Is this the right printer for me?

[DarthCrucias]

I am thinking about getting into 3d printing, possibly using it as a way to express my creativity and merge that into business to sell the things i create for profit. this seems to be a good way to do so. my wife suggested to get an inexpensive printer to get familiar with the machine and all its details and see if i can actually make this work before dropping 2500 or more into a void that cant make a return. i found this printer (supposedly $100) and was wondering if it would make a good intro printer for me to get into the field?

i am a bit of a techie, so while im not exactly a programmer or hacker, i know my way around a computer more than most, and while i have little experience in actual graphic design, i have used cad programs before, so the concept is not foreign to me.

i guess what i am looking for out of this intro machine are as such:
cheap to buy: i dont want to spend more than a few hundred bucks on something that may not end up being something i can do
cheap to run: this is more important for the 2nd machine i buy, the one i will actually use to try to make a profit, but the cost of each individual printing needs to be low so as to keep competitive pricing
good training machine: there needs to be enough about this machine that is similar to the type of machine i will likely be getting for my craft that i can actually learn about it from this (ie the method it uses to print, the software used, etc)

i would love some feedback/suggestions on whether this is a good place to start, or if there is a better machine to get me into the field.

i hope i dont sound like a dopy noob, but i tried to do some research on different machines and got completely overwhelmed. i just need to dumb it down a bit and see what all the smart people say lol

[rylangrayston]

Much of what you would learn using the peachy printer would be knolage that would transfer to most other 3d printers.

skills like:
- 3d cad modleing
- sliceing
- materials


The peachy printer puts down layers like other printers so many of the concepts will translate well.

If you wanted to learn how to fix 3d printers ( like be a 3d printer technician) then thats where the peachy printer would introduce some very unconventional concepts, and likely be a bad but fun choice.
For example You wouldn't be able to use your skills in fixing a driper on any other printer.

Cost wise the peachy printer is very inexpensive to run, its powered of just a single usb port, and prints are ( update coming on this ) very inexpensive.

There is probably just one problem, if you decide you want a peachy printer you will have to wait to get one because they are only available for pre order at this time.

Shapeways is another great place to get started with 3d printing, I recommend you give it a try too. Its pretty Great.

[DarthCrucias]

Much of what you would learn using the peachy printer would be knolage that would transfer to most other 3d printers.

skills like:
- 3d cad modleing
- sliceing
- materials


The peachy printer puts down layers like other printers so many of the concepts will translate well.

If you wanted to learn how to fix 3d printers ( like be a 3d printer technician) then thats where the peachy printer would introduce some very unconventional concepts, and likely be a bad but fun choice.
For example You wouldn't be able to use your skills in fixing a driper on any other printer.

Cost wise the peachy printer is very inexpensive to run, its powered of just a single usb port, and prints are ( update coming on this ) very inexpensive.

There is probably just one problem, if you decide you want a peachy printer you will have to wait to get one because they are only available for pre order at this time.

Shapeways is another great place to get started with 3d printing, I recommend you give it a try too. Its pretty Great.

TY for the quick response. I would love some other opinions, but you did address pretty much all the points that matter to me. I recently purchased a pair of dice from shapeways, but will have to look into their printers. Do you know when the Peachy Printer is supposed to be released? Also, if there are more than one shapeways model/model options, is there one in particular i should be looking at?

[curious aardvark]

The peachy is still a work in progress.
Got to say, a fair amount of progress has been made in the last 12 months or so.

But it's still a ways from ready for retail.

The best way to start - particularly if you don't mind building your own - is to buy a kit. These are available from around the $350-400 mark.
The iprintr simple series are extremely good value for money as are the flashforge and equivalents - though these are fully built machines and correspondngly more expensive.

But basically you need a printer. Sitting around and playing with slicers and cad packages is okay - but until you've actually printed stuff you really don't get the whole process properly. Or really understand how to design for the printing process.

The peachy is starting to look pretty good. But alas, you can't buy one, yet !

[Chayat]

I've had a few things printed by Shapeways and I've made a few pennies from people ordering my designs too. I second that as a great place to start. If your designs are not going to print on their printers they will also give some feedback as to what you can change too which is really cool.

You might find there is a hackerspace or such near you where someone with a printer can let you have a go to see what you can make too

[DarthCrucias]

does anyone have any suggestions for free programs that are good for drafting my designs? i would prefer one that is more cad based than graphic design based (i'm sorry if that sounds dumb. i dont know how much of a difference there is, but i went to school for mechanical engineering, so i am more familiar with utilitarian cad than artsy stuff. i want to learn it all in time, but i figure unless there really is no difference, start with what you know, right?)

[harpo99999]

most of the 3d cad programs CAN output 'stl' files that most(if not all) the slicing software can read, but a bit less common in the slicing is the 'obj' file type, but as far as CAD software, as long as it supports 3D and can output either stl or obj and you can get the results you want from the software then use it as it can supply te files for the printer(s)

[MagicDan]

A new program from the Solidworks people is in Beta: Onshape. It looks really good for free.

[iplayfast]

My favorite is openscad http://www.openscad.org/ . It's a text based drafting system where you say things like cylinder(3,5,8), and union etc. The reason I like it is because it's more like programming. You can update and add at any level, make modules to do part items, and combine them as you want. You don't end up with the 0 width walls like some other cad systems do. Another one is meshlab, which I've used for importing and exporting various formats. Blender is also good but you need to be careful with it.

[curious aardvark]

openscad is the only thing that works like my brain works. Brilliant bit of kit.

But just buy a printer and start.
Wasting money on shapeways is pointless. As you can't afford a laser sintered powdered nylon system, so what's the point learning to design for one ? The print parameters are completely different to a filament based printing system.
Just get a cheap fff machine and start making stuff. It's addictive.