Any prints from the Beta team?

[Synchron]

Android / Ubuntu and some more do exacly this. The starting Letter of the version name is the next letter in the alphabet. ("Ice creme sandwich" is the Version before "Jelly bean")
but...first of all...no one understands this, second...i dont like it....

[NoctumSolis]

To be perfectly honest, I actually prefer numbers. If you really want to distinguish release from development, just add a couple of prefix columns. 10xx 11xx etc.

The name thing was not meant seriously.

[kulfsson]

Hi all.. No prints available from any of the beta testers yet ?

[curious aardvark]

you do get the feeling that by the time they've changed every single piece of the original model, upgraded the laser, changed the dripfeed and laser movement setup and essentially built an entirely different machine - they just 'might' be able to print something simple.

I really liked the initial idea - but no matter how clever something is - if it doesn't work and isn't practical. What's the point ?

[Aztecphoenix]

you do get the feeling that by the time they've changed every single piece of the original model, upgraded the laser, changed the dripfeed and laser movement setup and essentially built an entirely different machine - they just 'might' be able to print something simple.

I really liked the initial idea - but no matter how clever something is - if it doesn't work and isn't practical. What's the point ?

did you even watch the last update? it does print (and quite well I might add) there are only a few things left to adjust, look back at the original Cupcake CNC from MakerBot (or should I say TakerBot) its print quality was pathetic by comparison and it was based on long proven technology, the Peachy Printer is all new (at the time of its original release) never been tried technology.

[Buggeroo]

I am absolutely thrilled that the Peachy is now at a point where prints like the ones from the last update are possible. However, the guys have a massive amount of experience now, dealing with the printer, so the only thing I worry about at this point, is whether it will become accessible enough for the average user. This is probably mostly a question of making some clever software and hopefully the community will produce some tools to deal with whatever quirks are left post-release.

In any case, the latest prints have definitely rekindled my hope that we will in fact, receive a functional 3D-printer, at some point.

[Chayat]

I worry about at this point, is whether it will become accessible enough for the average user.

This is my worry too, I cant remember where but I'm sure early on we were told that the peachy would be usable by someone relatively inexperienced. I'm starting to worry if my techy ability will be good enough to make my peachy print as well as we have just seen. I don't mean to suggest that the peachy guys are not doing an amazing job and wont be producing an amazing bit of kit but the last prints were just so good compared to what I was expecting.

Am I going to be able to turn the bag-o-parts they send me into something of similar capability? I think when the release model does ship I'm going to try to wait until I can read/watch about some others build theirs. I don't wanna mess mine up with a silly mistake.

[Feign]

you do get the feeling that by the time they've changed every single piece of the original model, upgraded the laser, changed the dripfeed and laser movement setup and essentially built an entirely different machine - they just 'might' be able to print something simple.

To my knowledge, the talk of changing the drip feed and laser movement are chatter and speculation from non-beta folks. Not so much a window into everything happening with the betas as it is wild speculation. The only really solid thing that we know has been truly replaced on the Peachy has been the laser and the core circuit, and they just received the testing boards for that last week. (Peachy got the boards, I don't know how many of them have been sent out to testers yet.) Aside from that, the only hardware problem they've talked about is the hysteresis on the mirror dampers, and we don't know if that has been ironed out yet (or even how big or small a problem it was.)

Very likely, the beta testers are waiting for the new board to ship before attempting to print things like the Peachy employees have done in the official update. (would like to hear something from one of them to confirm or deny that, though.)

I really liked the initial idea - but no matter how clever something is - if it doesn't work and isn't practical. What's the point ?

Like Aztecphoenix said, you just haven't been paying attention, the latest update is making it look much more workable than ever before.

Am I going to be able to turn the bag-o-parts they send me into something of similar capability? I think when the release model does ship I'm going to try to wait until I can read/watch about some others build theirs. I don't wanna mess mine up with a silly mistake.

That's a totally valid concern, the Peachy is a whole lot less like a Formlabs printer and a whole lot more like a RepRap kit (though the average RepRap kit is around $400)

In general, a low-end RepRap kit can get first prints that look about like the very first Beta tester prints in this thread, needing quite a bit of tweaking before getting decent prints. And I don't know of more than a few RepRaps anywhere that can make prints comparable to the Yoda and Rook that Rylan showed last week.

[curious aardvark]

Like Aztecphoenix said, you just haven't been paying attention, the latest update is making it look much more workable than ever before.

Yes I was paying attention - hence the: 'it might work with all new parts' comment.
Which definitely seems to be where it's heading.

Is the laser still controlled by the speaker socket in a pc, and the drip by the microphone ? That I liked, that was amazingly clever.
But practical ? maybe not.

[Feign]

Well, like I said, they've only had to completely redo the laser and circuit board. The drip sensing and sound-card-based control are both still definitely in there. Putting new parts in it is the point of having a beta test. What point would testing serve if they were just going to send the first version of hardware out to buyers?

I'm actually wondering when the Beta testers will get those new boards and other parts to continue testing... Until then, this thread is pretty much just us all speculating restlessly while waiting.

It probably depends on your definition of practicality, those are the things that make it a $100 laser projector that's suitable for SLA printing. I call that practical.
It also seems to require a whole lot of calibration, which you might find impractical, everything has a trade-off. I find a few nights of calibrating something is worth saving ~$500.