The new Cube 3D printer is a must have for all DIY people.
Yes! I know you can get a makerbot and yes it's maybe more in the spiret of DIY. But I must say the Cube is awsome easy to use. save your drawings in STL file and boom it's printet. No setup! just more or less PnP.
Price 1299 USD.
The print result is quite strong and with tolerance 0.2 - 0.25mm it's ok for homebrew stuff.
Have a nice Xmas and hope DIYdrones have so much more to come for in the year to come.
Comments
Well then Scott, google hacker groups and see if there is one near you. A 3D printer is a "must have" for a real hackerspace. If they have been around longer than my group it is most likely they will have a mature solution with a number of people around who knw how to drive it.
Alternatively, if you are into software and computing, you could do the drawings yourself and send it off to a commercial 3D printer.
Jack.
Main reason I am into DIY is that I can't justify spending $1,300 on my hobbies :) Some day, I'll have a laser CNC system and a 3D printer, but it probably will not be while my wife is still around...
My local Hackerspace (from which CanberraUAV was spawned) purchased an open source 3D printer - the RepRap Pro Huxley, and used a collation of free open source software. I watched in fascination on the sidelines, waiting for something routine and useful to be printed. Alas, a number of enthusiastic members took up the challenge, but it soon became apparent that the art of getting it to print something, anything, became the hobby in itself. See http://www.makehackvoid.com/member-projects/huxbox
There were many mechanical problems, heating problems, design problems, and integration problems with the various software packages. And I don't think the final assembly was much cheaper than a ready off the shelf machine with integrated software, ready to go.
Let me strongly recommend doing your research and buying something off the shelf. The ease of designing something in the software package seems to be just as important as the reliability of the machine.
For useful plastic parts, PLA seems to give much better results, and I have read that a nylon material is better still. The ABS plastic parts generated are porous, and for real strength may soak up West Systems epoxy quite well. One member is experimenting with casting aluminium parts using the lost wax molding method using parts printed in PLA.
Interesting times ahead. If you have good results with a 3D printer, please post. There must be a number of members like myself waiting on the sidelines.
Jack.
Yes, let's all welcome more-expensive-than-gold cartridges as in normal printers to 3d printing!
My point is for 1299 USD it's an easy way to make working prototypes. (It's better to have a need not than to need a have not)!
Chris and everyone, thanks for the great information. On some of my own reading, I got the impression that ABS plastic is has a bit more flex and is better with heat, but PLA is an all around solid material. Plus the latest makerbot is only another $1000. Personally I think $2200 is an amazing price for a 3d printer. With all the repositories out there, I'm having a hard time saying no.
I also feel that a big DIY person should have at least a 30w co2 laser for cutting. I had a bigger epilog (40w 24" x 12") once but didn't use it enough to justify keeping it. I might keep a cheaper smaller Chinese one just for cutting.
Hooks: I'd recommend something open source, there are tons of open source designs and kits available.
The problem with the Cube is you cant specify any print settings: can't ask for finer layers, different types of infill, speed changes mid-print etc... so you're locked into what 3d systems wants you to use for print settings. They also require you to buy plastic directly from them and not some other source so you'll end up paying a lot more for the same plastic everyone else uses except the plastic for the cube comes in a fancy cartridge.
And as Chris mentioned, its slow.
Support open source!
id like to get a 3d printer and/or a laser cutter for my hobby and hopefully work. what plastic is used to make this?
Hooks: I've played around with the Cube, and found it very easy to use, as you did. But it is a bit slow compared to the Replicator and I'm slightly concerned about its closed-source proprietary model.
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