So Dremel now has a 3D Printer. Does this signal mainstream?

[nixfu]

So, Dremel now has a $999 retail 3D Printer. 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00NA00MWS/

Is this the beginning of the market entering mainstream average person purchase stage?     

How long before we see this in big box stores?  Will it be the just have gift for dad next Christmas?

[engineer_in_shorts]

I saw that RS have one now:
http://www.edn-europe.com/en/rs-stirs-3d-printer-market-with-launch-of-own-brand-budget-price-model.html?cmp_id=7&news_id=10005918&vID=209

Who are all these people that need 3D printers? Hasn't everyone realized that they are pointless?

[Galenbo]

...Is this the beginning of the market entering mainstream average person purchase stage?     

How long before we see this in big box stores?  Will it be the just have gift for dad next Christmas?

It will be mainstream the moment the user intervention is the same as a coffee machine.
Fill plastic, press button.

The real money is there for the guy that makes it work from a TV remote control.
See a nice object on TV, press button, take your printed crap. (an call yourself a maker or hacker)

[free_electron]

See a nice object on TV, press button, take your printed crap. (an call yourself a maker or hacker)

gives a whole new meaning to 'as seen on tv'

and no more 'plus shipping and handling'

[CatalinaWOW]

Actually, one of the few good uses I have seen for these things is making enclosures for small electronic gadgets.  Makes mounting points for boards, switches, keyboards, displays and sensors all in just two pieces (base and cover or left/right) and can even have labels/instructions.  And the hours it takes to print something are good times to sleep, design and build the things that go into the fancy box.

From what I have heard the $1000 ones are really pretty worthless, and it is better to let someone else spend the $3000 to $8000 to get something useful and just send them the file.  Kind of like PWBs.

[mikeselectricstuff]

Actually, one of the few good uses I have seen for these things is making enclosures for small electronic gadgets. 

The problem is they look rubbish due to poor surface finish

[Kjelt]

Yes poor quality and if you need quantities you,re better off with the real manufacturers products since only the mold can cost €100k.

[CatalinaWOW]

I agree the surface finish is rubbish.  But I am talking about small quantity stuff, often for personal use.  When I fab boxes from scratch, whether it is wood, aluminum or other materials the result is often not commercially appealing.  When I stuff everything in a project box the same answer holds.  It will be years, if ever, before 3D printing competes with molding for commercial external parts.  Unit costs, surface finish, material selection - there are a myriad of ways in which it doesn't compete. 

If surface finish really matters, filling, sanding and painting are options.  In my shop the surface finish of even the commercial boxes is poor because of all of the dings from tools and other rough handling. 

[Mechatrommer]

Actually, one of the few good uses I have seen for these things is making enclosures for small electronic gadgets.

correction... making:
1) custom enclosures that hard to get in market without breaking the bank for a single custom mold specifically designed to your lust.
2) hard to manufacture component in garage without breaking the bank for cnc/mill/lathe machine that can sink your house.
3) stepping stone for another bigger 3d printer that can cost your lung.
4) pla replica of your own deek without anyone else noticing.

From what I have heard the $1000 ones are really pretty worthless, and it is better to let someone else spend the $3000 to $8000 to get something useful and just send them the file.

correction... ...$1000 ones are really pretty worthless, and its better to get $300 to $500 to get something useful...

It will be years, if ever, before 3D printing competes with molding for commercial external parts.  Unit costs, surface finish, material selection - there are a myriad of ways in which it doesn't compete. 

mechanically keen people are venturing the possibilities of FDM technique into serious manufacturing jargon such as "negative" or "lost wax cast" molding technique etc. so its just a matter of time... mechanically keen people are waiting with excitement... FDM is now in the grasp (after the patent expired) of mechanically keen mortals.

[Kjelt]

At least with a cnc you can make things from aluminium.
Plastick will only go so far.

[Mechatrommer]

and aluminium block may cost you like what? there are some area where metal is too much wasted, resulting higher cost product, and sometime we dont need it to be metal or require to such precision, or providing extra dimension or tolerance thereof to compensate for the force.. and producing almost everything with something you can grab and swing like supermarket basket is never happening before.

[Kjelt]

Most persons I know that bought a 3D printer use them a couple of times, download some designs and then it is stuck in the closet waisting space.
I know very little persons that actually on a regular basis print something usefull. 

[Mechatrommer]

download some designs

there's the problem... granted 3d printer is not for everybody, just as photo printer to someone who doesnt produce photos, and just as desktop printer to someone incapable of using a computer...

[free_electron]

At least with a cnc you can make things from aluminium.
Plastick will only go so far.

Absolutely true, but ... where is the 'push a single button' cnc mill and get object ? And if it does exist , what does it cost ?

game over.

[Rasz]

Actually, one of the few good uses I have seen for these things is making enclosures for small electronic gadgets. 

The problem is they look rubbish due to poor surface finish

acetone vapour bath

download some designs

there's the problem... granted 3d printer is not for everybody, just as photo printer to someone who doesnt produce photos, and just as desktop printer to someone incapable of using a computer...

this.

3d printing will get a bump with a wave of next gen 3d camera phones - googles project Tango, apples unknown piece of shit (they bought Primesense, maker of the first Kinect 3d camera), even intel is pushind 3d camera in newest ultrabooks.

People are too clueless to do 3D design, they hear CAD and shit a brick. It will change when some yolo tween can whip out her iPhony, 'photo' a pair of earings of another trollop in da club, and print them/order on shapeways the next day.

[Kjelt]

Agree, but even the colleague of mine that has spent two months learning the ropes of CAD software and get it going was frustrated that his $1400 3D printer took 23 hours to print a simple design and after 9 hours or so a little offset error in one of the axis spoilt the whole design. And not once, over and over. Those 3D printers are toys, not up to the real long hours printing work needed.
His reaction: learn CAD software if you need to create something, safe yourself the $ for your own 3D printer and just outsource the manufacturing to a pro company.

[navzptc]

I saw that RS have one now:
http://www.edn-europe.com/en/rs-stirs-3d-printer-market-with-launch-of-own-brand-budget-price-model.html?cmp_id=7&news_id=10005918&vID=209

Who are all these people that need 3D printers? Hasn't everyone realized that they are pointless?

I have one of those 3D printers, not bought from RS, but from a similar online seller who sells it (VAT included) at only a few pounds more than the RS ex-VAT price - yes it is a steep learning curve to tame the beast and get the best from it - but it can produce very good results for a very reasonable price - I have modified mine to have a heated bedplate and now always print onto glass which gives a very smooth surface.

I spent a while using both versions of the software available from the manufacturer before purchasing Simplify 3D (after finding out the custom settings required) and have not looked back - and have now put in a pre-order for the latest Ultimaker 2 extended unit, but will also keep this printer - Making parts for my RC Helicopters at a fraction of what they would cost from commercial suppliers (custom interior parts etc.) will soon mean it pays for itself in addition to the fun of making odds and sods for the grandkids etc 

You may think they are pointless, but some people do find advantages in owning a 3D printer - I know I do!!

[zapta]

His reaction: learn CAD software if you need to create something, safe yourself the $ for your own 3D printer and just outsource the manufacturing to a pro company.

That's very inefficient for fast prototyping. I sent once a design to Shapeways and it tooks two weeks to arrive. On my own machine I can make several iterations a day.  Sometimes I print just a small critical section of the design and iterate on it even faster.

[mikeselectricstuff]

I think the biggest problem with 3D printing is that what is a tool that's excellent for many applications is being touted as a universal tool for everyone, which is simply ridiculous.

Low cost stereolithography machines and resins could make it a lot more useful though, as this should improve the finish quality and resolution substantially.   

[zapta]

I think the biggest problem with 3D printing is that what is a tool that's excellent for many applications is being touted as a universal tool for everyone, which is simply ridiculous.

It will be in 50 years. The technology is still in a very early stage, especially the low end machines.

[Mechanical Menace]

I think the biggest problem with 3D printing is that what is a tool that's excellent for many applications is being touted as a universal tool for everyone, which is simply ridiculous.

+1

It will be in 50 years. The technology is still in a very early stage, especially the low end machines.

I love them but I don't think they can be a universal tool. Like subtractive manufacturing additive manufacturing has it's own pro's and cons. But in 50 years time you may be able to easily transfer your 3D print from your cheap but works well out of the box 3D printer into your cheap but works well out of the box desktop mill and have it do the finishing without user intervention...

[zapta]

I marked my calendar to revisit this thread in 50 years. We will be smarter then.

[electr_peter]

I think 3D printing will be similar in development and usage to conventional printing on paper.

At first there was limited possibilities to print something (printing your own photos was messy business, typewriter for a text), then various printing technologies emerged (dot matrix, inkjet, laser printer). The first color printers were expensive, but people viewed them as alternative for printing shops (printing own photos was cheaper than in a shop). Industry progressed to a stage where printers are cheap(-ish) with almost all cost in printing materials and quality printing at home is more expensive. Thus, typical user is better off by not having color printer and going to a specialised shop.

I guess 3D printing will follow similar path. Why bother wasting your money (for printer/materials/electricity), time, health, nerves on homemade crap 3D print when you can get much better results in specialised shop? It all boils down to economy of scale and the fact that 2D/3D printing is a niche thing (you don't need that everyday). Someone who prints 24/7 will know how to do it better and cheaper than you.

Only advantage you get by owning 2D/3D printer (assuming everything works as it should...) is direct control of the process.

[Kjelt]

Yeah the same thinking mistake was made in the 70's when everybody would develop their own foto,s you could buy cheap starter sets and you only needed running water and a dark room.

Or how about the make yourself pcb,s cnc milling machines.
Who does that anymore now the cheap pro pcb businesses can do it ten times better and cheaper than such an expensive apparatus.

[zapta]

Yeah the same thinking mistake was made in the 70's when everybody would develop their own foto,s you could buy cheap starter sets and you only needed running water and a dark room.

Or how about the make yourself pcb,s cnc milling machines.
Who does that anymore now the cheap pro pcb businesses can do it ten times better and cheaper than such an expensive apparatus.

Not too many households would benefit from a PCB making appliance. It's a tiny market.