nedjer
Adventurer
Chocolate 3D Printing: Now You Want a 3D Printer 
makerbot
- Thread starter Ahzad
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Nytmare
David Jose
So at some point in the not so distant past, MakerBot managed to sneak out their fourth wave of home, 3D printer technology without me noticing.
The MakerBot Replicator 2, which, among other things, now allows you to print down to 100 micron layer resolution.
The MakerBot Replicator 2x, that does everything the 2 does with two extruders at once, allowing for either 2 color, or solid/dissolvable printing.
And the MakerBot Digitizer, that allows you to scan 3 dimensional objects and turn them directly into print files.
ohmygodthefuture...
The MakerBot Replicator 2, which, among other things, now allows you to print down to 100 micron layer resolution.
The MakerBot Replicator 2x, that does everything the 2 does with two extruders at once, allowing for either 2 color, or solid/dissolvable printing.
And the MakerBot Digitizer, that allows you to scan 3 dimensional objects and turn them directly into print files.
ohmygodthefuture...
Now that I've actually seen a 3d printing presentation, the thread has resurfaced.
Here's the skinny I got (and actually handled an object):
The printer prices are about $1500
many are made of wood or plastic-printed parts on purpose. the latter being so you can print replacement parts.
You want 2 extruders, for the simple case of if one gets clogged/dies, you can keep printing with the other until you get a replacement.
the plastic is pretty much the same thing as weed whacker string (and in fact some people use that).
the plastic string is fed into the printer to the extruder (and extruder is the 3d printer equivalent of the print head).
You want a warming plate for your object to sit on when printing (I forget the exact term, but it's an add-on part). This makes it stick better for the initial layer.
the software to print is free (though there are some paid versions).
a quick dunk in a chemical that I can't remember will smooth out the layer-lines, resulting in a smoother finish.
3d printing of objects with arms and such must be done as separate parts, or you'll be doing "air printing" when the arm stub you started making at waste high sags off and the extruder doesn't know it so it keeps spitting plastic out in the middle of nowhere.
Here's the skinny I got (and actually handled an object):
The printer prices are about $1500
many are made of wood or plastic-printed parts on purpose. the latter being so you can print replacement parts.
You want 2 extruders, for the simple case of if one gets clogged/dies, you can keep printing with the other until you get a replacement.
the plastic is pretty much the same thing as weed whacker string (and in fact some people use that).
the plastic string is fed into the printer to the extruder (and extruder is the 3d printer equivalent of the print head).
You want a warming plate for your object to sit on when printing (I forget the exact term, but it's an add-on part). This makes it stick better for the initial layer.
the software to print is free (though there are some paid versions).
a quick dunk in a chemical that I can't remember will smooth out the layer-lines, resulting in a smoother finish.
3d printing of objects with arms and such must be done as separate parts, or you'll be doing "air printing" when the arm stub you started making at waste high sags off and the extruder doesn't know it so it keeps spitting plastic out in the middle of nowhere.
Nytmare
David Jose
I know that you're speaking in general terms, but I'm pricing up the new Makerbots, so I figured I'd add some notes.
The two new (as of 2012) Makerbots run between 2000-3000 bucks.
The primary benefit of a double extruder is being able to print with two different materials at the same time. This allows you to either print something that's two different colors (like a green and blue globe), or something that has structured negative space inside of it (like an encapsulated set of movable, meshed gears)
The chemical would be different depending on which material you're printing in (in addition to sanding and possibly trimming with an exacto knife), but the newer printers print resolution (about the width of a human hair) is good enough to print without ridging.
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