This. With free shipping on everything, and a shower curtain including 12 rings costing $10, an iPhone case costing $3.50, I think the 3D printer would take a long time to break even.
Without considering that a set of shower rings can last 5 years or more... I think this study is obviously bogus. I honestly can't think about any bunch of stand-alone plastic items I spend $2000 on every year.
Exactly. The actual paper is behind a paywall that I have access to. So below I'll include a list of their 20 items. I can't imagine buying any of these annually. The bulk of the $2000 claim comes from two items which significantly skew the statistics.
The first is a medical orthotic, the retail price of which they set at $800, and which the majority of people in the world without fallen arches/foot problems will never need.
The second is a shower head which they price at $437.22. Again, you don't buy a shower head every year, the $400+ ones will have a 10-year warranty and are going to be of significantly better quality than what comes out of a 3-D printer.
Additionally, in a clear attempt to boost costs, 6 out of the 20 items are overpriced Apple accessories: iPhone 5 dock, iPhone 4 dock, iPhone 5 case, iPad stand, Nano watchband, and an iPhone tripod.
The full list of 20 items:
iPhone 5 dock
iPhone 4 dock
iPhone 5 case
Jewelry organizer
Garlic press
Caliper
Wall plate
12 x Shower curtain rings
Shower head
Key hanger (3 hooks)
iPad stand
Orthotic
Safety razor
Pickup
Train track toy
Nano watchband
iPhone tripod
Paper towel holder
Pierogi mold
Spoon holder
The full list of 20 items: iPhone 5 dock iPhone 4 dock iPhone 5 case Jewelry organizer Garlic press Caliper Wall plate 12 x Shower curtain rings Shower head Key hanger (3 hooks) iPad stand Orthotic Safety razor Pickup Train track toy Nano watchband iPhone tripod Paper towel holder Pierogi mold Spoon holder
Orthotics, really? Why not include eyglasses, too? As for safety razors, what about the blades? Last time I checked, you couldn't 3D print those. A carppy iPhone case is a possibility, but I seriously doubt a working iPhone dock could be made. Last time I checked, you had to get all of those connectors to be able to plug into your iPhone..
But as long as they are including things that aren't really possilbe to make, why not 3D print an iPhone? A family of 4, each printing their own phone, without having t
As for safety razors, what about the blades? Last time I checked, you couldn't 3D print those.
They set the retail price for the safety razor at $78!!! I'm pretty sure that for $78 in the store you'll get razors included, but the rep-rap certainly won't print any.
but I seriously doubt a working iPhone dock could be made. Last time I checked, you had to get all of those connectors to be able to plug into your iPhone..
The iphone 5 dock is priced at $30, and the iPhone 4 dock $40. I don't know what they are printing that they think is comparable to those, but it certainly won't be functional.
They set the retail price for the safety razor at $78!!! I'm pretty sure that for $78 in the store you'll get razors included, but the rep-rap certainly won't print any.
They're probably talking about actual, old-fashioned double-edge safety razors, not a Gillette Mach 3 Turbo or whatever. And yes, a very nice one can cost $78 and does not come with blades. The $78 razor would also be a heck of a lot nicer and shave a lot better than anything you could print, and would last for decades. I use one, and it's older than I am. I didn't pay anywhere near $78 for it. More like $10.
They set the retail price for the safety razor at $78!!! I'm pretty sure that for $78 in the store you'll get razors included, but the rep-rap certainly won't print any.
They're probably talking about actual, old-fashioned double-edge safety razors, not a Gillette Mach 3 Turbo or whatever. And yes, a very nice one can cost $78 and does not come with blades. The $78 razor would also be a heck of a lot nicer and shave a lot better than anything you could print, and would last for decades. I use one, and it's older than I am. I didn't pay anywhere near $78 for it. More like $10.
Actually, My bet would be on those silly overpriced 5-blade razor modules. Those things scare me - I like to know where the blade is an not have it flopping around, so I don't buy them myself, but I think they're something horrendous like $15-$15 a pack. And every blade pack fits a different razor.
You can't print the blades, obviously, but if you could by blades in generic bulk packs and print the carrier modules, it would probably work out that way.
You can adjust the blade angle/depth to match your shaving condition. (I have an after five shadow by noon, same day, not three days later.)
Blades cost about $20 for 100. I use one per week so that's $98 for two years of shaving. $20 for two years of shaving after initial investment. So much better than getting robbed by a 6 blade crook.
"So much better than getting robbed by a 6 blade crook." Or you could grow a beard, like me. I've had one for the last 40 years, except for two years when I was in an indigenous area where they didn't trust bearded men. (Obviously not Muslims!)
As for safety razors, what about the blades? Last time I checked, you couldn't 3D print those.
They set the retail price for the safety razor at $78!!! I'm pretty sure that for $78 in the store you'll get razors included, but the rep-rap certainly won't print any.
but I seriously doubt a working iPhone dock could be made. Last time I checked, you had to get all of those connectors to be able to plug into your iPhone..
The iphone 5 dock is priced at $30, and the iPhone 4 dock $40. I don't know what they are printing that they think is comparable to those, but it certainly won't be functional.
And let's not forget the time involved. These low-end printers aren't supposed to be left unattended while operating, so at a an estimate of 4 hours per object created, assuming each design is perfectly designed and no clean up time, there is 80 hours. If you estimate your time is worth $10/hour, that is another $800 of cost. Or put differently, those shower curtain hooks may cost $0.50 of ABS plastic, but $40 of time. Then there is the time involved to sit down and design all of the stuff you want to print.
Of course, most people don't have that skill, so what they design, will look like crap if it even is printable or they will have to purchase designs. We went through all of this when inkjet and laserjet printers became cheap enough for consumers to own. All of a sudden, all of the print shops and graphic design houses were going to go out of business. It never happened because 1) consumer devices don't have the quality that professionals demand and 2) most people don't have the skill set to even make the consumer devices perform.
But, hey, people can fabricate a study much easier than they can fabricate good looking consumer goods with a 3D printer, and a lot cheaper, too.
People can download files made by others, so they don't have to design everything they want to print themselves. That said, I do easily spend about $80 worth of time, mindlessly staring at a print in progress. Mostly because it's damn near hypnotizing, not because my printer really needs babysitting when I'm printing PLA with it.
People can download files made by others, so they don't have to design everything they want to print themselves. That said, I do easily spend about $80 worth of time, mindlessly staring at a print in progress. Mostly because it's damn near hypnotizing, not because my printer really needs babysitting when I'm printing PLA with it.
RepRap Mendel90 with 4pi electronics, by the way.
While PLA is lower temp than ABS, you might want to check with your home owners insurance to see if they would cover a fire from an unattended 3D printer. Many won't, which is why most manufacturers warn that you need to monitor the printing process (sounds better than if it malfunctions it might set your house on fire).
I can actually speak from experience when I say it doesn't catch fire quickly. The heating elements just don't get enough power to really do anything horrible unless you leave it sitting, active, for multiple hours. At the rate it was going the one time my thermistor misreported temperatures, it would've probably taken a few hours for it to even melt away the PEEK nozzle holder. Not sure what the combustion points of PLA or ABS are, and I assume that of PEEK and brass will be quite a bit higher.. but yeah.
I can actually speak from experience when I say it doesn't catch fire quickly. The heating elements just don't get enough power to really do anything horrible unless you leave it sitting, active, for multiple hours. At the rate it was going the one time my thermistor misreported temperatures, it would've probably taken a few hours for it to even melt away the PEEK nozzle holder. Not sure what the combustion points of PLA or ABS are, and I assume that of PEEK and brass will be quite a bit higher.. but yeah.
The only way it could reasonably cause a fire in the time it'd take for an average print is probably if you shorted some of the 12v wires. The 4pi electronics board I use has a ton of safety features built in. Shorting the heater wires would probably just blow the fuse, and I could replace that easily. The Arduino+RAMPS electronics that most RepRap users have are a bit easier to get in trouble with, I guess.
Though you do have a point. If it did catch fire, I'd probably be screwed. But the same would go for any other interesting tinkering experiment.
Most likely, the risk is minimal, however, the hobby grade printers do work by melting plastic. Complex jobs can take hours to print, so the print head is on for quite some time. The likelihood of fire is not from catching the plastic on fire directly, but from something unexpected coming in contact with the device. For instance, it used to be quite common to use real candles on a christmas tree. Most people never had a problem. However, for those who did, it was usually catastrophic.
Eyeglasses are a great idea! My friend has 2 kids that break the frames all the time, she would pay for the 3d printer just with replacing those.
The key hanger is also a great one, I just spent a couple of hundred bucks getting kitchen and bathroom stuff: wall-mount spice racks, toilet roll holder, coat hooks, key hangers, soap dish, soap dispensor, ice-cube trays, fruit bowl, vase... each is only $15 or so but once you've bought 20-30 items it adds up a lot.
While this is offtopic to the article, I've had really good luck with ZenniOptical.com and others have used similar sites. A full set of glasses for under $30 shipped to your door (as cheap as $10 without additional upgrades). We normally order two or three pairs so that if they break a pair, there is always a backup. Lead time on orders is usually about 2 weeks, so plan accordingly on re-orders.
Make sure you get your pupilary distance (distance between your pupils) when you get your prescription. They
My girlfriend would definitely be printing a new back for Galaxy S2 every month. She's already ordered a couple, which are around $30 each once she finds the design she likes and adds p&p.
Except that if she's buying for cosmetic reasons, she's not going to be happy with what comes out of a printer...
Thank you for posting that. I thought that was going to be the case -- several items that I, at least, don't have any use for. The few items I do have a use for, I wouldn't buy again since I already have them. Maybe this printer would make a good housewarming gift for someone's first home (although a bit pricey for that) but other than that, i don't see it paying for itself on basic household items.
Since you have access to the study itself, can you tell if they included the cost of materials for the p
Since you have access to the study itself, can you tell if they included the cost of materials for the printer to make these items? I have no idea how much the "ink" costs for these 3d printers.
Yeah - the $18 cost that they quote for printing all the items comes from the cost of the plastic ($17.80) + the cost of the electricity ($0.31).
The way they get the cost of the electricity so low is that they are only measuring the energy use of the reprap, and not the cost of the computer driving it - although they semi-justify this by saying that theoretically a raspberry pi could be used to drive the reprap, and being low power ARM, that would consume very little power.
Most low-end 3D printers use PLA plastic. This is basically processed corn starch, and while initially hydrophobic, it will rapidly degrade (rot) if exposed to water for an extended period of time. In addition, the prints are much stronger in the direction of the filament than cross-wise (using the tensile strength of the filament vs the bonding strength of the layers), so it's not just model quality but actual printing technique that matters for durability.
Most low-end 3D printers use PLA plastic. This is basically processed corn starch, and while initially hydrophobic, it will rapidly degrade (rot) if exposed to water for an extended period of time. In addition, the prints are much stronger in the direction of the filament than cross-wise (using the tensile strength of the filament vs the bonding strength of the layers), so it's not just model quality but actual printing technique that matters for durability.
They're making huge strides, but 3D printing is nowhere near the "run out and buy an HP inkjet and hook it up" level of utility.
Spoiler: not as bad as one might think. The fine print on those application white papers usually say that, to bio-degrade PLA, it needs to be ground up very finely and composted in a very specific manner.
The second is a shower head which they price at $437.22. Again, you don't buy a shower head every year, the $400+ ones will have a 10-year warranty and are going to be of significantly better quality than what comes out of a 3-D printer.
I've bought a shower head in the past. It cost $25. Looking on amazon, there are even some in the $5 range! There are a few in the expensive range that cost hundreds of dollars, but those also include quite a bit of plumbing, polished chrome/brass, knobs, and are made of metal. Even those are over priced. It seems the "researchers" just want to amazon and clicked "sort price high to low" then picked the first results.
That and a paper towel holder is the only thing useful on the list for me:(
Really hard water here so i just buy a new shower head for $5.99 at the hardware store each year. About the same price as a bottle of CLR to clean the old head:/
The shower curtains i've bought come with rings, that seems pointless as the curtain needs replacing 1st. Has anyone just had to replace the rings? Mine are right where they were 12 years ago when i moved in (with a spare set
What makes the orthotic example crazy is the normal $500 or whatever price for orthotics includes (at least where I live) 2-3 doctor visits as well to prescribe and measure, fit, and make any adjustments. For someone who needs prescription orthotics they can't just print out a template and get something that fits properly, although once they get the orthotics it might help make duplicate pairs. The person buying these orthotics also is buying them as they are covered by their medical plan so the cost to the
They can replace the $20-40 ready made ones tho for like $1 in plastic or something. Hardy gonna pay for a printer but at least it is a decent use if enough plans are available. Most have a nice foam layer on top you have to add also however. Certainly better than replacing a $1 spoon holder with $.10 worth of plastic and a long print job.
No way will you get the plans for one you are prescribed tho, they aren't giving away plans to their $500 ones for nothing!
Wonder what they priced the caliper at? This is gonna to print one similar to the ones in the bargain bin not the Snap-on truck, right? I think mine was $5 for a big one and a little one.
They priced the caliper at $7.88.
Article should get an award for fluff and puff journalism or something! The AVERAGE household is probably not buying EVERYTHING at the HIGHEST price possible (and rounded up)...not really the idea behind AVERAGE now is it folks.
Tell me about it. My main gripe is that this was published in Mechatronics- a journal with an impact factor of 1.65, which is not too bad for an engineering journal. The conclusions they draw is that the payback time for a RepRap will be between 4 months to 2 years for an average family, and that "The results show that the RepRap is already an economically attractive investment for the average US household." Which just is not supported by the data that they provide. The pee
What are the iPhone docks supposed to do? I think of docking as something electronic, and that's not printable.
I assume that by "caliper" they mean something with two adjustable legs, because the kind that measures (I've got a $10 one on my desk right now) needs embedded electronics.
I'm not real familiar with orthotics, but aren't they custom-designed? I don't think downloading some random design is going to work real well. (At least not for the expensive ones; I can buy a wrist brace cheap at the d
Business is a good game -- lots of competition and minimum of rules.
You keep score with money.
-- Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari
Apropos lowest retail cost (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:4, Informative)
Re: (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Apropos lowest retail cost (Score:5, Informative)
The first is a medical orthotic, the retail price of which they set at $800, and which the majority of people in the world without fallen arches/foot problems will never need.
The second is a shower head which they price at $437.22. Again, you don't buy a shower head every year, the $400+ ones will have a 10-year warranty and are going to be of significantly better quality than what comes out of a 3-D printer.
Additionally, in a clear attempt to boost costs, 6 out of the 20 items are overpriced Apple accessories: iPhone 5 dock, iPhone 4 dock, iPhone 5 case, iPad stand, Nano watchband, and an iPhone tripod.
The full list of 20 items:
iPhone 5 dock
iPhone 4 dock
iPhone 5 case
Jewelry organizer
Garlic press
Caliper
Wall plate
12 x Shower curtain rings
Shower head
Key hanger (3 hooks)
iPad stand
Orthotic
Safety razor
Pickup
Train track toy
Nano watchband
iPhone tripod
Paper towel holder
Pierogi mold
Spoon holder
Re: (Score:2)
The full list of 20 items:
iPhone 5 dock
iPhone 4 dock
iPhone 5 case
Jewelry organizer
Garlic press
Caliper
Wall plate
12 x Shower curtain rings
Shower head
Key hanger (3 hooks)
iPad stand
Orthotic
Safety razor
Pickup
Train track toy
Nano watchband
iPhone tripod
Paper towel holder
Pierogi mold
Spoon holder
Orthotics, really? Why not include eyglasses, too? As for safety razors, what about the blades? Last time I checked, you couldn't 3D print those. A carppy iPhone case is a possibility, but I seriously doubt a working iPhone dock could be made. Last time I checked, you had to get all of those connectors to be able to plug into your iPhone..
But as long as they are including things that aren't really possilbe to make, why not 3D print an iPhone? A family of 4, each printing their own phone, without having t
Re: (Score:2)
As for safety razors, what about the blades? Last time I checked, you couldn't 3D print those.
They set the retail price for the safety razor at $78!!! I'm pretty sure that for $78 in the store you'll get razors included, but the rep-rap certainly won't print any.
but I seriously doubt a working iPhone dock could be made. Last time I checked, you had to get all of those connectors to be able to plug into your iPhone..
The iphone 5 dock is priced at $30, and the iPhone 4 dock $40. I don't know what they are printing that they think is comparable to those, but it certainly won't be functional.
Re: (Score:2)
They set the retail price for the safety razor at $78!!! I'm pretty sure that for $78 in the store you'll get razors included, but the rep-rap certainly won't print any.
They're probably talking about actual, old-fashioned double-edge safety razors, not a Gillette Mach 3 Turbo or whatever. And yes, a very nice one can cost $78 and does not come with blades. The $78 razor would also be a heck of a lot nicer and shave a lot better than anything you could print, and would last for decades. I use one, and it's older than I am. I didn't pay anywhere near $78 for it. More like $10.
Re: (Score:2)
They set the retail price for the safety razor at $78!!! I'm pretty sure that for $78 in the store you'll get razors included, but the rep-rap certainly won't print any.
They're probably talking about actual, old-fashioned double-edge safety razors, not a Gillette Mach 3 Turbo or whatever. And yes, a very nice one can cost $78 and does not come with blades. The $78 razor would also be a heck of a lot nicer and shave a lot better than anything you could print, and would last for decades. I use one, and it's older than I am. I didn't pay anywhere near $78 for it. More like $10.
Actually, My bet would be on those silly overpriced 5-blade razor modules. Those things scare me - I like to know where the blade is an not have it flopping around, so I don't buy them myself, but I think they're something horrendous like $15-$15 a pack. And every blade pack fits a different razor.
You can't print the blades, obviously, but if you could by blades in generic bulk packs and print the carrier modules, it would probably work out that way.
Re: (Score:2)
I have a Murker Futur. It was $78...
https://www.detailsformen.com/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=862&gclid=CPHB96_x3LgCFUei4Aod3k4AGw [detailsformen.com]
You can adjust the blade angle/depth to match your shaving condition. (I have an after five shadow by noon, same day, not three days later.)
Blades cost about $20 for 100. I use one per week so that's $98 for two years of shaving. $20 for two years of shaving after initial investment.
So much better than getting robbed by a 6 blade crook.
Re: (Score:1)
"So much better than getting robbed by a 6 blade crook." Or you could grow a beard, like me. I've had one for the last 40 years, except for two years when I was in an indigenous area where they didn't trust bearded men. (Obviously not Muslims!)
Re:Apropos lowest retail cost (Score:5, Interesting)
As for safety razors, what about the blades? Last time I checked, you couldn't 3D print those.
They set the retail price for the safety razor at $78!!! I'm pretty sure that for $78 in the store you'll get razors included, but the rep-rap certainly won't print any.
but I seriously doubt a working iPhone dock could be made. Last time I checked, you had to get all of those connectors to be able to plug into your iPhone..
The iphone 5 dock is priced at $30, and the iPhone 4 dock $40. I don't know what they are printing that they think is comparable to those, but it certainly won't be functional.
And let's not forget the time involved. These low-end printers aren't supposed to be left unattended while operating, so at a an estimate of 4 hours per object created, assuming each design is perfectly designed and no clean up time, there is 80 hours. If you estimate your time is worth $10/hour, that is another $800 of cost. Or put differently, those shower curtain hooks may cost $0.50 of ABS plastic, but $40 of time. Then there is the time involved to sit down and design all of the stuff you want to print.
Of course, most people don't have that skill, so what they design, will look like crap if it even is printable or they will have to purchase designs. We went through all of this when inkjet and laserjet printers became cheap enough for consumers to own. All of a sudden, all of the print shops and graphic design houses were going to go out of business. It never happened because 1) consumer devices don't have the quality that professionals demand and 2) most people don't have the skill set to even make the consumer devices perform.
But, hey, people can fabricate a study much easier than they can fabricate good looking consumer goods with a 3D printer, and a lot cheaper, too.
Re: (Score:2)
People can download files made by others, so they don't have to design everything they want to print themselves. That said, I do easily spend about $80 worth of time, mindlessly staring at a print in progress. Mostly because it's damn near hypnotizing, not because my printer really needs babysitting when I'm printing PLA with it.
RepRap Mendel90 with 4pi electronics, by the way.
Re: (Score:2)
People can download files made by others, so they don't have to design everything they want to print themselves. That said, I do easily spend about $80 worth of time, mindlessly staring at a print in progress. Mostly because it's damn near hypnotizing, not because my printer really needs babysitting when I'm printing PLA with it.
RepRap Mendel90 with 4pi electronics, by the way.
While PLA is lower temp than ABS, you might want to check with your home owners insurance to see if they would cover a fire from an unattended 3D printer. Many won't, which is why most manufacturers warn that you need to monitor the printing process (sounds better than if it malfunctions it might set your house on fire).
Re: (Score:2)
I can actually speak from experience when I say it doesn't catch fire quickly. The heating elements just don't get enough power to really do anything horrible unless you leave it sitting, active, for multiple hours. At the rate it was going the one time my thermistor misreported temperatures, it would've probably taken a few hours for it to even melt away the PEEK nozzle holder. Not sure what the combustion points of PLA or ABS are, and I assume that of PEEK and brass will be quite a bit higher.. but yeah.
T
Re: (Score:2)
I can actually speak from experience when I say it doesn't catch fire quickly. The heating elements just don't get enough power to really do anything horrible unless you leave it sitting, active, for multiple hours. At the rate it was going the one time my thermistor misreported temperatures, it would've probably taken a few hours for it to even melt away the PEEK nozzle holder. Not sure what the combustion points of PLA or ABS are, and I assume that of PEEK and brass will be quite a bit higher.. but yeah.
The only way it could reasonably cause a fire in the time it'd take for an average print is probably if you shorted some of the 12v wires. The 4pi electronics board I use has a ton of safety features built in. Shorting the heater wires would probably just blow the fuse, and I could replace that easily. The Arduino+RAMPS electronics that most RepRap users have are a bit easier to get in trouble with, I guess.
Though you do have a point. If it did catch fire, I'd probably be screwed. But the same would go for any other interesting tinkering experiment.
Most likely, the risk is minimal, however, the hobby grade printers do work by melting plastic. Complex jobs can take hours to print, so the print head is on for quite some time. The likelihood of fire is not from catching the plastic on fire directly, but from something unexpected coming in contact with the device. For instance, it used to be quite common to use real candles on a christmas tree. Most people never had a problem. However, for those who did, it was usually catastrophic.
Soldering irons fall i
Re: (Score:2)
Eyeglasses are a great idea! My friend has 2 kids that break the frames all the time, she would pay for the 3d printer just with replacing those.
The key hanger is also a great one, I just spent a couple of hundred bucks getting kitchen and bathroom stuff: wall-mount spice racks, toilet roll holder, coat hooks, key hangers, soap dish, soap dispensor, ice-cube trays, fruit bowl, vase... each is only $15 or so but once you've bought 20-30 items it adds up a lot.
My girlfriend would definitely be printing a new
Re: (Score:2)
While this is offtopic to the article, I've had really good luck with ZenniOptical.com and others have used similar sites. A full set of glasses for under $30 shipped to your door (as cheap as $10 without additional upgrades). We normally order two or three pairs so that if they break a pair, there is always a backup. Lead time on orders is usually about 2 weeks, so plan accordingly on re-orders.
Make sure you get your pupilary distance (distance between your pupils) when you get your prescription. They
Re: (Score:2)
My girlfriend would definitely be printing a new back for Galaxy S2 every month. She's already ordered a couple, which are around $30 each once she finds the design she likes and adds p&p.
Except that if she's buying for cosmetic reasons, she's not going to be happy with what comes out of a printer...
Re: (Score:2)
Since you have access to the study itself, can you tell if they included the cost of materials for the p
Re: (Score:2)
Since you have access to the study itself, can you tell if they included the cost of materials for the printer to make these items? I have no idea how much the "ink" costs for these 3d printers.
Yeah - the $18 cost that they quote for printing all the items comes from the cost of the plastic ($17.80) + the cost of the electricity ($0.31).
The way they get the cost of the electricity so low is that they are only measuring the energy use of the reprap, and not the cost of the computer driving it - although they semi-justify this by saying that theoretically a raspberry pi could be used to drive the reprap, and being low power ARM, that would consume very little power.
Re: Apropos lowest retail cost (Score:3)
Most low-end 3D printers use PLA plastic. This is basically processed corn starch, and while initially hydrophobic, it will rapidly degrade (rot) if exposed to water for an extended period of time. In addition, the prints are much stronger in the direction of the filament than cross-wise (using the tensile strength of the filament vs the bonding strength of the layers), so it's not just model quality but actual printing technique that matters for durability.
They're making huge strides, but 3D printing is
Re: (Score:3)
Most low-end 3D printers use PLA plastic. This is basically processed corn starch, and while initially hydrophobic, it will rapidly degrade (rot) if exposed to water for an extended period of time. In addition, the prints are much stronger in the direction of the filament than cross-wise (using the tensile strength of the filament vs the bonding strength of the layers), so it's not just model quality but actual printing technique that matters for durability.
They're making huge strides, but 3D printing is nowhere near the "run out and buy an HP inkjet and hook it up" level of utility.
You might find this post interesting, in which a PLA object was left outdoors for about a year. http://www.protoparadigm.com/blog/2013/06/weathering-of-3d-printed-pla-objects/ [protoparadigm.com]
Spoiler: not as bad as one might think. The fine print on those application white papers usually say that, to bio-degrade PLA, it needs to be ground up very finely and composted in a very specific manner.
Re: (Score:2)
The second is a shower head which they price at $437.22. Again, you don't buy a shower head every year, the $400+ ones will have a 10-year warranty and are going to be of significantly better quality than what comes out of a 3-D printer.
I've bought a shower head in the past. It cost $25. Looking on amazon, there are even some in the $5 range! There are a few in the expensive range that cost hundreds of dollars, but those also include quite a bit of plumbing, polished chrome/brass, knobs, and are made of metal. Even those are over priced. It seems the "researchers" just want to amazon and clicked "sort price high to low" then picked the first results.
Re: (Score:2)
Surely that isn't a plastic shower head for $400!
That and a paper towel holder is the only thing useful on the list for me :(
Really hard water here so i just buy a new shower head for $5.99 at the hardware store each year. About the same price as a bottle of CLR to clean the old head :/
The shower curtains i've bought come with rings, that seems pointless as the curtain needs replacing 1st. Has anyone just had to replace the rings? Mine are right where they were 12 years ago when i moved in (with a spare set
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Forgive my British ignorance, but wtf is a spoon holder and do I need one?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
They can replace the $20-40 ready made ones tho for like $1 in plastic or something. Hardy gonna pay for a printer but at least it is a decent use if enough plans are available. Most have a nice foam layer on top you have to add also however. Certainly better than replacing a $1 spoon holder with $.10 worth of plastic and a long print job.
No way will you get the plans for one you are prescribed tho, they aren't giving away plans to their $500 ones for nothing!
Not all of us have insurance. Even then i don't
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Wonder what they priced the caliper at? This is gonna to print one similar to the ones in the bargain bin not the Snap-on truck, right? I think mine was $5 for a big one and a little one.
They priced the caliper at $7.88.
Article should get an award for fluff and puff journalism or something! The AVERAGE household is probably not buying EVERYTHING at the HIGHEST price possible (and rounded up)...not really the idea behind AVERAGE now is it folks.
Tell me about it. My main gripe is that this was published in Mechatronics- a journal with an impact factor of 1.65, which is not too bad for an engineering journal. The conclusions they draw is that the payback time for a RepRap will be between 4 months to 2 years for an average family, and that "The results show that the RepRap is already an economically attractive investment for the average US household." Which just is not supported by the data that they provide. The pee
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What are the iPhone docks supposed to do? I think of docking as something electronic, and that's not printable.
I assume that by "caliper" they mean something with two adjustable legs, because the kind that measures (I've got a $10 one on my desk right now) needs embedded electronics.
I'm not real familiar with orthotics, but aren't they custom-designed? I don't think downloading some random design is going to work real well. (At least not for the expensive ones; I can buy a wrist brace cheap at the d