3 D or not 3 D. That is my question.
September 5, 2014 7:04 AM Subscribe
I am thinking of buying my husband a 3-D printer for Christmas/Birthday but I know very little about them.
I am wondering if it is "too early" to buy one. Do those in the know think they will improve dramatically or decrease in price dramatically so that it make sense to wait?
If it does seem like a reasonable purchase, are there ones that stand out for value?
(I've attempted to research but I feel like I am out of my element.)
Right now, home-use 3D printers are so expensive that it probably isn't worth buying one unless your husband has some very specific need he wants to use it for. Depending on how technically inclined your husband is, a better option might be a build-your-own 3D printer kit, which is a fun project in its own right. Printrbot makes a good and affordable one: http://printrbot.com/shop/simple-makers-kit/
posted by UncleBoomee at 7:20 AM on September 5, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by UncleBoomee at 7:20 AM on September 5, 2014 [3 favorites]
At this point all the consumer level 3d printers produce fairly similar parts, you're just shopping for table size and stability. I'd avoid printers like the cubify that use proprietary supplies.
posted by foodgeek at 7:32 AM on September 5, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by foodgeek at 7:32 AM on September 5, 2014 [1 favorite]
Unless your husband is the bleeding-edge sort of tech guy, I'd hold off for while longer. Right now what a consumer-grade 3D printer can do does not at all line up with the expense unless your husband has some specific uses in mind for that grade of 3D printer. It'll absolutely get to a more general and affordable usefulness, and pretty quickly from what I can tell, but it's not there yet and the best case scenario is that he'll end up having to get a new one anyway.
posted by griphus at 7:32 AM on September 5, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by griphus at 7:32 AM on September 5, 2014 [1 favorite]
Also seconding a membership at a hacker/makerspace. They'll have better quality equipment than you'd be able to get for him, and he'd be able to sort out exactly what he'll want out of a 3D printer before actually buying one.
posted by griphus at 7:34 AM on September 5, 2014
posted by griphus at 7:34 AM on September 5, 2014
I am sitting at home, within 2 feet of my 3D printer, and I just wrote a buying guide for them for libraries, so I'm a big proponent.
If your husband is a tinkerer, maker, tech enthusiast...it's not a bad time to get a printer. For the home/hobbyist, the only really affordable options are the most common printers you see, fused deposition modeling. Those are the ones that use spools of plastic, heat it, and print it in super thin layers until it builds an object. There are a couple of resin-based stereolithography printers out there (the Form One is the best known "home" model.
The big questions are: what do you imagine him doing with it, and what is your budget? LMK and I'm happy to make suggestions for specific models. You can get printers from $300 all the way up to $3000 that behave in roughly the same way, with the major differences being size of printable object, types of plastics available for use, and bells and whistles.
posted by griffey at 7:35 AM on September 5, 2014 [6 favorites]
If your husband is a tinkerer, maker, tech enthusiast...it's not a bad time to get a printer. For the home/hobbyist, the only really affordable options are the most common printers you see, fused deposition modeling. Those are the ones that use spools of plastic, heat it, and print it in super thin layers until it builds an object. There are a couple of resin-based stereolithography printers out there (the Form One is the best known "home" model.
The big questions are: what do you imagine him doing with it, and what is your budget? LMK and I'm happy to make suggestions for specific models. You can get printers from $300 all the way up to $3000 that behave in roughly the same way, with the major differences being size of printable object, types of plastics available for use, and bells and whistles.
posted by griffey at 7:35 AM on September 5, 2014 [6 favorites]
I agree with everything that's already been posted, but here's one other question: Does your husband have expertise with CAD software? If not, is it a thing he's expressed interest in learning? A 3d printer without CAD tools is sort of a giant xerox machine for other peoples' parts -- to get a lot out of it, I feel like you need to have an interest in designing your own stuff, right now. Depending on what he wants to build, the software involved could be as simple as SketchUp, or as complex (and expensive) as Solidworks/Inventor.
posted by Alterscape at 7:41 AM on September 5, 2014
posted by Alterscape at 7:41 AM on September 5, 2014
I know a few people who own 3D printers, all home-made from scratch or from kits using freely available plans.
My impression is that running and tinkering with the printer is the main hobby, more than actually using the stuff you've printed. Even if you buy one pre-built, there's calibration and adjustments to be taken care of in response to simple things like changing ambient temperature, or swapping to a different colour plastic.
Don't get me wrong: none of this is particularly arduous, and it's very easy to find good write-ups and friendly support forums online. If your husband enjoys making and building things, this should all be stuff that he can pick up easily enough and probably enjoy. I've certainly enjoyed helping to calibrate and troubleshoot 3D printers in my local Hackspace, as well as designing and actually printing stuff. But, for the moment, buying a 3D printer is not really like buying an ordinary printer: there's much more tinkering involved in getting the best performance out of it.
This will certainly improve over time, but it seems to be a case of slow-and-steady progress. Waiting a year will yield you a printer that's a bit better, sure, but it's not likely that any *dramatic* leap forward will leave you with buyer's remorse.
Your profile puts you near Boston; consider contacting people in these hackspaces, who will probably be delighted to chat about this stuff with you in person, and show you some of their machines and prints. Also, have a rummage around on thingiverse to get an idea of what sort of stuff it's possible to print.
posted by metaBugs at 7:41 AM on September 5, 2014
My impression is that running and tinkering with the printer is the main hobby, more than actually using the stuff you've printed. Even if you buy one pre-built, there's calibration and adjustments to be taken care of in response to simple things like changing ambient temperature, or swapping to a different colour plastic.
Don't get me wrong: none of this is particularly arduous, and it's very easy to find good write-ups and friendly support forums online. If your husband enjoys making and building things, this should all be stuff that he can pick up easily enough and probably enjoy. I've certainly enjoyed helping to calibrate and troubleshoot 3D printers in my local Hackspace, as well as designing and actually printing stuff. But, for the moment, buying a 3D printer is not really like buying an ordinary printer: there's much more tinkering involved in getting the best performance out of it.
This will certainly improve over time, but it seems to be a case of slow-and-steady progress. Waiting a year will yield you a printer that's a bit better, sure, but it's not likely that any *dramatic* leap forward will leave you with buyer's remorse.
Your profile puts you near Boston; consider contacting people in these hackspaces, who will probably be delighted to chat about this stuff with you in person, and show you some of their machines and prints. Also, have a rummage around on thingiverse to get an idea of what sort of stuff it's possible to print.
posted by metaBugs at 7:41 AM on September 5, 2014
I think it is like getting someone a puppy: it's a lot of work, only worth it if you really want one. You basically have to be in clubs or online forums to know how to work them, and if he was already then you'd know which to get.
Anyway, I'd definitely clear it with him first if you do decide to go ahead with it. I could see my SO thinking they'd be a good idea for me, but I definitely don't want to put the time/expense into keeping it going.
posted by flimflam at 12:21 PM on September 5, 2014
Anyway, I'd definitely clear it with him first if you do decide to go ahead with it. I could see my SO thinking they'd be a good idea for me, but I definitely don't want to put the time/expense into keeping it going.
posted by flimflam at 12:21 PM on September 5, 2014
Another alternative to local makerspaces would be to give him a giftcard to Shapeways which is a 3D print on demand service--they also have a sample kit that comes with a gift card! This way, if he's interested in doing 3D printing of his own, he can use the gift card to do that. If he ends up finding it not his thing, he can use the gift card to buy other things people are selling on the site.
posted by foxfirefey at 1:37 PM on September 5, 2014
posted by foxfirefey at 1:37 PM on September 5, 2014
Agree with the above. I teach middle school technology and we use the two maker bot 3D printers for each grade level and I love that we have them. However even with daily access, and being a "maker" I don't really use it much for personal projects.
posted by dstopps at 2:06 PM on September 5, 2014
posted by dstopps at 2:06 PM on September 5, 2014
Every one I know with one, had more fun making it, than actually using it.
posted by Elysum at 12:24 AM on September 22, 2014
posted by Elysum at 12:24 AM on September 22, 2014
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by TheAdamist at 7:14 AM on September 5, 2014 [4 favorites]