
What you need to know about buying a 3D printer - iamwil
http://blog.cubehero.com/2013/04/12/what-you-need-to-know-about-buying-a-3d-printer/
======
iqster
One thing that should be noted is the burning smell of ABS plastic. I got a 3D
printer in my office that is currently serving as a paperweight on my desk.
That is until I get access to a lab with an exhaust hood.

All my previous experiences with 3D printers had been in outdoor/well
ventilated environments so this issue hasn't come up. I'm surprised how little
people have talked about this.

~~~
iamwil
It does get talked about, but mostly in the depths of 3D printing forums,
rather than on blogs. ABS fumes seem to affect different people differently.
Some people are rather unaffected, and others get slight headaches. PLA fumes
smell more pleasant (some say like popcorn) by comparison, but that doesn't
mean it's good for you.

<http://forums.reprap.org/read.php?1,40296,40355,quote=1>

On the forums, there are links to toxicology datasheets if you like to look
into it.

I always print in a well-ventilated space. Do you think it'd help if I added a
section on this?

~~~
iqster
I think this is an important issue. I didn't think about fumes when I got the
printer. Someone who sat next to me started getting headaches. Also, another
colleague was concerned about the effect of burning ABS on reproductive health
(she pointed me at a study which I don't have a pointer to now). To run these
devices in a corporate environment, it isn't enough that I be satisfied with a
scientific paper (rightly so .. I'm a computer scientist and this is not my
expertise).

Edit: Thank you for the link. It helps to educate myself on the topic!

------
JDDunn9
For me, the biggest hurdle to 3D printing is the cost of the filament. It's
plastic for goodness sake. Are companies just using the traditional economics
of printing (cheap printer, expensive ink), or is this stuff actually
expensive to make?

~~~
iamwil
The cost of the filament is about $30 to $50 per kg. In practice, I've found
that a spool lasts me for about 2 or 3 months with vigorous printing.
Otherwise, it lasts me about 6 months with less frequent printing.

There are people making machines that recycle the plastic to make your own
filament. This means that you can buy ABS pellets for much cheaper and roll
your own. Search for the Filabot or the Lyman Extruder.

I'm not as familiar with the filament industry as I should be, but I do know
that the quality of your filament makes a big difference in the quality of
your prints. Because 3D printers are open systems, there's no feedback as to
how much plastic is actually extruded. 3D printers depend on the filament to
have a consistent diameter in order to make good prints. Because the layer
heights are so small, and a change in diameter is a squared change in area
cross-section of the filament, any slight changes to the diameter will affect
the amount extruded, and hence the quality of your prints. So quality control
probably adds to the cost of the plastics, but with good reason.

So far, the 3D printing community hasn't succumbed to lock-in of printing
material like the inkjet printers. All the material is interchangeable between
printers

~~~
phunge
Yep, everybody agrees that filament should be cheaper, so much so that they
ran a contest with a $40k prize: <http://desktopfactory2012.istart.org/>. That
was won by the Lyman extruder. See also filastruder (derived from Lyman's
design), currently on kickstarter:
[http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/833191773/filastruder-a-...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/833191773/filastruder-
a-robust-inexpensive-filament-extruder)

------
cschmidt
The Make Ultimate Guide to 3D Printing is a pretty good resource for "what you
need to know", if you want more information on this subject.

[http://www.amazon.com/Make-Ultimate-
Guide-3D-Printing/dp/144...](http://www.amazon.com/Make-Ultimate-
Guide-3D-Printing/dp/1449357377)

~~~
iamwil
OP here, yes. I thought this was a pretty good in-depth guide, and I link to
it at the end of my post.

~~~
cschmidt
Ah, so you did. Sorry, I missed that at the end.

------
lnanek2
As a non-fan of 3D printing, I did need to use one for a project once or twice
and it was better just to use one at a coworking space or friendly company.
There are also services online, which may be the only affordable option if you
need something like multiple colors considering how expensive that is to own.
So anyway, keep in mind you may not need to buy one at all.

------
JoshTriplett
I wonder how long it'll take before desktop DMLS machines become viable?

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DMLS>

