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Formlabs: High Resolution 3D Printer

formlabs.com

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Re: Formlabs: High Resolution 3D Printer

#71

Post by Vivtek »

patrickod wrote: post #60
regularfry wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Resins which harden under UV aren't that hard to make. There was a bit of a push a year or so ago when people started looking at DLP printers.

I'm not sure the cost of printer ink is due to the difficulty in manufacturing. I would hope that 3D printer resins do not follow the same business model

It's a different situation. Printer ink comes in proprietary cartridges - you can refill with lower-cost ink, but I think there's a different psychological barrier there than in the case of dumping resin out of a bottle into a tank.

There are perfectly good resins available for less than this one, and while there will surely be some difference in quality or properties, there's a good chance those differences will be slight. And their prices will all come down when they start being readily available by the liter bottle.

If not, then I see one thing I'll be getting into.

Re: Formlabs: High Resolution 3D Printer

#73

Post by mapster »

mibbitier wrote: post #36
jws wrote: post #2

The call to action link says: "Pre-Order on Kickstarter" They must have not gotten the "Kickstarter is not a store" memo. They appear to be ready to pull the trigger on their manufacturing partners, so this is sort of a "how big should we make the first run?" type of kickstarter rather than a "let's create something awesome". Details… • Stereolithography printer (laser, not extruder) • Much nicer than extruder style…

First thing I noticed as well. "pre-Order on kickstarter" screams out "This is a scam!!!! You'll never get anything". I've never understood why anyone would give anything via kickstarter. A "donate now" paypal button would probably be less scammy.

I think you actually pre-order one, so you are getting something for your investment.

Re: Formlabs: High Resolution 3D Printer

#76

Post by pranjalv123 »

jws wrote: post #2

The call to action link says: "Pre-Order on Kickstarter" They must have not gotten the "Kickstarter is not a store" memo. They appear to be ready to pull the trigger on their manufacturing partners, so this is sort of a "how big should we make the first run?" type of kickstarter rather than a "let's create something awesome". Details… • Stereolithography printer (laser, not extruder) • Much nicer than extruder style…

However, the build volume (5"x5") is significantly smaller than most FDM printers, and it's significantly slower, as I understand.

Re: Formlabs: High Resolution 3D Printer

#77

Post by jianshen »

rbanffy wrote: post #52
chime wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think it would work in exactly the same way you are describing but there may be alternatives. Manufacturing equipment is very expensive and the only way to justify the cost is to keep it running daily, sometimes 24/7/365. The change parts for each unique product are also quite expensive (easily $10k+). If I want to open a KickManufacturing plant, I have to buy/maintain/service hundreds of different kinds of e…

> And worst of all, most of the equipment will be collecting dust 95% of the time unless someone has just the right Kickstarter project for them. Cloud manufacturing?

Ponoko [1] has been trying to do this for a little while now but they're still a long ways away from being mass production.

[1] http://www.ponoko.com/about/the-big-idea

Re: Formlabs: High Resolution 3D Printer

#78

Post by tibbon »

silasb wrote: post #68
tibbon wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lithography printing from what I've seen so far is significantly better than extruder tech. We have a Projet 1500 and an original Makerbot at my hackerspace (Columbus Idea Foundry). The Projet absolutely kills the makerbot for resolution and jitter. If you made a sphere on the projet, it will be pretty damn smooth. On the Makerbot (original) it will have a strong texture to it. No experience with Replicator 2. Yet, i…

I've been putting off going to Columbus Idea Foundry, but with all the cool tech there I might just have to get my membership.

I'd highly encourage you to come by for a tour, and sign up for a class before jumping into membership. Not that membership just right away is bad, but doing this will give you a better idea of if the place is a good fit for you and your needs. Send me a PM if you'd like a tour or hit up our contact info on the main website.

Re: Formlabs: High Resolution 3D Printer

#79

Post by alesman »

tocomment wrote: post #44

It looks like it fills up a tray to do the print. Does it reuse what it doesn't solidify for future prints? (It would seem like a waste otherwise)

The tray is large enough to contain enough resin for roughly 12 hours of printing and all of the uncured resin can be reused for the next print.

Re: Formlabs: High Resolution 3D Printer

#80

Post by tisme »

It would be really nice if they laid out how far they are on the road to making this 3D printer into an actual product.

When you pre-order something the money that you spend should go to manufacturing, the bill of materials, shipping, handling, warranty and so on. It should definitely not go into product development and process development. The reason for that is that those are very long phases with plenty of opportunity for trouble which may cause delays, price increases, large changes to the product and even aborted runs.

Pre-ordering a device from a company without a history of shipping product is a risky business.

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