3D Printer for less than $400 • Hacker News Board

Re: 3D Printer for less than $400

#51

Post by pcrh » Thu, May 30, 2013, 9:11 PM UTC

iandanforth wrote: post #8

Does the market need a cheaper printer, or a better one? I've used 6 types of 3D printers. (Extrusion type, ABS or PLA) 3 from the 'consumer' grade and 3 from the 'pro' grade. Each of the consumer grade printers was an exercise in frustration. All the printers had ugly, clunky software, but the pro printers would almost always make the thing I wanted. The consumer printers I've tried take 3 or 4 failures to get 'set…

This is obviously the earliest phase in consumer adoption of 3D printers.

It kind of reminds me of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, i.e. don't expect too much (!).

Re: 3D Printer for less than $400

#52

Post by marcamillion » Thu, May 30, 2013, 9:28 PM UTC

Why does this sound almost too good to be true?

Re: 3D Printer for less than $400

#53

Post by tekacs » Thu, May 30, 2013, 9:30 PM UTC

iandanforth wrote: post #8

Does the market need a cheaper printer, or a better one? I've used 6 types of 3D printers. (Extrusion type, ABS or PLA) 3 from the 'consumer' grade and 3 from the 'pro' grade. Each of the consumer grade printers was an exercise in frustration. All the printers had ugly, clunky software, but the pro printers would almost always make the thing I wanted. The consumer printers I've tried take 3 or 4 failures to get 'set…

How about a cheaper pro printer? :P

Re: 3D Printer for less than $400

#54

Post by scott_meade » Thu, May 30, 2013, 9:57 PM UTC

It's clear Kickstarter has failed in trying to convince people that "Kickstarter is not a store".

* "I would order this..." * "I wouldn't be interested in purchasing..." * "I often buy things [from Kickstarter] in the hundreds..." * "I have no intention of actually buying a printer..."

Re: 3D Printer for less than $400

#55

Post by heywoods » Thu, May 30, 2013, 10:01 PM UTC

Their team sounds like they are just taking too much on at one time and something is going to give in the way of quality or missing deadlines. Reliable wifi connectivity, air filtration, product design, mobile apps, cloud software... The list goes on.

With 3d printing being such a community focused arena, I think a focus on building a platform where the community could hook into and develop on is the way to go.

Haven't we learned anything from companies like Zynga? The user/community will always be able to produce content and add value faster and cheaper than an in-house team can.

Focus on the hardware, a robust platform to build onto, and some example software (maybe an iOS app + PC app). Empower the community.

If you are going to go the Amazon route and win on margin you need to look at the overhead costs you are going to incur in the form of technical debt supporting all of these services. Offload the cost to the community.

Re: 3D Printer for less than $400

#56

Post by YZF » Thu, May 30, 2013, 10:01 PM UTC

Slightly off topic but I built my own CNC 3 axis milling machine (X, Y and Z) some years ago which is mostly collecting dust :-) It's pretty high precision, solid, screw/stepper drives.

If I want to convert it into a 3d printer what would be my best/cheapest route? I.e. getting a printing head and software setup to drive it all?

Re: 3D Printer for less than $400

#57

Post by protomyth » Thu, May 30, 2013, 10:06 PM UTC

I still wonder if 3D printing is going to be a one in every home thing or something more akin to copiers (copy centers, businesses, and some individuals)? I get the feeling the current direction to go would be more Xerox than Apple.

Re: 3D Printer for less than $400

#58

Post by scottrblock » Thu, May 30, 2013, 10:15 PM UTC

iandanforth wrote: post #8

Does the market need a cheaper printer, or a better one? I've used 6 types of 3D printers. (Extrusion type, ABS or PLA) 3 from the 'consumer' grade and 3 from the 'pro' grade. Each of the consumer grade printers was an exercise in frustration. All the printers had ugly, clunky software, but the pro printers would almost always make the thing I wanted. The consumer printers I've tried take 3 or 4 failures to get 'set…

Does the market need a cheaper printer, or a better one?

Isn't that the point of crowd funding? Commenters on Hacker News don't decide what the market needs, but rather the market itself does.

Re: 3D Printer for less than $400

#59

Post by piyush_soni » Thu, May 30, 2013, 10:53 PM UTC

iandanforth wrote: post #8

Does the market need a cheaper printer, or a better one? I've used 6 types of 3D printers. (Extrusion type, ABS or PLA) 3 from the 'consumer' grade and 3 from the 'pro' grade. Each of the consumer grade printers was an exercise in frustration. All the printers had ugly, clunky software, but the pro printers would almost always make the thing I wanted. The consumer printers I've tried take 3 or 4 failures to get 'set…

Well, I for one as a casual 3D printer enthusiast, would really prefer a cheap one which works with ease. It doesn't even need to be accurate to .5 millimeters, but I'll still like to buy it as long as it works for my big hobby projects, and helps me to understand and explain 3D Concepts better.

Re: 3D Printer for less than $400

#60

Post by MBCook » Thu, May 30, 2013, 11:08 PM UTC

YZF wrote: post #56

Slightly off topic but I built my own CNC 3 axis milling machine (X, Y and Z) some years ago which is mostly collecting dust :-) It's pretty high precision, solid, screw/stepper drives. If I want to convert it into a 3d printer what would be my best/cheapest route? I.e. getting a printing head and software setup to drive it all?

I believe you'll be limited in feed rate (due to the weight of the axis), but that's basically it. GCODE is used in 3D printers as well. You basically have a 1/2 built reprap.

I think your plan is all you'd need to do.