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OpenPrinter

opentools.studio

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Re: OpenPrinter

#241

Post by keithnz »

fsuts wrote: post #210
jeffhuys wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does the ink ever dry? That’s my biggest problem with non-lasers - I print maybe 10-100 pages a year but every time I need to change the toner because it’s too dry. And do you print color or no?

No doesn’t dry up. It’s why I change from inkjet. And yes they print colour too. They are fine for documents but if you want details photo printing then inkjet I think has an edge, but for most people laser is better choice.

I feel like for photos you are better off getting them done via a print service anyways, they are pretty cheap and have much better hardware

Re: OpenPrinter

#242

Post by dotancohen »

a96 wrote: post #194
dotancohen wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At the 2400 DPI that an HP printer can handle, the printer needs to place the head at 1/100 mm precision three times for every single dot on the page, and not smear them, despite not knowing what thickness or weight or finish the paper has. That is not trivial.

2400 dpi is not the bar for entry, though. Even 240 would qualify as a printer, albeit not a good one (SOTA in 1995 maybe).

I respectfully disagree. For all the use cases shown on the linked page, a 240 DPI printer would not be acceptable.

Re: OpenPrinter

#243

Post by myself248 »

OneDeuxTriSeiGo wrote: post #57
myself248 wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And not a single solid-ink-onto-paper sublimation printer, that I'm aware. There are badge printers still using a dye-sub ribbon, but the Tektronix Phaser, later the Xerox Phaser, is completely gone. I wonder why. Were the consumables too cheap and the printers too reliable to be commercially viable? Did color laser printers catch up in terms of print quality? Did it have some other fatal flaw?

Hot melt ink/solid ink has a laundry list of problems that complicate it. - A single ink clog can destroy a printhead. - partial clogs can result in ugly messes with ink smeared all over the pages and the assembly further smearing on later prints. - the printer has to be calibrated to the specific formulation of solid ink to work properly. A bad ink batch or calibrating to the wrong formulation (or a drift in specs o…

Interesting, thank you! That is quite a list.

I only used one for a few years, and never thought to laminate the pages because they didn't need it -- dye-sub wax-printed pages were already suitable for outdoor maps because the wax repelled water, and they held up where inkjet pages became a smeary mess immediately.

We definitely did wash our hands before and after loading ink blocks, I remember being cautioned about that.

Oh well. I guess my memories are better than the tech deserved. Won't be the last time.

Re: OpenPrinter

#244

Post by robbak »

tw04 wrote: post #118
tjohns wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the technology side, I'm somewhat hopeful because it looks like they're using off-the-shelf HP ink cartridges for this. HP cartridges embed the printhead into the cartridge itself, and that printhead is arguably the most complicated part of the entire device. Outsource the printhead, and you're just designing a plotter with a PCL interface. I agree that the bigger challenge is going to be patents. It also wouldn't…

Why would they bother? They make all their money on the ink cartridges. If this drives more cartridge sales it’s a win/win for them. They generally don’t make much, if anything, on consumer ink jet printers themselves

This printer will use refilled cartridges. It could even use cartridges that have been sent out under the 'instant ink' subscription scheme. People in that scheme usually end up with a drawer full of spare cartridges, as they send them to you like they are worth the pennies that they actually cost.

Re: OpenPrinter

#245

Post by bluGill »

jnaina wrote: post #109
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I found that original comment to be a bit nonsensical. It would be like arguing you can't build your own PC because the lithography tech needed to make modern ICs is really complicated. I wasn't planning a laying out my own chip, and these guys aren't planning on building their own printhead from scratch.

yes, I was about to build another gaming PC, and then I remembered the ASML machine costs 20 bajillion. Will wait for the ASML machine to come down in price, to around couple of grand.

You don't need ASML machines. There are labs all over that can build chips. I know of one near me that has a license to make the Pentium I chip (or possibly a similar chip - the exact chips classified, but I know can make the electronics for the Tomahawk missile thus ensuring that in case of war there is supply chain redundancy) - they need to get $30,000 each for them just to break even on labor costs since they don't have mass production.

Which is to say you can make your gaming PC at home as a one-off if you want. Though personally I won't get near the toxic chemicals used.

Re: OpenPrinter

#246

Post by miladyincontrol »

imtringued wrote: post #192
williadc wrote: post #37

I had an Epson Ecotank for a couple of years. The printer heads got clogged all the time. We bought a series of cleaning products to address it, they often solved the problem for only a few prints. We finally gave up and bought a Brother laser printer. This project seems like it's trying to address a similar market to the Ecotank. What assurances can the project team provide that OpenPrinter will have better reliabil…

Ecotank printers are worse in terms of clogging problems, because there is a tank and a hose vs a sealed cartridge. The ink has to flow through the entire system and that means you will have to print at least once a week.

Best protip I ever heard was to just automate a weekly print, and to delay it a week any time you intentionally print.

Re: OpenPrinter

#247

Post by bArray »

FinnKuhn wrote: post #198
sschueller wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pi Zero seems overkill to me for a printer.

It costs $20 and comes with wifi and bluetooth. Seems like a valid choice to me.

They are largely sold out, especially at quantity. Not something I would currently be looking to base a product on.

Re: OpenPrinter

#248

Post by jelder »

HelloUsername wrote: post #2

Interesting comment from last time this was posted https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48093670 Inkjet printing requires orders of magnitude more engineering expertise, materials science, industry experience and financial resources than most people imagine. That is the reason, open inkjet printers don't exist despite having been consumer products with the same drawbacks for more than forty years. That is why this is…

Is laser printing more feasible? I've had the same Brother black & white laser for almost a decade and it's more than adequate for everything I do. If I ever need color, I send it off to a service that has much nicer printers than most people would ever want in their homes.

Re: OpenPrinter

#249

Post by Gigachad »

Aachen wrote: post #237
Gigachad wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This feels like a bit of a "you must exist in society" situation. If you rule out every company that does any business with Israel you will have a hard time buying anything.

First time I'm hearing of BDS. Looks like they want to boycott companies that help oppress Palestine (just going off of their homepage here). Since I don't know them, I'll speak generally of boycotts such as against e.g. Nestlé: Saying it's futile because you can't do it perfectly seems silly to me. You can't do everything right in life but you can try right? Minimise harm (as you see it) even if you can't take it aw…

The suggestion here is to boycott a printer because it uses a print head part from HP who sells servers to Israel.

The number of steps here is enough that you could rule out everything. And anything you think is left is just something you aren’t aware of a chain that links them.

Re: OpenPrinter

#250

Post by sschueller »

FinnKuhn wrote: post #198
sschueller wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pi Zero seems overkill to me for a printer.

It costs $20 and comes with wifi and bluetooth. Seems like a valid choice to me.

An ESP32 is way cheaper and has Wifi and BLe as well. I updated a label printer with an ESP32-S3 to add wifi[1] and it has plenty performance. It is even available with dual-band wifi 6[2]. Most processing is done outside the printer on the sending party anyway.

[1] https://stefan.schueller.net/posts/making-a-label-printer-wo...

[2] https://www.espressif.com/en/products/socs/esp32-c5

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