How large of a printer should I get?

[awerby]

For architectural models, you'll want a machine that can provide easily-removable supports, or that uses a powder bed to support the print as it's being made. Otherwise, when trying to span across a window or door opening with a FDM-type printer, your filament will sag. People get these hot-extrusion printers thinking they can make anything they want, but the low-end models are actually fairly restricted in the configurations that can be printed successfully. I'd suggest sending off a model to be printed by the type of printer you're thinking about getting, so you aren't disappointed with your purchase. The size of the model is a secondary consideration.

Andrew Werby
www.computersculpture.com

[PhotoSteve]

I would first figure out your cost of the service and your profit and then talk to the builder about the price and if its worth it to the builder to offer this as a service to his clients. It all sounds nice but when its all said and done you have to have someone that wants to spend the money. As a photographer they all want high fashion style photos but all on a camera phone budget

[CNCKing.com]

Unless you think you can compete against Shapeways and their kin, I wouldn't bother to be honest opening a 3D printing services business - you need to spend hundreds of thousands on expensive industrial machines - don't think you can open a firm using makerbots and cubes and expect to get enough business to give yourself a living. Basically, by the time your logistics, employees etc... are all set-up, you need to focus on VOLUME in order to break even and like I wrote, unless you can beat the Shapeways of the world (which you can't btw), you have a losing proposal from the start.

Jon

[JamesTuthill]

How about using a Replicator Z18? Perhaps you could print the houses on their sides so that you have the 18 inches for the width of the house?

[bluecreative]

CNCKing.com, I really wouldn't be trying to compete against Shapeways and those types of companies, I would mainly be doing this for local builders. Maybe it doesn't make sense to buy a 3D printer when you can order from that sort of a place. Maybe it would make more sense for me to do the 3D work myself, and then send the file out to them for printing. I'm not sure how long it really takes for them to make something like this, but I've been thinking this whole time about having the printer here so I can do this on-site, but maybe that isn't really the logical first step in all of this.

JamesTuthill, that would also be a good choice and it seems like a nice size for something like that if it got to be a large enough house. It would just be a matter of if it would support itself at that sort of height with the top open. I would almost guess that some of the upper walls may want to sag a little bit if there was no 'ceiling' on the house. I really don't have any experience with 3D printing yet so I wouldn't be the guy to tell you, but from what I have read that could be an issue with that.