1) 3D printers are great for producing very expensive toys
If you just want a statue of Yoda for your desk, buying a $1800-3000 consumer grade 3d printer is a great way to do that. Many 3d printer owners never end up learning to build their own models, and often just end up producing toy figurines they download from http://thingiverse.com. Let's say it wasn't against copyright law to sell something like this. It'd take you 1000 prints to break even if you sold them for $5 each (assuming $2.5 in plastic per unit). If you count your time and opportunity cost, you will not ever pay the cost of the printer.2) Having one will reduce air quality in your home or lab.
Ever melt plastic with a lighter as a kid? Imagine that every time you print.3) Thankfully, 3D printers are terrible at making weapons.
Don't mind the hype, 3d printed plastic guns are going to be terrible. Unless you want a gun that will fire once or twice, likely not shoot straight, then blow up in your hands. Its more suited for super soakers than 9 millimeters.4) Parts are not even particularly strong compared to the weak plastics they are made out of
Additive process printers put down plastic in layers. This means there is some dimension (Z-axis) in which the print is likely to snap along. I have broken many pieces accidentally with my bare fingers.5) Parts are not smooth like you see on the web.
Parts you see in places like Wired magazine or on web sites have been either professionally polished, sand blasted, or printed with a much more expensive process than additive deposition (which is where are the sub $10k consumer grade printers live). It is possible to achieve results that do not have a rough finish, but it takes harsh chemicals or many hours of extra labor.
6) Learning curve
Though tools like Google Tremble Sketchup make modeling a lot more accessible, it is still beyond the skill level or desire of interest of the average computer-savvy user, especially since computing is becoming less desktop centric, toward less production-oriented and more consumption-oriented modes such as tablets and phones. This leads back to point #1.
7) Speed of print
Even though 3d-printing is Rapid Prototyping, it is not rapid when compared to many people's expectations. A good quality print often ties up a printer for an entire day, and many times the print will have to be babysat.
8) Maintenance
I fix something every day. Sometimes there's a giant blob where someone wasn't watching a print and it continued to spit plastic all over itself for hours. Other times I will come to find a jammed print head, with the printer moving around through thin air. 3D additive printers are about 1000x more labor intensive as inkjets in terms of maintenance, and I am sure all of you readers have had some experience with a broken ink jet at some point.
Not to come off as negative..
All these things being said, I do love the technology. I just want to be realistic about it and use it for the niches where it fits. Where do you think 3d printers are over-hyped? Do you think any of these points are unfair? Please leave a comment below.
I've done some of the silly things you list here, but I've had an overwhelmingly positive experience with my dirt-cheap ($600) Micro Center FlashForge/Replicator knockoff. The thing has paid for itself twice over:
ReplyDelete- Replacement parts for appliances that would have otherwise been thrown out
- Gifts, including several custom musical instruments
- Tons of scrap from failed print jobs that for some weird reason kids love playing with
What printer do you have? My biggest maintenance pain in the ~5 months I've been printing is bed-leveling. I still don't have a process down that I like, especially when swapping beds and media. I'm hoping to build an auto-level system of some sort soon.
As for polishing, if you haven't tried vapor polishing yet and you have a well-ventilated place to do it, you really should give it shot. It's pretty damn amazing to see a part go from that "eh, neat" state of layered texture to something that looks like it was injection molded on an assembly line. I use acetone for ABS (duh) and MEK for PLA. It's really nasty, but I dress up like Walter White when I do it.
Hi JFR, thanks for your comments!
ReplyDeleteI have a $400 Newegg-special Davinci at home and at work I have a Makerbot Replicator 2. When I say that I fix something everyday, actually its more like once a week, and its always the Replicator 2. The Replicator 2 takes a lot of abuse and newbie miles because its in an open lab where anyone can get to it. Often people will start a job without monitoring it at all (leaving blobs behind), misjudge the complexity of a build featuring things like overhangs, or do other sinister things such as stick wire inside the print head to try to clear it. I am sure the Davinci would be just as much of a maintenance issue if it were open for business 24 hours and for anyone.
Bed leveling is a pain. At least with the Replicator 2 there are only three set screws. I don't have any good answer for this. I tend to level it out every time at work because I don't know who has messed with the settings. At home I never level it.
I have not tried vapor polishing. Next time I have something that needs more spiff I will definitely check it out.
I would like to see some of your printed musical instruments.
I'll dig up some photos of my ukes and flutes, I think there might be some on my FB.
ReplyDeleteYou don't want or need more than three set screws to level the bed. Three points define a plane, yo. If you had more, it would be harder to level and easier to break or warp your print bed.
Hey There,
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Thank You!