Quote:
Originally Posted by jswinden
With ink printers, the ink cartridges add up quickly. With the 3D printers the spools of plastic look like they cost about $25-30 for 600g. One reviewer said that a 1"x1"x2" Lego piece takes about 15g to print. So 15g is required to print about 2 cubic inches. So divide 600g by 15g and you get 40 units of 2 cubic inches, or 80 cubic inches per spool. The cube root of that means that a $25+ spool of plastic prints a block about 4.3"x4.3"x4.3". That can add up really quick!
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It's typically closer to $20 per kilogram, but varies wildly depending on material and quality of material.
For a given volume of object, even a simple geometric form, the amount of material varies GREATLY depending on wall thickness and infill density.
But, suffice to say, 3D printing is orders of magnitude more expensive than common plastic mass production processes. It is an amazing tool for designers, engineers, and other "makers," it is NOT a consumer technology, nor is it the post-scarcity replicator a la Star Trek!
Yet.
ApK
p.s. It's starting to look like the Tiko 3D printer I backed on Kickstarter may not come to be, so I might start saving for whatever is new and cheap this coming year. Maybe one of those monoprice minis.....