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Ask HN: Why are there no open source 2d printers?

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Re: Ask HN: Why are there no open source 2d printers?

#41

Post by naavis »

wccrawford wrote: post #25
tweetle_beetle wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also wouldn't underestimate the challenge of moving paper. I once spoke to someone who worked for Kodak (or a similar company - it was a long time ago) who said that they acquired another printer company purely because their paper moving technology was excellent and it would have taken years to develop an equivalent quality of engineering internally. This was before the present day race to the bottom in the printer…

While I'm sure it's a challenge, after watching 3D printers evolve over the years, I've no doubt that random people will find unique and amazing ways to handle the problem.

Paper printers have been around for ages though, and decades of R&D have been put into them. 3D printers have started to find a foothold relatively recently.

Re: Ask HN: Why are there no open source 2d printers?

#42

Post by dsr_ »

minot wrote: post #29
sparkling wrote: post #19

Here is a business idea: the printer that just works. Requirements: - laser printer that works with non-proprietary toners - USB plug & play on all major operating systems - Network printing via WiFi and ethernet - No 2GB bloatware installation required, i dont want your shitty photo management software, just give me the driver - Replaceable parts

Brother is probably your best bet.

Pick a Brother that has all of the following features:

BR/Script (their PostScript emulation)

ethernet

duplex

And you will be fairly happy. If any of those are missing, you're buying an inferior line.

Re: Ask HN: Why are there no open source 2d printers?

#45

Post by skocznymroczny »

I think the reason is open source communities are more attracted towards tinkering and experimental technologies, and 3D print is much more interesting than 2D printing. 3D printing always has that idea of a manufacturing revolution behind it, 2D printing was a revolution centuries ago and it's a boring technology now.

Re: Ask HN: Why are there no open source 2d printers?

#46

Post by kube-system »

fsflover wrote: post #35
cocoapuffs7 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. But this is unrelated to the question they asked.

I don't think so. The current situation suggests that we really need an open-source printer, because otherwise there is no privacy at all.

The question wasn’t whether there was a need. The question was why there isn’t one. That agreement doesn’t prevent you or anyone else from making your own design.

Re: Ask HN: Why are there no open source 2d printers?

#47

Post by imglorp »

detaro wrote: post #6

Printers are cheap and widely available, which leaves a DIY printer which is going to be slower, more error-prone and more expensive as a very niche idea. There is a clear benefit to buying or building an open hobby 3D printer, whereas that's harder to argue for a 2D one - while there is a lot of crap around, there's enough workable choices, aftermarket inks/toner works, you likely won't be modifying/tuning a 2D prin…

How about laser engraving tech? Can a laser engraver be tight focused to 300 dpi and power set (or sensed) to just make a mark on white paper? Does the positioning accuracy also need to be improved to get that 300 dpi?

You'd never run out of toner at least.

Edit, answered at least one question: yes engravers do 500 dpi routinely. Here's one: https://www.troteclaser.com/en-us/knowledge/tips-for-laser-u...

Re: Ask HN: Why are there no open source 2d printers?

#48

Post by adwn »

teknopaul wrote: post #21
lpfabiani wrote: post #7

I worked for a while in the R&D department of HP printer division. As @jacquesm said, good 2D printer costs peanuts. The amount of R&D in color quality, speed and other parameters is huge. There were a lot of teams involved: mechanical, electrical, software, chemical... And because of that investment, there are thousands of patents that the big players are continuously paying each other for. It's a very old market wi…

bit of a non-argument this. Existence of cheap alternatives misses the point of opensource, its not about cost. ref: free as in beer vs free as in speech.

I think you're missing the main argument: It would take a lot of money and cross-domain knowledge to design and build a passable printer from scratch. Contrast that with software, where all you need is time and a low to medium power computer. In fact, compared to software open source, all other open source engineering is non-existent (relative to OSS, not in absolute terms).

Re: Ask HN: Why are there no open source 2d printers?

#49

Post by pjmlp »

teknopaul wrote: post #21
lpfabiani wrote: post #7

I worked for a while in the R&D department of HP printer division. As @jacquesm said, good 2D printer costs peanuts. The amount of R&D in color quality, speed and other parameters is huge. There were a lot of teams involved: mechanical, electrical, software, chemical... And because of that investment, there are thousands of patents that the big players are continuously paying each other for. It's a very old market wi…

bit of a non-argument this. Existence of cheap alternatives misses the point of opensource, its not about cost. ref: free as in beer vs free as in speech.

99% of FOSS consumers only care about free beer, hence the uptake on MIT like licenses.
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