When are 3D printers going to become main stream and affordable?

[Deactivated] on 09/11/2014 - 17:48

I'd really like a 3D printer, but they all seem a bit kit like right now, and the least kit versions (Makerbot) are extremely expensive. I'd really like to get a 3D printer that doesn't need a million years fine tuning and fixing, and is cheap (under $1000) to buy. When are Epson, HP and Lexmark going to get in on this market? Printing plastic is great, but I've seen some of the high end 3D printers are now printing Titanium. Is this ever feasible for a consumer product, or will that remain in the realms of commercial use?

So my main question is: When will I be able to get a simple solution 3D printer from office works, for a reasonable price?

Computing

Comments

  • cypher67 on 09/11/2014 - 17:56
    -1

    Some of the things I have seen 3d printers do is amazing, however I seriously question the NEED for a 3d printer in your home. I can see its importance if say we were to send people to say Mars, having a 3d printer to print tools and stuff would be insanely useful. But I cant imagine anything I would want to print that I couldn't do so more economically by buying retail. I've seen guns being made via 3d printers but that's just a scary route I wouldn't like to see people go down.

    • [Deactivated] on 09/11/2014 - 18:00

      I'd like to make drone parts. Some tiny little pieces cost upwards of $30 each retail (i.e. motor mounts). I could print them for next to nothing.

    • jpl on 10/11/2014 - 10:18

      Depending on what you wanted to achieve. My son used it for lots if his school projects. Drawing and printing the parts he imagined in sketchup is a fun learning process too.

  • adamren on 09/11/2014 - 18:08
    +1

    Probably too late for the ink printer guys to get into it. Plenty of good ones out there. As for metals I think that won't be a household thing. They'll stick commercials ones in Bunnings, just bring your CAD file and wait 2 hours or up to 2 days. Some libraries in Melbourne have the plastic ones. I like the laser ones, they're precise and fine. The plastic ones on motors are over $5000 to get sub 0.1mm resolution accuracy. Most people won't require those, but it also saves on too much sanding down the rough edges.

    Like any tech, it'll keep getting better.

    I doubt they'll make printers for every home. If they did it'd be stupid: $30 to buy the machine and $100 for the 'ink' that last printing 5 or 6 little thumb sized thingys. Like the shaver and razer, or printer and ink biz.

    • [Deactivated] on 09/11/2014 - 19:15

      Thanks for the advice on the libraries, I found on that does 3d printing for $1 an hour, and I've submitted an STL file from thingiverse to try it out.

      • nmachine on 17/11/2015 - 10:57

        Which library is that?

        • [Deactivated] on 17/11/2015 - 17:18

          A fair few do it, but I've used Bentleigh in Melbourne

  • G5 on 09/11/2014 - 18:35
    +1

    You can already get a simple 3D printer from Officeworks for under $1000: http://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/cube-3d-print…

    • [Deactivated] on 09/11/2014 - 19:38

      Is it any good?

      • jpl on 09/11/2014 - 20:12

        wobbly and not stable, small build area.

  • jpl on 09/11/2014 - 20:12
    +2

    Da Vinci 1.0 http://www.kogan.com/au/buy/davinci-10-3d-printer/ is the most value for money and workable 3D printer you can get right now. Wait for Kogan's ebay sales to get a better price.

    We have 3 Up in the office and they are not even close to the built quality of Da Vinci.

    There are a lot of hacks for this model if you are curious, but it works perfectly right out of the box.

    The glass heated platform is one plus point to consider.

    • [Deactivated] on 09/11/2014 - 21:46

      Thanks, that looks great!

  • altomic on 13/11/2014 - 08:51

    When are 3D printers going to become main stream?

    according to hipsters 3D printers have been mainstream for over 12 months.

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