Looking for some advice -
I’m about to buy a printer for work (and also fun) reasons. I’ve done some simple printing before, but this will be the first machine I’ve owned.
I have my eye on a “print straight out of the box” FDM model that is totally within budget. however – I’m kind of salivating over a nicer (much more expensive) SLA model that would be better for some of my applications. Longterm, I’ll probably need both.
Does it make any sense to spring for the fancier setup up front and hope to defray the cost by offering printing services here?
Is anyone who does this on a hobby basis (maybe 1-3 machines, outside of your fulltime job) generating any profit, or is it pretty much just covering the overhead?
Lots of demand where I am, but also lots of competition. I’m not intending to quit my main job here…but I’m completely willing to throw some personal time at it if it helps me afford more equipment. Just trying to get a feel for what to expect here so I can figure out a reasonable budget plan.
Really appreciate any info that anyone is willing to share.
Thanks!
cobnut
2
Hi @ArtDept it’s certainly possible to make a profit, but it won’t happen overnight. If you’re relatively new to 3D printing (and I appreciate you’ve printed before) there’s likely to be a substantial learning curve and it will take some time to build a reputation and a decent ranking here on 3DHubs. It took me about 6 months to recover the cost of my two machines, others will have done it more quickly, others maybe not at all yet. Don’t forget that materials (filament or resin) are going to be a fairly substantial capital outlay in the early months; if you want to offer a good range of materials, both types and colours, you’re going to have to buy those in and (in my experience) it’s rare that any single order uses more than 25% or so of a reel, so the machine(s) are an up-front cost, and materials an ongoing one, becoming less of an outlay as you can more frequently fill orders from your existing stock.
As to whether you should go FDM or SLA, if we put aside budget concerns, that’s going to be a lot about where you’re going to be working. As I’m sure you know, SLA uses resin to print rather than filament, and that stuff is noxious and messy. You’ll need somewhere to clean the prints of excess resin and be able to dispose of that waste safely and in accordance with your local environmental regulations. It’s not that big a deal, but I’d suggest the bathroom sink probably isn’t ideal. Resin is also a lot more expensive than filament per “unit”, so those capital expenses in terms of material stock are going to be higher. There’s some good info on resin care here on FormLabs site: https://formlabs.com/support/materials/resin-care/
FDM itself isn’t mess-free, bits of filament tend to end up everywhere and the fumes need careful consideration, but it’s much more practical for everyday home users.
Personally, my plan has always been to start with FDM then move to SLA in addition once I’d established a steady workflow from FDM and some suitable premises.
Be aware that it’s not really a good idea to leave any printers totally unattended; I’m not sure how SLA is on this, but FDM can screw up in any number of ways that at best leaves you with a birds nest of wasted filament, and at worse leaves you with a clogged, plastic encased nozzle and a potential fire hazard, so if you’re not planning on leaving your day job, you may be limited in how much printing you can actually do, which of course affects your income. You don’t have to sit and stare at them from start to finish (although sometimes it can be quite mesmerising), but neither is it a good idea to go out and leave a 12 hour print running in an empty house.
Hey,
I’d agree in most part with Cobnut, you won’t make money overnight - but you are taking the right approach by not quiting the day job.
Agreed, stick to FDM first - but don’t get too hung up on a ‘fixed’ model that you can’t grow with… We went with Lulzbot TAZ 5’s when we started and now we have several TAZ 5 and TAZ 6’s… They work straight out of the box and you can add dual print heads, flexi priniting heads and the build volume is just a bit bigger than most other off the shelf printers (which will help you be more attractive on 3D hubs for the dual / larger print jobs that other hubs can’t do). The resolution on them is good and after many years of running we haven’t had any issues with any of them. We did have to build enclosures for them to sort out fumes, cameras, lighting and stacking but we ended up with a great set of printers.
With the SLA - we also use Form 2 (by Formlabs) - Great product, as Cobnut said a little more messy and the stakes are a little higher - if you are operating clear and other resins you really need two rinse tanks (one for clear and one for others) which on fluid in use alone is about 10 litres of highly flamable isopropyl alcohol laying around (not to mention your stock of fresh stuff). That being said, the accuracy and things you can achieve on there are great. The SLA will suck up a lot more cash to get started - for a good FDM about £2-3k will get you setup as a hub and trading - for SLA the printer alone will be about £3k and then the consumables are a killer - at £150-£200 per litre + £60 per resin tank (which only lasts 2 litres)… You have to have enough work to warrant the cost (unless you are honest and you are just buying for your own use and maybe using to recover some money).
The FDMs will get you more startup work as a hub, the HD/Resin is something you should look at once you get the hang of things… Failed prints whilst learning on an SLA will cost a lot, failed prints on the FDM whilst getting the hang of things might only be a few pounds.
With regards to constant supervision, depending on your day job and access to the printer… you can setup cameras to allow you to run the printers whilst not at home (but always make sure someone is there so if you spot something going wrong someone can flip the swicth). We are fortunate (as we also develop software and electronics) we have developed a system for our printers so we can remotely monitor and remotely kill power (and in worse case we can remotely suck all the air out of the print chamber if there is a fire - obviously whilst furiously dialling 999 - but we never run without at least 1 technician on site). You can get some off the shelf plug-in systems for monitoring - try looking at ‘octo-print’ and a few systems like that, might be worth looking at if the printer you are buying is compatable with those systems if you plan to run whilst you are at work. For the record the Form 2 SLA printers and most SLA printers have a UV/Light shielding cover over the print area making it tricky to fit cameras and see the action remotely we tend to only run these in the room with the technician.
If you want any more help, feel free to drop us a line www.3dhubs.com/service/mievans
Regards
Mi.
