Origin Rockets.

 

[Clem72]

Hmm 10 years later and consumer grade printers aren't what you would call reliable. Prints fail quite often, it is a troubleshooting, tinkering hobby, not a "I need a replacement _____" item.

Looks like belt is too lose coupled with the head hitting the hardened plastic on the overhangs. Notice the vertical printed sections are fine, it's the curved sections that get shifted. On an overhang with poor slicer settings the outer walls (especially on curved overhangs) curl up. Then when the print head is traveling to the start of the next layer it hits this part and the belt slips and you get a new zero for your x/y causing everything to be shifted.

 

[PeoplesElbow]

Looks like belt is too lose coupled with the head hitting the hardened plastic on the overhangs. Notice the vertical printed sections are fine, it's the curved sections that get shifted. On an overhang with poor slicer settings the outer walls (especially on curved overhangs) curl up. Then when the print head is traveling to the start of the next layer it hits this part and the belt slips and you get a new zero for your x/y causing everything to be shifted.

My point, it takes a lot of tinkering and troubleshooting, it's not a star trek replicator as a lot of people think it is. There are issues with a significant number of prints etc. A small CNC mill and lathe is much more reliable for subtractive manufacturing vs additive manufacturing with filament.

They are also slow, many of my prints take over 24 hours.

 

[PeoplesElbow]

Looks like belt is too lose coupled with the head hitting the hardened plastic on the overhangs. Notice the vertical printed sections are fine, it's the curved sections that get shifted. On an overhang with poor slicer settings the outer walls (especially on curved overhangs) curl up. Then when the print head is traveling to the start of the next layer it hits this part and the belt slips and you get a new zero for your x/y causing everything to be shifted.

Maybe, could also be a temperature issue. So many things, it can take weeks to find the correct solution.

When buying filament even different colors of the same type, same brand can require different temperature settings, different offset and squish values.

I found it funny how so many people thought of it as a replicator.

I belong to several Facebook groups and one of the funniest statements I e seen was "all I ever use my printer for is to print 3d printing accessories and organizational crap for my wife that she can buy off Amazon already for a couple dollars"

 

[Clem72]

My point, it takes a lot of tinkering and troubleshooting, it's not a star trek replicator as a lot of people think it is. There are issues with a significant number of prints etc. A small CNC mill and lathe is much more reliable for subtractive manufacturing vs additive manufacturing with filament.

They are also slow, many of my prints take over 24 hours.

yup. That said, if your specific niche is figurines then you can get better quality with an inexpensive resin printer than you can buy in the store and at a small fraction of the price (but requires someone to paint them...)