To be honest I can’t think of a single process that hasn’t got cheaper once it’s become commercialised. I can imagine in 5 years that you’ll be able to buy a basic 3D printer from PC world for £99. It’s much easier to bring the price down once you get into mass production.
I still think there will be a place for makers/tinkerers even when you can buy them built for less than you can make one from scratch. Hasn’t done the home built PC marker any harm
Yeah the Up! printer is interesting. I get the impression though that 1500 really is’nt that cheap. Yes it is cheaper than a commercial machine (Dimension etc) but more expensive compared to a DIY build or even a kit. The Makerbot and Rapman are on sale for much less.
Honestly though the Commercial RP manufacturers have dug their own graves. The technology isn’t clever enough to justify the price tag they demand for their machinery much less their exorbitant consumables costs. They are attempting to take from users all of the cost difference between RP’ing a prototype part and having it made (bearing in mind tooling costs for a one off are ridiculous)
I think I need to know someone who has one before I know for real though. Something about it, the piccys, examples and the claims just doesn’t ring true. Don’t know what though. Cost in China is likely to be a tenth if you bought locally as a local. At that price difference it is almost worth the air fare.
RepRap: 1 year, 5 months ago · updated 1 year, 4 months ago · View
This is causing a stir in the MakerBot world. Some interesting comments on the Make: Blog…..
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2010/09/commercial_3d_printers_will_one_day.html#comments
I want one.
To be honest I can’t think of a single process that hasn’t got cheaper once it’s become commercialised. I can imagine in 5 years that you’ll be able to buy a basic 3D printer from PC world for £99. It’s much easier to bring the price down once you get into mass production.
I still think there will be a place for makers/tinkerers even when you can buy them built for less than you can make one from scratch. Hasn’t done the home built PC marker any harm
Yeah the Up! printer is interesting. I get the impression though that 1500 really is’nt that cheap. Yes it is cheaper than a commercial machine (Dimension etc) but more expensive compared to a DIY build or even a kit. The Makerbot and Rapman are on sale for much less.
Honestly though the Commercial RP manufacturers have dug their own graves. The technology isn’t clever enough to justify the price tag they demand for their machinery much less their exorbitant consumables costs. They are attempting to take from users all of the cost difference between RP’ing a prototype part and having it made (bearing in mind tooling costs for a one off are ridiculous)
I think I need to know someone who has one before I know for real though. Something about it, the piccys, examples and the claims just doesn’t ring true. Don’t know what though. Cost in China is likely to be a tenth if you bought locally as a local. At that price difference it is almost worth the air fare.
More than happy to be proved wrong though.