3D Printing: Can I Affordably Print Larger Than a Matchbox Car?

November 12, 2013 9:28 AM

I'm looking to print something with about 2.5% density that would fit within a bounding box 355mm tall, 505mm wide and 253mm deep. I modeled it in Google Sketchup (only took me 3 days to really figure out what I was doing!) and found that it was too big for ponoko and others who could print that large (is a foot and a half really that large?) wanted over a thousand dollars. Is 3D printing affordable as long as you're willing to print cheap rings, D&D dice and tiny action figures?

I want to create a paper tray that will hold stacks of paper from 13x19 down to 4x6. Right now, there's just in a pile. I figured out the height I'd want each tray to be, dividers, etc. I originally started with 3mm thick walls since I wanted it to be sturdy. That got me a five figure quote from sculpteo I figured that less material would lower the price, so I lowered the thickness to 1mm (probably too thin, but whatever). Still stupidly expensive. Next, instead of solid walls, I created a pattern of cutouts to further reduce material (each shelf had an ~80% reduction in volume). Probably very flimsy now, but still over a thousand dollars.

Next I wanted to model and print a bespoke spice rack that would fit perfectly in the spot where a $20 BB&B one sits in our kitchen and drawer organizers made-to-fit, but I have a feeling those will all cost several hundred dollars as well.

Am I looking in the wrong places or is 3D printing not affordable for anything larger than an inch or two?

posted by Brian Puccio to Technology (9 answers total)

Best answer: You might be looking at the wrong technology. These sizes seem more amenable to laser-cut plywood. Your project volume is huge.
posted by scruss at 9:36 AM on November 12, 2013 [1 favorite]

Best answer: 3D printing is still pretty expensive, especially if you're renting other people's hardware. This is part of the reason nobody's selling much made with the technology - it's not cost competitive with other manufacturing methods.
posted by tylerkaraszewski at 9:44 AM on November 12, 2013

Best answer: You either want to lasercut thin (1/4") wood and assemble it together like a kit, or use a CNC router to cut the paper tray with thicker plywood. Additive printing is indeed expensive, especially when you're talking about using a lot of material, and you won't get anything cheaper anywhere.
posted by suedehead at 9:59 AM on November 12, 2013

Response by poster: Thanks, I'll look into wood, though since the shapes are so simple, I'll likely cut it myself. I was hoping to avoid any assembly (glue or otherwise). Thank you for the feedback.
posted by Brian Puccio at 10:06 AM on November 12, 2013

Best answer: 3D printing is only cheap if you consider it can do things that used to be impossible at any price.
posted by chairface at 10:21 AM on November 12, 2013

Best answer: If you want to avoid self assembly, you might want to look into other kinds of rapid prototyping in plastics or sheet metal. One company I've been happy with is Rapid Machining. They will do minor assembly tasks like gluing, bonding, or affixing with screws.
posted by muddgirl at 11:15 AM on November 12, 2013

Response by poster: The lasercut plywood idea made me go back to ponoko, they do laser cut acrylic and since this is a pretty boxy thing, should work well. It looks like the cost per minute of laser cutting is the same for wood and acrylic. This interlocking page looks doable.

3D printing is only cheap if you consider it can do things that used to be impossible at any price.

Or impossible unless you owned six figures worth of equipment and had a lot of time.

I guess with all the 3D printing hype, I made the mistake of assuming that whatever I was scheming wouldn't be that expensive.

If you want to avoid self assembly, you might want to look into other kinds of rapid prototyping in plastics or sheet metal. One company I've been happy with is Rapid Machining. They will do minor assembly tasks like gluing, bonding, or affixing with screws.

That looks useful for some raspberry pi/arduino projects, thanks!
posted by Brian Puccio at 11:18 AM on November 12, 2013

Best answer: Depending on the complexity if you are going with acrylic you could look into laser origami. It can make some interesting object quite fast, and from what I am picturing you could make your thing out of two or three pieces and have them sot together and look quite nice in cut acrylic.
posted by koolkat at 5:05 AM on November 13, 2013 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: koolkat, that's some neat stuff there, thanks!
posted by Brian Puccio at 7:02 PM on November 13, 2013