A good size 3d printer is on sale in Aldi from the 17th as seen in the new catalog. The printer has more details at this website http://www.cocooncreate.com.au/ Lots of other 3d printing related items as well on sale:
3d printing pen 1.75mm ABS/PLA $79.99
PLA 3d Filament 1kg spool in green, grey blue and black $34.99
That actually covers 99% of the 'problems' and realistically is a great review for a Prusa i3.
Plus it appears from the Cocoon pictures that they have improved many of the bits, such as the Y-axis cantilever, and the extruder head is a Mk10 rather than the Mk6 he has there.
The more im looking at it the more I am tempted to grab one from Aldi to scavenge for bits to upgrade my Prusa i3 with some newer tech.
why not the other way around; use the Aldi and scavenge your old for parts?
@Blitzfx:
Because there are advantages to my current setup, mainly how my frame is designed and built (double braced laser cut 6mm 6061 aluminium).
Hmm, I just watched the videos and the belt on the x axis still touches the railing sliders. A problem that the wanhao also has.
@ntebis:
Easily fixable with a strip of Kapton tape… which you will need anyway to coat the print surface with to make ABS easier to release.
I guess that's for the version 1
V2 (one aldi sells) has some what fair review here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAsaRk26-Gc
nice find
Even if you could, would you trust it not to blow up in your hand?
thats why i test first
mythbuster style
string trigger
after many tests you would know
firearms laws apply equally to 3D printed guns. In NSW there is a ban on possessing files used to 3d print guns.
And I would have thought Australia-wide.
Get a license before playing with any guns.
Weapons of any sort are not toys, even extruded in your own garage.
I suspect the authorities are onto the dangers from this kind of thing and it is likely this printer cannot produce thick enough parts consistently.
Very much consumer-grade.
Separate model-style parts and items that simulate the movement or show design aspects may be okay?
But keep it an obvious non-metallic colour and non-weapon like.
I was wondering when aldi would start selling a 3d printer..
Now in 2016 it has come true.
Can I use it to print another 3d printer and then return this one for credit within the 60 days ?
Just remember to return the duplicate and keep the working original.
A big problem, if the linked web page is correct:
"Supported Filaments Cocoon Create Branded PLA / ABS / PVA / HIPS"
So we're back to the "printers and ink" model. You can only use THEIR brand of filament. We all know how inexpensive printer ink is, don't we?
Can't wait for these things to become mainstream. Ebay consumables will follow. I suppose we're 1-2 years away?
pretty sure there is cheap filaments already
Give Australia couple more years still
Plenty of eBay consumables. I buy 1kg rolls of ABS or PLA for $28+post. Although with the postage cost it would probably be cheaper to buy the PLA from Aldi next week if you only wanted on roll.
But thats when u go and get compatible stuff like you would with a printer. Should be even easier with stuff. They're just plastic wires arent they?
Except there's a chip in the reel, to verify the "authenticity" of the reel. The printer won't work if the chip isn't present.
My workplace bought a $25K 3D printer a few years ago, with the same limitation. There aren't any third-party suppliers that can get around the chip limitation. And you can't reload the reel with filament either, the chip says "there is 1000g of filament on this reel", and it decrements as you use it. Even if you re-load the reel, the chip still says "there is 0g of filament on this reel", and the printer won't use it.
Our Zebra card printer goes one step further. They region-lock their cartridges! A cartridge from China won't work with a printer from Australia. The ribbon is exactly the same otherwise. The chip is removable but it keeps track of the number of prints too. Ridiculous.
If you take a look at the video about loading/unloading filament, it looks like it's literally just hanging on a metal bracket - I don't see a chip reader or any kind of wiring coming from it
Probably uses RFID or NFC.
Possibly there isn't a requirement to use branded filament - but you can't find out until you try. Will Aldi take it back under the 60-day return policy, after you have used some of the filament? It's not like the average Aldi item that can be re-packaged and re-sold.
All the chip-"limited" 3D printers I've seen do have easy workarounds. You shouldn't have to do it, but you can.
Can't you just print a new reel & chip? Its a 3d printer it can do everything :-)
With regard to the Cocoon printer, your claim as to the presence of an authentication chip is complete nonsense. The printer is a rebranded Wanhao Duplicator i3, and there is no such restriction. As far as I can see the only change to the firmware is the custom logo on the opening screen of the LCD. Any 1.75mm PLA, ABS, PETG, etc from any manufacturer is quite acceptable, bearing in mind that some manufacturers have better quality control than others.
The Wanhao i3 is a pretty basic Prusa i3 copy. Even if it is a coded filament design all it should take is reflashing the hardware to the open source design. If not it would cost all of $15 to get a new Arduino Mega to replace the existing board.
Also at $35 for a 1kg roll of PLA it is roughly on par with a retail marked up eBay roll, so exceedingly doubtful it is chipped.
The Prusa i3 is quite a robust design, and the Cocoon/Wanhao implementation of it looks to be well thought out and well done. If i didnt already have a Prusa i would seriously consider this.
roughly on par with a retail marked up eBay roll, so exceedingly doubtful it is chipped.
A lot of manufacturers sell the consumables cheaply while they are marketing the printer. Once they stop selling the printer, the consumables rise sharply in price.
A long ago I had a Canon Typestar 7 typewriter. While they were selling the typewriter, the ribbons (20 pages) were $3.50 each. At the time, that was quite reasonable. Once they stopped selling the typewriter (about 1 year later), the ribbons abruptly changed to $15 each.
So you are suggesting that once they stop selling the printer every single other retailer of ABS/PLA filament rolls jacks up the price…?
It is a roll of filament, no chip, no nothing. The Prusa hardware is open source and not hardware locked.
The Prusa hardware
You're making an assumption there, unless you've found it somewhere on the website that I haven't found. It would be dead easy for them to modify something, say the filament feed gear diameter, so that the standard open-source firmware won't work. Yes you could modify the firmware if you have the skills to do so, but not everyone has those skills.
Its 1.75mm diameter filament, one of two standard diameters. The Cocoon is a rebranded Wanhao as above, the Wanhao is just a standard i3 spec with a pressed sheet steel design.
About the only thing they could do is to flash the firmware with something different, but even then the instructions on reprap.org are straight forward (its an Arduino), and if you can work with stls and Cura (the slicer software) then you can definitely flash firmware.
It would be dead easy for them to modify something, say the filament feed gear diameter, so that the standard open-source firmware won't work.
Why do you keep spreading incorrect and totally wrong information?
Why do you keep attacking everyone? I pointed out that poterble was making an assumption, and gave a way that the assumption could be wrong. If you can prove that it's wrong, then prove it.
@Russ: It's a cheap Chinese printer and it would be pretty unlikely that they bothered to spend time and money on developing a system of chip filament. It just wouldn't happen when they are selling against the other Chinese copies of various designs that can use filament sourced from anywhere. There is no cartridige type spool setup found on the chipped filament printers.
If you can prove that it's wrong, then prove it
So you want me to prove a negative? Why don't you look at the open source code for the printer and get back to us.
so your prusa can use any filament?
Pretty much. Filament comes in 2 diameters, 1.75mm and 3mm and 2 types, PLA and ABS. My nozzle and extruder is setup for 1.75mm, but with a slight change can be used with 3mm as well. ABS and PLA require different temperatures, but that is all done in software so long as your extruder can handle both.
Some filaments feed better than others on my printer, but that is just due to where i have placed the roll holder and how the filament is wound onto the reel. Shifting the reel holder to the top of the unit like it is on the Cocoon/Wanhao would fix the issue i occasionally have.
It may be that there is no chip but that they will say your warranty is good if they find out you were using other filaments
they can't prove the plastic you used is any different unless they used molecular analysis which would cost more than what the printer is worth; or you used a type of filament that they don't sell, like different colour or one of those glow / thermal change ones.
Hello tzar,
While other brands of filament are available in the marketplace, we recommend that the printer use Cocoon Create filament.
Please understand that if another brand filament were to cause a fault with the Cocoon 3D printer, then this may not necessarily be covered by warranty.
Kind Regards,
John
ok good so it isn't barcoded/RFID etc locked
Can I print a hot girlfriend?
You wish.
What, you want to create life by squirting hot stuff from a nozzle?
Hah
You can print hot Barbie using this.
Surely this wasn't even funny in your head?
It would be cheaper to rent one.
It would be even cheaper to not buy one or rent one.
3d printing consumables are expensive so, like a hot girlfriend, it will burn through all of your money maintaining it
Thanks for that post. Like a midget at a urinal, I will have to stay on my toes.
3D printer consumables vary widely in price across the global spectrum of suppliers. Some are quite reasonable, others a complete rip-off – you soon get to know which is which. Most common filament roll size is 1 kg. You can print an awful lot of stuff with a kilogram of plastic filament. In Australia look to pay around $35-$39 per kilogram for ordinary PLA or ABS, with the more exotic filaments costing more – sometimes considerably more – but often in smaller rolls.
with the more erotic filaments costing more…but often in smaller rolls.
Fixed, for context.
yes.. for about less than a second/layer it remains your hot girlfriend .. same principle goes into creating an alien colored hot barbie or a hot dog.
Look at the price of filament. It may be cheaper to rent a girlfriend.
200mm x 200mm x 180mm
Pretty small but remember, it's not the size that matters…
That's big enough to print toys for a girl friend.
Cheaper to just grow some cucumbers.
Actually that's quite large for a bargain priced consumer printer.
I dare say you could probably print the part of her you want the most.
Its plastic based , not silicone
Well she's start out hot but cool on printing. Plus that'd just be some weird science.
Cool tech, but seems to be useless for anything except making non-functioning prototypes. The plastic is too weak for most spare parts.
If I want a model thats only good for looking at, I'll put on some 3D glasses and use my PC thanks.
This tech has more hype than VR or the Segway, but is even more useless. Like both it does have some niche applications.
Maybe when it is faster, and can colour the model surface at consumer prices, I'll look again.
Does anyone here have a genuine use for these?
making custom cookie cutters :)
Keep it mind the material isn't really food safe, so I would think twice before doing that
Hmmm… I know someone who does it and sells them. Maybe she has some food safe plastic.
Either way I'm not going to fork out $500 to make some cookie cutters.
Keep it mind the material isn't really food safe, so I would think twice before doing that
PLA consists of ingredients like corn, potato and tapioca so why isn't this food safe when testing has proven that it is.
ABS has a food safe version available as well.
It also has to do with the material being porous, and as such bacteria will grow in it. you can always acetone bathe it for it to be 'safe'
It also has to do with the material being porous, and as such bacteria will grow in it. you can always acetone bathe it for it to be 'safe'
Food safe has nothing to do with a design being porus but the material used. The plastic is food safe, the design however may need smoothing depending on the purpose.
ABS is not food safe, PLA is. Look it up and you will find that PLA is made from "renewable resources, such as corn starch (in the United States and Canada), tapioca roots, chips or starch (mostly in Asia), or sugarcane (in the rest of the world)". There are many other filament types, such as nylon, which are probably OK also, but I don't know personally – you can look them up yourself. Just consider all the kitchen utensils that are made of plastic.
I was hoping the plastic may be strong enough for such things as parts for car window winders, mimicking hard to find switch knobs and door pulls ect, but I suspect a metal sintering 3D printer @ $499 is a little way off yet - perhaps when the up-and coming new-tech Papuan economy starts undercutting the Chinese status-quo…
but I suspect a metal sintering 3D printer @ $499
How about a CNC machine instead?
Three coat-hangers and three separate phases…. [thinks…] :-) Nah, that's just a lathe with attitude…
ABS is more than strong enough for most parts. I have been slowly stopping my over engineering and am using less and less infill for various parts. Nylon is also readily available for 3d Printers.
Nice one - it's probably stronger than the original Daew** part - I think the window winder ratchet was done cheap with the rejects from LG's DVD writer's eject mechanism..
I was hoping the plastic may be strong enough for such things as parts for car window winders, mimicking hard to find switch knobs and door pulls ect, but I suspect a metal sintering 3D printer @ $499 is a little way off yet…
Making one-off replacement components is exactly what home/hobby 3D printing is really good for. You just need to use the right type of plastic for the job. PLA is no good for components for an automobile interior, as the melting point (I think they call it glass transition point or something like that) is low enough that it would soften inside a car in summer. And although you wouldn't need it for that sort of component, metal impregnated filaments are readily available – even magnetic filaments. Most of those exotic types would be OK for use with the i3 printer, though you may have to change the nozzle from brass to stainless steel (a cheap and simple upgrade), as some of those exotic filaments can be quite abrasive and your 0.4mm nozzle will soon begin to grow into a much bigger hole!
Works adequately for making cases for electronics, and for mounting brackets for circuit boards. The printed plastic is not strong in tension, but okay in compression. Note also that the prints are porous - they won't hold a liquid.
Some people use PLA filament to make a prototype, then use the "lost wax method" to make a metal casting of the spare part they want. Here's somebody who used plaster of paris for the mold: http://3dtopo.com/lostPLA/
Note also that the prints are porous - they won't hold a liquid.
Why do you persist in posting false information?
The printed plastic is not strong in tension, but okay in compression.
There are different plastics with different characteristics. PLA and ABS are different and two common types. ABS is the same plastic used in Lego and you claim it's not strong!
I have several 3D prints on the desk beside me, and I can suck air through them. Definitely porous.
Lego isn't made the same way, even though it's made of the same material. Would you claim fiberglass insulation is as strong as a sheet of glass? Or that chipboard is as strong as solid wood?
I have several 3D prints on the desk beside me, and I can suck air through them. Definitely porous.
Great so you're basing your knowledge on having a few poorly printed 3D objects. LOL.
Lego isn't made the same way, even though it's made of the same material.
We've already ascertained that you know nothing at all about 3D printing so why not quit.
Art? I've got a project in mind that needs a ton of replicated little parts that I already have the 3D file for, I'd love to just print them!
Some public libraries have 3D printers available for public use. In Brisbane it's only the State Library of Queensland, but there are several in Sydney and Melbourne, and there are others too.
Usually you have to use their filament, and pay them for the usage. But if it's only a single print job you have to do, almost certainly it will be cheaper, and you can probably get assistance and advice if you have any questions.
Huh, awesome, I'm in NSW, I'll check it out! Thanks :)
3dhubs.com may also be helpful for those not willing or able to spend the money on their own printer.
I have prototyped many things with my Prusa i3, including various mounting brackets, fixes for kids toys, drone parts, bike parts, drawer handles, stupid fiddly little interlocking tabs that break off. Plenty of the prototypes are still in use as well.
Plenty of commercial uses as well, know many people using it to prototype brake uprights and hub designs etc.
We use PLA plastic at work for prototyping mechanical parts.
They're perfectly fine so long as you understand that plastic won't stand up to 100G of force or 5Nm of torque etc.
You design the part appropriately for the prototyping purpose then adjust appropriately when you switch to machined metals; ie. print at 100% fill density with extra support on locations of high stress
How weak is this plastic exactly? Would you have any household items you could compare it to?
You are grossly misinformed. Each filament type has its pros and cons. Bumper bars are often made out of ABS.
Does anyone here have a genuine use for these?
FFS man, jump on YouTube and take a look at all the hundreds of videos of people engaging in practical projects. Also, check out the uses for the 3D printer on the International Space Station. NASA has declared that it would not attempt a Mars trip without 3D printers on-board. The reason should be obvious.
Looks very similar to the Wanhao i3 Duplicator.
http://www.wanhao3dprinter.com/Find/ShowArticle.asp?ArticleI…