Hey there Ted,

Thanks for that link - it was an interesting link & video.

On 12/12/2012 9:22 AM, Ted Roche wrote:

> Too late to shop for Christmas? Why not just print the presents you want to

> give?

Well, there are several complications with that. 1 - Turn around time is

VERY Slow w/Shapeways - as they tend to have a back log, and your item

may be in the Queue for several weeks. They actually claim its several

weeks between your placing an order, and the item getting printed and

shipped out. And, the time can actually be longer - depending on the

material you select.

2 - If you plan to Design your own XMas - you need to seriously know

what you are doing - with regards to 3D Design SW. Of course, now,

Shapeways actually has interfaces on their website (I haven't seen it

directly - but, rather - saw it in a Video about Shapeways) that allowed

people to "design" certain objects interactively - like a sake cup set.

3 - Its also about Size. Things are actually pricey to print via

Shapeways. I've tried over time uploading certain items - and even a

Vase only about 10 - 12 inches tall was going to cost me like $170 to

print, or somewhere about that price. I was doing this a while ago, so I

dont remember exact price or size. As such, I've seen how people get

around this. They tend to make VERY Small things that they design to be

printed, or that other people can buy. Many items under 2 in. tall. For

those taller items - they tend to make things VERY THIN Walled and/or a

lot of holes!

So - there are still many limitations to this as a service. I have heard

that Staples stores are about to also offer 3D Printing as a service.

>

> http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2012/12/10/inside-the-worlds-biggest-consumer-focused-3d-printing-factory/

>

> Shapeways is a Queens-based factory using industrial (laser and nylon

> sinter) 3D printing machine to print designs sent in by their customers.

> Pretty cool pictures.

Just to clarify - I believe they actually began in the Netherlands. And,

they've been around for like 3 maybe 4 years now. And, its only in like

the past year that they opened up shop in Queens (I think its Long

Island City to be specific).

> Neat idea for those of us who don't want to try to assemble their own

> RepRap.

Well - these days - there are many, MANY More options than just the

Rep-Rap. More machines are being sold as pre-built (MakerBot - which use

to subsist on Kits - now ONLY sells pre-built, but, they have priced

them Much higher now and out of range for a lot of the DIY community).

Mine is a MakerBot CupCake, consisting of Hundreds of parts - that was a

nightmare to build. Yeah, I'm not much of a DIY guy - I just wanted

something that works.

In Jan. of 2011 I had come up with the design of a board game. I wanted

to produce a playable prototype of the game - so that I could maybe

approach one of the big game co.'s - like Hasbro. I had been designing

all the pieces in 3D CG. So, I considered Shapeways. I began uploading

pieces to Shapeways, to find the costs to get pieces printed. My game

was going to be based upon multiple levels, kind of like floors of a

building. So, it would require Many playing pieces. After uploading some

pieces - and finding the per piece price - and calculating the cost for

a full set of pieces - I quickly found it was getting cost prohibitive.

I even started modifying ALL the pieces - to put holes in them and

making them Thin Walled. (And - yeah - the holes were in such a way as

to make them interesting looking designed pieces!) But, still, it was

cost prohibitive. Even after putting holes & tweaking the designs - it

was going to cost me like $1700 for a single Board Game Set! Which, of

course, is NUTS - considering it would be made out of Plastic and NOT

Gold!!!

So - in the end, that's why I bought my Bot - at $699 for the Kit. Since

then, I've worked on other prototype designs (including at least one

item I am looking to patent) - and multiple art type sculptures (like my

Dragon).

-K-

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