HP 3D Printing Announcement

[Hugues]

Wait, did you mean $10,000 or $100.00? If the former, then they're in the low end for Stratasys machines, but they're much too expensive than any normal people would pay. If the latter, then they're either making these things out of paper and prayers, or they're planning to charge $10 per gram of material to make up the cost.

One hundred US Dollars is close to the average weekly grocery bill to a middle class American, to put it in perspective.

sorry, i wanted to write 100'000 usd,
here is a link mentioning it could be that expensive:
https://gigaom.com/2014/10/29/hp-say...rives-in-2016/

[Feign]

sorry, i wanted to write 100'000 usd,
here is a link mentioning it could be that expensive:
https://gigaom.com/2014/10/29/hp-say...rives-in-2016/

Wow, okay. No that's not affordable at all.

Just to clear that up, US dollars haven't inflated that much.

[brbubba]

I think they'll be aiming at the lower end of the price range. And it should also be full colour as well.

Not sure if the polyjet stuff needs postprocessing or not. I know some powder based systems do. That would put home users off.

I thought this as well, maybe in the $2k to $5k range. However, if they are using an i7, complete and utter overkill, it makes me want to rethink that estimate and say more in the $10k to $15k range.

[Joule Thief]

I thought this as well, maybe in the $2k to $5k range. However, if they are using an i7, complete and utter overkill, it makes me want to rethink that estimate and say more in the $10k to $15k range.

Unfortunately you're still off by an order of magnitude. This is going to be a 6-figure printer ($100k+). When HP says lower cost, they're comparing themselves to SLS/SLM printers that cost anywhere from $0.5-$1.5M. So by that standard, yes they will come in substantially cheaper. If you read their press release, HP is careful to say "lower total cost of ownership" or TCO, so they are also factoring in things like materials costs, post processing, system maintenance, and even powder recycling which they say will be much improved due to the lower energy exposure time. It's about much more than just the initial system price.

HP also mentions that the printer will be sold to commercial businesses and specifically that consumers will access these printers through "service bureaus". This is in no way going to be marketed or sold to the consumer segment, at least not initially.

[voxel]

Unfortunately you're still off by an order of magnitude. This is going to be a 6-figure printer ($100k+). When HP says lower cost, they're comparing themselves to SLS/SLM printers that cost anywhere from $0.5-$1.5M. So by that standard, yes they will come in substantially cheaper. If you read their press release, HP is careful to say "lower total cost of ownership" or TCO, so they are also factoring in things like materials costs, post processing, system maintenance, and even powder recycling which they say will be much improved due to the lower energy exposure time. It's about much more than just the initial system price.

HP also mentions that the printer will be sold to commercial businesses and specifically that consumers will access these printers through "service bureaus". This is in no way going to be marketed or sold to the consumer segment, at least not initially.

My guess is that HP will take a big swing at industrial market and if it goes well then over time will drive the technology down into consumer applications. the printer is just one piece of the puzzle. there must be a fully developed and seamlessly integrated ecosystem (3D modeling software, 3D image scanning) before non tech savvy consumers can really take advantage of this technology. take Apple iphone for example...it is very sophisticated technology but they made it really easy for the average person to exploit. we are not there yet with 3D printing for consumers...but we are there for industrial applications which is why HP is focusing there first.

[Feign]

Polyjet generally uses a lemonine-soluble or water-soluble support material (and a lot of it, Polyjet cannot bridge or overhang at all as an intrinsic limitation of the technology). Aside from soaking the part to dissolve the support material, there's no post-processing. Also, the parts tend to have a deathgrip on the print bed, so you likely want to just soak the tray with the parts, maybe even putting a layer of soluble support at the bottom of the part to keep the bed fresh. Old Stratasys machines had print beds that were pretty much single-use (they were not however, priced like a disposable part).

[Mike]

They're referring to it as "industrial," which frequently means over half a million dollars. "Professional" is commonly used for printers in the $100,000 price range. Then again, it's hard to tell, because there is an awful lot of misleading innuendo being thrown around. I've never seen marketing material with so many footnote disclaimers.

The machine seems to be a ZCorp with more nozzles and jets that apparently prints with powders other than sandstone. They compare its speed with FDM or SLS, calling it "comparable technology," which is simply not true. Objet or ZCorp (now 3DS x60) would be a more accurate comparison. They also mention future metallic materials, but I suspect that would have to be a different machine, because they tout this one using less energy because it doesn't require the same heat as SLS or SLM. Without the heat, you won't bond metal to metal. It could also be that "metallic materials" simply means metal flakes/particles inside a clear plastic, like Ultimaker's brass filament. Apply some temperature to it, the plastic melts and the metal falls apart, because it was never bonded in the first place.

Still, if it is essentially only a bulked-up ZCorp that can use a wider variety of material, it would be terrific.

[curious aardvark]

They're saying the Sprout will cost $1,899.

which for a full colour poly jet machine is cheap.
The build volume does look pretty small.

Now equate that to a £50 hp 2d printer with hp ink that costs £20,000 per litre - after a couple decades or heavy competition.
And the materials could end up amazingly expensive.

I think the machine will be sold on the 3d photocopier idea rather than a small industrial printer.

There is already a company on a crowd funded site that's producing a 3d printer with built in desktop copier. But, lets face it hp have got more money and better paid engineers. So the hardware should be pretty good and sensibly priced.
It's the consumables they'll get you with.

[Feign]

They're saying the Sprout will cost $1,899.

which for a full colour poly jet machine is cheap.
The build volume does look pretty small.

The Sprout isn't the printer, it's the computer with the scanner and other fancy gubbins.

[Brian_Krassenstein]

I have some hunches that this technology (jetting) will soon be used in Desktop machines. Both HP and Stratasys (PolyJet) seem to be headed in this direction. Don't be surprised to see desktop printers using this type of technology by 2017 or 2018. Just a hunch. The technology really isn't any more expensive to produce than that which is used in SLA printers like the Form1