Throughout most of this book, I’ve referenced the Printrbot Simple and provided photos and screenshots of the various software and objects I’ve used while tinkering with this inexpensive 3D printer. As of this writing, the Printrbot Simple is the lowest-priced entry into the 3D printing hobby.
However, new products and technologies appear constantly, and prices rarely sit still. With that in mind, I want to close out the book by discussing some 3D printer options that are currently available and some new technologies that are not far off for hobbyists.
One of the great things about the 3D printing hobby is how your skills and knowledge transfer so easily. Should you choose to upgrade to a new, more powerful 3D printer, you’ll probably find, as most of us who have been in the hobby for a while have learned, that things just get easier. That learning curve doesn’t feel so steep after a while, and you may find yourself looking for new challenges and new technologies to explore.
Let’s take a look at where you might go next. You may have started reading this book without a 3D printer, with a Printrbot Simple, or have some other brand and model, so feel free to skip the sections that no longer apply to you. I won’t be offended.
Kits and preassembled 3D printers are great. The out-of-the-box solutions mean you can focus more on the software side and be ready to print immediately (or as soon as you have a model downloaded and your computer connected). The kit solutions save you the time (and the hassle) of having to locate, purchase, ship, and gather all the parts necessary to put together a 3D printer.
But here’s the thing: 3D printing has been described as a never-ending addiction, and many 3D printer hobbyists say that they can’t seem to stop at owning just one. You may not believe me when I say that, but I have a strong feeling that after you’ve gotten comfortable with your current 3D printer and all its moving parts, you might start wishing for a larger print bed, or a higher resolution hot end, or maybe even multicolor printing. You’ll start developing a mental checklist of all these features and capabilities that your current 3D printer lacks, and you’ll want to upgrade or purchase a new 3D printer.
Fortunately, there’s always going to be a bigger, better 3D printer available. Unfortunately, that bigger, better 3D printer isn’t always in your price range. Or in stock. Or even available in your country (shipping costs for 3D printers overseas can sometimes nearly equal the value of the actual printer itself).
So here’s a suggestion: build your own. Yes, I’m referring to building your own 3D printer from the ground up—picking the motors, the hot end, the extruder(s), the electronics, and even the frame components. I know it may sound a little intimidating, but if you’ve made it this far into the book, I hope you have a good idea of just how few parts are required to get a 3D printer working.
A great place to start is with some of the many online forums that cover 3D printing. The grand-daddy 3D printer of them all, the Rep Rap (shown in Figure 10.1), has one of the largest fan bases around, and I can pretty much guarantee that any question you may have has already been asked and answered on the official Rep Rap forum at http://forums.reprap.org. There you’ll find thousands of Rep Rap users who have built their own 3D printers along with photos, detailed component lists, and instructions for duplicating their work. You’ll also want to take a look at the official wiki page, http://reprap.org/wiki/Main_Page.
What’s great about already owning a 3D printer when you’re considering building your own is that you’ll also have the capability to print many of the parts that will go into the build-it-yourself (BIY) 3D printer using your existing printer. Gears, connector pieces, and much more can also be printed with your current 3D printer, saving you some money. If your 3D printer doesn’t have the capability to print some of the larger parts required, you can always find individuals online who are willing to sell them to you for a small fee.
In addition to the Rep Rap wiki and forum, here are two more places to start your research if you’re considering sourcing your own components and building a 3D printer from scratch:
I highly recommend a great product for building your 3D printer’s frame—OpenBeam. These aluminum beams (shown in Figure 10.2) are perfect for creating the shell that will hold your 3D printer, and the best part is that the nuts and bolts used to connect all the parts can be purchased at a local hardware store; you won’t have proprietary bolts or hard-to-find nuts to hunt down. Even better, visit openbeamusa.com and you can download the files needed to print the plastic connectors. You can buy these connectors from OpenBeam, but why not put your 3D printer to work for you and save some money?
How much money might you save? That’s a hard question to answer given just how many variations on a 3D printer you could come up with—size of print bed, number of extruders, type of hot-end, and even size and type of motors. If you purchase a BIY (Build It Yourself) kit from a manufacturer, you’ll usually see savings of between $100 and $400, but if you hunt down all the parts on your own, you could feasibly save even more money if you look for sales of the various electronics parts. Frequently manufacturers will have sales on their parts when they are preparing to start selling a newer model—keep an eye on websites that sell individual components (such as printrbot.com, makerbot.com, and others) and you’ll frequently see items sold at reduced prices.
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One word of warning—when buying 3D printer parts individually, be sure to keep track of shipping costs. You might save $10 on a hot-end from Source A and $20 on three motors from Source B. But if you end up paying $15 in shipping costs for each supplier, you might find that the savings disappear quickly. When possible, try to order individual components from a single source, so the parts can be boxed up and shipped in one package.
This section is directed at those 3D printer owners who purchased an out-of-the-box solution. There is absolutely nothing wrong with purchasing a 3D printer that’s already assembled and is ready to start printing. Most of the time you can be assured that the printer has been tested before being shipped and that all its parts are oriented correctly, the nuts have been tightened properly, and the electronics work as desired.
Many 3D printer kits allow you to pick and choose from a limited number of options. You may find one seller that offers the same 3D printer with different print bed sizes. Another seller may allow you to select from a couple of extruder options. And yet another seller may offer models in different colors. Printrbot, for example, currently offers four different kits as shown in Figure 10.3. Some of those kits allow you to pick a few customization options, such as selecting between a 1.75mm or 3mm hot end.
Kits are typically priced at a little less than a fully assembled printer, but many sellers will give you a huge price break if you’re willing to buy a kit and put it together yourself. I’ve seen price differences from $100 up to around $400 depending on the brand. Keep in mind that assembling a printer means assigning an employee to build it. And shipping a fully assembled 3D printer is going to (usually) require a much larger box than one where all the parts can be packed flat and in a smaller box. By ordering a kit, you’re saving the seller time and money, and a lot of sellers offer some steep discounts to customers who want to build it themselves.
As you read earlier in the book, however, kits should make you pause and do some deeper investigation. You’ll want to check out reviews (if they exist) of the 3D printer kits you are considering and see what customers are saying. Are there complaints about missing parts? Do customers mention having to frequently call tech support? What about the 3D printer working when it’s all assembled? Although a 3D printer may not be as expensive as a new car, this doesn’t mean you should buy the first 3D printer that catches your eye. Get on forums, ask around, and find out which companies are offering great printers and great tech support.
If you’re looking for some 3D printer kits, this chapter isn’t long enough to list all the various kits for sale. Many companies offer kits. Again, I’m going to point you to http://www.3ders.org. On the website’s home page, click the Price Compare tab shown in Figure 10.4, and then click the 3D Printer option that appears. You’ll be provided with an updated list containing all the various companies that offer kits (and preassembled printers), along with a link to each company’s website. The list is organized by lowest-price 3D printer to highest, so you’ll also be able to quickly find companies that offer printers that fall within your price range. Keep in mind that this list is by no means complete; new 3D printers seem to appear almost weekly.
If you’re not familiar with Kickstarter, here is a very brief explanation. Kickstarter is a website that allows individuals and companies to pitch their ideas to the world while asking for financial help. These ideas can be anything from a band needing to raise funds for some studio time to a stay-at-home dad needing financial help to publish his Cookbook for Kids. People post proposals for books, music, food, fashion, and more. The pitch is made along with a financial goal. The idea is to woo backers to provide a bit of the money needed to make the goal a reality. It should come as no surprise that many small businesses (and even individuals) are reaching out to Kickstarter to help raise funds to create new 3D printers. Backers can chip in any amount, from as little as $1.00 to $1,000s. The typical reward is an actual 3D printer, fresh from the assembly line, sent to a backer who provides a specific level of funding. The draw of Kickstarter isn’t only to be the first on the block to get a company’s new 3D printer but also to get it at a slightly lower price than it may be sold at retail.
This is exactly how Printrbot got started. Owner Brook Drumm pitched his idea for the original Printrbot on Kickstarter and asked backers to help him raise $25,000 to produce about 50–100 of his first Printrbot 3D printer. He ended up raising $830,827 in about 30 days (see Figure 10.5.)
Over 1,800 backers chipped in the money needed to allow Brook to make his dream a reality. He offered more than a dozen different backer levels, but a minimum pledge of $499 would provide one backer with a Printrbot kit and all the parts and electronics necessary to build it. Higher backer levels offered larger versions of the kit that Brook quickly prototyped and created after seeing the initial demand and hearing backer requests for a larger printer.
Printrbot wasn’t the first 3D printer on Kickstarter, but it was one of the most successful. Since then, Kickstarter has continually offered a number of 3D printers and kits to backers. It’s one of the best ways to get a new 3D printer at a great price, but it also comes with risks. Kickstarter projects often fail to raise enough funds (backers are charged only if full funding is received) so some projects never get off the ground. Other projects raise the funds but through lack of proper financial oversight and discipline, sometimes run out of funds. There are even a couple of Kickstarter projects where the project owners took the money and ran—this is rare, but it does happen. Do your homework and investigate as best you can any Kickstarter project before you toss in your financial support.
When dealing with Kickstarter, your best bet is to ask questions, weigh the financial risks, and consider the source. I backed the original Printrbot, and I have to tell you that agreeing to pay $500 to someone I’d never met for a product that I’d never seen in person was a big leap of faith. But Brook answered backer questions, provided videos of working printers, and presented himself as someone that backers could trust.
I finally did meet Brook in person in April at Maker Faire 2012 in San Mateo, California. He was there to demonstrate his latest printer, the Printrbot Jr and to deliver products to backers (who had backed him in December 2011).
Speaking of Kickstarter and 3D printers, there’s another huge 3D printer success story that you should know about—the Form 1. The Form 1 was a 3D printer project looking to raise $100,000 that ultimately raised almost $3 million—$2,945,885 to be exact. The Form 1 is a type of stereolithography printer; instead of melting and extruding plastic, it uses a laser to heat up a special chemical that hardens. It builds up objects in layers just like the Simple, but it’s a much more complex (and expensive) type of 3D printer. Still, more than 2,000 backers chose to chip in the funding necessary to make the Form 1 shown in Figure 10.6 a reality.
The quality of objects printed on the Form 1 far exceeds those objects printed using extruded plastic. But so does the price. Right now, stereolithography 3D printers typically cost between $2,000 and $50,000. Give them a few more years, and they may very well replace the extruded plastic versions of 3D printers. But for now, they’re still quite costly as entry-level devices.
Hobbyist versions of 3D printers have come a long way in the past few years, and the quality of many 3D objects printed has increased so dramatically that with some higher-end hobbyist 3D printers, it’s difficult to tell a printed object from something molded out of plastic. However, this level of quality comes from a more expensive printer—something not available to most homes or schools. So what do you do if you find yourself needing to print out an item in plastic but need a higher level of print quality than what your current 3D printer offers and you can’t afford (or don’t want) a higher-priced 3D printer? Easy. You outsource it.
A number of 3D printing services will take your 3D model files and print them for you at a much higher resolution and quality, and not just in plastic. Metals, ceramics, and many other materials are available if you’ve got the funds. Given the high cost of these specialty 3D printers, you may very well find that having your object printed by a third party is an ideal solution.
Two of the biggest names in 3D printing services are Shapeways and Sculpteo. Both allow users to upload their digital 3D model files and then select the material, size, color, and print quality, as shown in Figure 10.7. Provide your credit card number and in a few days to weeks, you’ll be holding your submitted 3D object in your hands.
Both Sculpteo (sculpteo.com) and Shapeways (shapeways.com) offer users basic tools to create custom 3D objects. Sculpteo, for example, has a very simple 3D modeling CAD application that runs right from your web browser and lets you create things like keychains, 3D letters, or even a 3D object from a photo or image. Shapeways offers access to a number of custom creation apps, such as a ring designer or a custom poker chip creation app, as shown in Figure 10.8.
Shapeways and Sculpteo aren’t the only two print-it-for-you services. Many more are popping up all over, especially as more and more people discover 3D design and printing. Not everyone has the funds to buy a 3D printer, let alone the desire to own one. For someone with very limited and occasional 3D printing needs, it is quite possible that investing in a 3D printer may not make good financial sense.
3D printers aren’t the only game in town when it comes to designing your own things. A 3D printer is great for allowing you to take a 3D object you’ve created in software and then make it real, but a 3D printer isn’t the only tool available to hobbyists, parents, teachers, and students.
Consider that if you’ve learned your way around any of the number of CAD design applications out there (such as Tinkercad or any of AutoDesk’s tools), you’ve also opened the door to other useful “maker tools,” namely a CNC machine and a laser cutter. You may not be familiar with these tools, but you’ll be happy to know that learning to use them will be considerably easier if you’ve gotten comfortable with CAD and using a 3D printer.
Entire books have been written about CNC machines, and the reason for the lack of books on laser cutters is probably because of their high price. I don’t have room in this chapter to go over every technical detail about CNC and laser cutters, so I’ll explain them relative to the 3D printer knowledge you now possess.
A 3D printer creates objects by building them up in layers. This is called an additive process because something (plastic, for example) is being added over and over to create a three-dimensional object.
Now compare this to the subtractive process of a CNC machine. CNC stands for Computer Numerical Control machine. Just as you use a computer to control the motors of a 3D printer to deposit molten plastic in specific spots, a CNC machine uses a computer to control motors that move a milling bit around to cut away material at specific spots.
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A CNC machine is all about taking away, not adding. A 3D printer places molten plastic (or other material) onto the work surface to create an object. A CNC machine takes away material (such as wood) so that what’s left behind becomes the desired object.
Take wood, for example. If you’ve seen a master carver use a knife to whittle away bits and pieces of wood to create a sculpture, you’re getting the basic idea of a CNC machine. Because a computer is capable of much finer movements (using special motors, like servos), with the right milling bit, amazingly complex and detailed items can be created in wood, plastic, metal, and dozens more materials (depending on the strength of the milling bit and other factors). Take a look at Figure 10.9 and you can see an example of the kinds of objects that can be made using a popular CNC machine called a ShopBot (www.shopbottools.com).
CNC machines come in all shapes and sizes, from small, shoebox-size milling machines to garbage-truck-size machines. Some of them operate only in the three basic axes (X, Y, and Z), whereas others bring additional features, such as the capability to cut while the object spins (called the fourth axis) like a lathe.
And what about a laser cutter? The name should give you some very obvious clues about what it does. It uses a high-wattage laser beam to cut out objects. This work is done in only two dimensions (X and Y). Although creating flat objects to be cut out is much easier than designing a 3D object, laser cutters are still considerably more dangerous to operate than a 3D printer. Laser cutters can damage eyes and skin if not used properly, and there’s also always the risk of fire because of the high heat of the laser beam being used on raw material.
Again, I mention CNC machines and laser cutters only to give you additional tools to research and discover. Just as there are websites and forums devoted to 3D printing, you’ll find matching resources available for CNC and laser cutters.
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Want another nonstandard tool for your workshop? (By nonstandard, I mean tools that don’t include standard stuff like a drill press, table saw, router, and the like). In addition to a 3D printer, laser cutter, and CNC machine, you might also find a plasma cutter useful. It’s much more of a fire hazard, but it can cut through thick metals like butter. It operates similar to a laser cutter and cuts shapes from sheet metal. As with any tool, do your research and know the risks and dangers that come from operating that tool.
You learned earlier in this book how to create your own 3D models using CAD software such as Tinkercad, but you’ll be happy to know that you don’t always have to start from scratch. Enter the 3D Scanner.
Just as a scanner can scan a printed photo or document and create a digital version that is stored as a file on your computer, a 3D scanner can scan a 3D object and convert it into a file that can work with a 3D printer.
Take a look at Figure 10.10 and you’ll see one of the newest products from MakerBot called the MakerBot Digitizer.
In a nutshell, you place an object on the front plate. This plate rotates and a special camera on the Digitizer takes digital pictures of the object. These images are then assembled using special software that creates a 3D model suitable for printing. The Digitizer is designed to connect directly to a MakerBot Replicator 2 so that you can scan an object and send it directly to the Replicator 2 to be printed in plastic. But the Digitizer can also save your scanned object to a file that can be used with the 3D printer of your choice.
Obviously the size of the object you can scan is limited to an object that can fit inside a circle with a diameter of 8 inches (approximately 20cm) and a maximum height of 8 inches. (If you’ve got kids, imagine being able to scan in one of those crazy-complex LEGO pieces and being able to scan it in and print out as many as you’d like!)
Just as 3D printers continue to drop in price and become easier to use, so will 3D scanners. The day is fast approaching where you’ll be able to scan in larger objects and create as many as you need—imagine printing special chairs for party guests and then recycling them when you’re done. Don’t laugh—one day you’ll be printing all sorts of objects either from scans or downloaded files. The future of 3D printing (and scanning) is really just getting started, and it’s going to be a fun ride seeing what comes next.