There is a 3D printer in the office where I work.
Poll: Do you have a 3d printer?
221–230 of 281 posts
Re: Poll: Do you have a 3d printer?
#222You should replace "I'll probably never buy one." with "I don't have one and don't plan on acquiring one in the short term".
Never say never. ;)
Re: Poll: Do you have a 3d printer?
#223Selected Yes, but I really meant "I have one and it doesn't work properly, haven't touched it in months and wondering if I should get rid of it." :/
That seems like a waste. What's wrong with it?
A number of things - the Z axis seems loose, the other axes skip steps (possibly the stepper drivers overheating), general issues with bed adhesion and warping.
All common 3d printer issues, though some are exacerbated because I bought a cheap kit from an unknown supplier. I got to a point where every time I fixed I problem I'd notice two other ones, and put it down and haven't picked it back up.
Good advice for people getting 3d printers is to decide if you want a printer as a tool for design/prototyping, or 3d printing as a hobby. I told myself I wanted the second as a path to the first, but after many hours of printer building I concluded that I really just wanted the first.
Re: Poll: Do you have a 3d printer?
#224My local hackerspace has 3, but I haven't used them yet.
Re: Poll: Do you have a 3d printer?
#225I'm waiting on the day that 3d printers can print hardware (ex. CPU's, RAM chips) and the designs/models become available for sale or become FOS.
You'll be waiting for a couple of years (if not a decade). While there are conductive plastics, it's not nearly practical enough to achieve what you want.
I don't know enough about current 3d printing to really know when this is possible, but I'm pretty sure it won't be tomorrow. If you could combine Soylent Green with 3d printing, you'd have a recipe for Star Trek food :)
Re: Poll: Do you have a 3d printer?
#226Earlier quoted context omitted.
These are useless gimmicks, and in the worst case they can't be recycled. I didn't know of shapeways before, and I couldn't find a single useful thing on it. Are there more pragmatic 3D printing sites?
One person's useless gimmicks are another person's stylish nick-knacks. I can't see myself buying a 3D printer just for stuff like that, but the ability to accent my home in an individual fashion is not unappealing to me. Not everything is the world is purely functional.
Not everything is the world is purely functional.
Absolutely agreed. I love a stylish nick-knacks and neat design details as much as the next person but there seems to be a disconnect in the 3D printing world. On the one hand everybody talks about the revolutionary effect of home 3d printers, and on the other hand the only examples people have ever shown me are children's toys and stylish nick-knacks. Where are the at least mostly functional examples?
Re: Poll: Do you have a 3d printer?
#227Earlier quoted context omitted.
Quiet. Simpler to operate. And don't kid yourself that you can use a desktop CNC to work with metal. Even aluminium requires a $10k+ CNC with steel frame, cooling liquid, etc.
You can take a sub-$1000 benchtop mill (Sieg X2 or X3, for example), add less than $1000 of new parts and less than $1000 worth of motors and electronics, and have a benchtop CNC mill capable of working with aluminum and brass with no problems, and with steel in light passes. If you don't want to do it yourself, you can buy complete from-the-factory benchtop CNC mills (Little Machine Shop: $4500, Tormach: $6k-$8k). I…
The only way to have good results with metals is to back it up with a huge mass. So Tormach will work. Everything else, that you've mentioned would not. Ask me how I know... But Tormach puts you at least 6.5k behind. Add tooling, table, box to keep the dust out, soundproofing, vacuum. Add PC, monitor. And CAD/CAM software. And you are looking at 10k.
Re: Poll: Do you have a 3d printer?
#228Needs an option for "I have a half-assembled one". I'm pretty sure I'm far from the only person in that position.
(Think my RepRap just needs a quiet weekend, and for me to get over my aversion to crimping...)
Re: Poll: Do you have a 3d printer?
#229Does access to a 3d printer count? I have a number of friends with 3d-printers (all kinds of models) and could use them any time (or send them an .stl and have them print it for me).
Thus there isn't much point in me owning my own 3d-printer.
Still, even if I had the money I wouldn't buy one, but I am planning to make one eventually. If only to teach myself about the mechanics and electronics involved. Also, building a 3d-printer gives you the skills to maintain one, where you ever to use one and unforeseen things happen.
Re: Poll: Do you have a 3d printer?
#230To those that want to buy one: what would you make with it? I have access to printers via our hackerspaces (shameless plug: Heatsync labs, Mesa AZ), but have only printed 1 thing that I can think of that was useful. It was a bushing to mate two pieces of steel together. The other things I've printed have either been novelty (hey, I can print a pendant!) or have fallen apart.
Replacement triggers (and other pieces) for old waterguns. Nothing available commercially today comes close to the old supersoakers (the legendary CPS2000 of course, but even the 1000/1200/1500/2500/2700 are pretty rare these days); building your own means a lot of engineering effort and concerns about its safety. So it's well worth being able to fix the old ones, and one of the more common problems is for the trigger (which is plastic, like almost all of the parts) to simply snap at the point where the I-shaped rod joins to the plastic square that you actually move.
This is a pretty niche hobby - I suspect it's a tiny proportion of the 3D printing market - but it's an example of a case where it would be very useful.