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3d printing adventures volume 2. Part 1: door stop. Random model I downloaded was too big for my printer, so I shrank it without measuring. Shrank too much, so had to design and print a little pad to glue on. Well it works.
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What would you estimate is the cost of the raw material to make the door stop? I'm curious how the convenience factor compares to the cost (once educated on model sources, working the printer, etc. etc.)?
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It’s $23 for 1kg roll of filament, and the piece weighs 33g. Let’s say 7g for losses/scrap. 40g works out to $0.92. Max power consumption is 120w, and this was maybe 3h total for printing the two parts. So 0.36kwh. CA average is 0.16c/kWh so 0.0576 =~6c. Add 2c of glue: $1 total
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Wow, thanks. Much better than I expected. So, although right now there's the cost of the printer, computer and many hours of time needed to get to the point of "just print this random thing I need", there is a conceivable future for 3d printers. But how to get there from here?
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So all(!) we need is a software + ecosystem to allow non-geeks to browse on their phone for the door stop, lens cap, or photograph the broken toy part, and then tap "Print". Like Amazon but with Print instead of Buy. Maybe picked up at a local ~Kinkos 3d printer service.
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Yeah cloud printing is already here, and for validated models in online catalogs like thingiverse, it’s basically mainstream ready. Custom parts workflow has a few years refinement left to get through. Still at artisan-engineer stage, needs some basic CAD and design training.
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