# Specific 3D Printers, Scanners, & Hardware > RepRap Format Printer Forum >  Would you pay an extra $1000 for a silent, bump tolerant printer?

## QuietPrints

My buddy and I are considering building a mod for the Rep-Rap that would print quietly (no more music), have higher resolution, and be tolerant to table bumps.  We think we can also double the accuracy of positioning the print head.  

The design uses expensive motors and a custom control board.  Would people be willing to spend $1000 to replace their NEMA 17 stepper motors and control board in order to get a quiet 3D printer that prints more accurately and can handle being bumped?

----------


## Roxy

I don't think that would be worth it to me.    But I'm sure a lot of businesses would value that.

----------


## QuietPrints

> I don't think that would be worth it to me.    But I'm sure a lot of businesses would value that.


Thanks for your thoughts Roxy!  Is it because the noise doesn't bother you that much or errors don't happen that often?  Do you like the resolution so far?  

Would you pay $500 if we could make a stripped down quiet version without the improvement in print quality?

I'll reach out to a few 3D printing businesses for feedback as well.

----------


## Roxy

Well, mostly I'm a bad person to be asking.   I'm dirt poor and can't spend even $500 unless I really save to do it.  So I'm more likely to put the printer in a closest if it is making too much noise.

----------


## LAFilament.com

A real cabinet can solve some of those problems.  Wouldn't be valuable to me as a hobbyist.increasing print speed would be the biggest factor for me.

----------


## Bobby Lin

I agree that printing with a quiet or subtle 3d printer is great while you're working, if you want some reference, you can purchase Ultimaker. It meets your criteria of running quietly and it produces good quality prints. However, in my own opinion I am not that willing to spend as much as $1000 just for that. I am more willing to spend as much as that for printers that have high quality resolution of prints and speed capacity.

----------


## QuietPrints

> A real cabinet can solve some of those problems.  Wouldn't be valuable to me as a hobbyist.increasing print speed would be the biggest factor for me.


Thanks LAFilament, I appreciate the perspective

----------


## QuietPrints

> I agree that printing with a quiet or subtle 3d printer is great while you're working, if you want some reference, you can purchase Ultimaker. It meets your criteria of running quietly and it produces good quality prints. However, in my own opinion I am not that willing to spend as much as $1000 just for that. I am more willing to spend as much as that for printers that have high quality resolution of prints and speed capacity.


Bobby,

I really appreciate the perspective.  I'm curious, Do you care more about resolution or speed?  

Also, do you have a standard by which you would judge speed?  Even though mm/sec is a poor metric due to constant changes in speed and direction, is this a good metric?  What is a good benchmark speed?  1800 mm/sec?  Again, I really appreciate the insight!

----------


## mAcademia

For a 1000 extra it is no longer a hobbyist printer.

While quiet and precision is desirable, you have to find a cheaper alternative.... Or go for another market, which may be more crowded than you think.

----------


## QuietPrints

> For a 1000 extra it is no longer a hobbyist printer.
> 
> While quiet and precision is desirable, you have to find a cheaper alternative.... Or go for another market, which may be more crowded than you think.


mAcademia, Thanks for the note.  I really appreciate the feedback.

Can you say about a cheaper alternative?  

Do you have a price that you might consider paying for a sound/precision/power efficiency upgrade?

----------


## curious aardvark

> My buddy and I are considering building a mod for the Rep-Rap that would print quietly (no more music), have higher resolution, and be tolerant to table bumps.  We think we can also double the accuracy of positioning the print head.  
> 
> The design uses expensive motors and a custom control board.  Would people be willing to spend $1000 to replace their NEMA 17 stepper motors and control board in order to get a quiet 3D printer that prints more accurately and can handle being bumped?


I think the short answer is: no. 
I own 2 printers, not repraps as such (both replicator clones), one is quite noisy and can take any amount of bumping and prints a decent resolution. You can buy one for around $500. 
The other - essentially the same design (replicator clone) I often have to look at to check it's still printing, it's that quiet - also will print at 0.05 mm layer height and I suspect you could hit it with a sledge hammer while printing and it wouldn't give a toss. It's that solidly built. 
That one costs $899 and is worth every cent. 

So for an extra $1000 - you're not actually offering anything people can't already buy for considerably less.

Motor wise are you changing to servos rather than stepper motors ? 
Had a demo on that by the 3dp unlimited guys at tct. 
While there was a serious difference - not sure a cheapish desktop needs it.

----------

