In a nutshell: we need more reliable 3D printers. The amount of maintenance that most of them require is getting out of hand. The Prusa is by far the most reliable of the printers that I’ve worked with, so I would like to get at least a couple more of them to handle the bulk of our 3D printing needs. A Prusa i3 MK3S+ kit costs $800. Currently we have 92 active members that are authorized on the 3D printers. If we can get enough people interested in chipping in it shouldn’t be too hard to cover the cost.
I haven’t quite hammered out all the details yet, but I’m planning to start out with an email to those 92 people with the details about our fundraising goals and a donation link to see how far that gets us. I’ve got some thoughts on rewards for people who donate certain amounts.
Sounds reasonable. Would it make sense to offer the old printers for sale to members, with the caveat that you can’t take it home until the new ones are ready to be installed?
Coordinate with Fundraising. Make sure all the paperwork the treasurer needs has been done. And I think it is a super idea to have a fleet of similar ones… the makerspace in Houston uses their giant fleet to make money filling orders.
Christian, I’ll put in $50 towards whatever you decide is the best plan. 3D printers have been a great draw to bring in members…. I would also be willing to build things for an auction if that would help as well. I think the tables last time brought it near $1k, so maybe we could get more than 1……
A fundraising idea I had about printers was a “from 0-100 Ender 3” class. Potentially in the $300 range where you’d get an ender 3, we’d assemble them as a group, get you up and running, and make sure it prints before you walk out the door. That could be a good fundraiser for printers if we had interest. I think the interest from the membership is still the part that’s up-in-the-air.
One thing we could think about for printers are Prusa Minis, they don’t have as much of a good reputation as Prusa I3s, but they’re much cheaper. ($349.99 unassembled)
Correct me if I’m wrong but wouldn’t there be a possibility of the fdm printer getting shifted out of square during transport from MakeICT to the participants home?
Potentially coming out of tram, I think a key to that class would be teaching the participant things like tramming (leveling) the printer. The entire frame I don’t think is as likely to come out of square in a car ride.
Maybe, but that probably depends on how well the fundraising goes. I would like to still have a multi-material printer and a large format printer (but with a larger nozzle) on it for big prints. Maybe if we do well we can get an MMU for one of the Prusas. I hear they are also working an a larger printer…
Will do.
Interesting. Not sure how much interest there would be, but I’d be willing to lend a hand if it happens.
I’ve considered that, but there are a few things on the Minis I’m not a huge fan of, and they are a bit less versatile. Plus, I’d really like printers that all use the same parts. Definitely worth thinking about, though.
@David, @Dwain, @jeff, @SeanReed
You’re all awesome, thank you! I’ll keep you posted as I work out the details.
I would love to see new printers and having them all the same brand may help members be more confident with them. I know I have my favorite because I’ve used it more and tend to stick with that one if it is available.
I like the idea of different media printers since I remember reading about a wax based filament which would be useful if the forge/foundry come about. Plus a large format would be very useful.
Going forward, would it be helpful to have a workshop or training class for any of us who wants to learn how to troubleshoot the printers so you don’t have to do it all the time.
@Christian I’d like to invite you over to see the printers I have been working on. I designed this from scratch but it’s derivative of Prusa’s. But I think I’ve made some improvements…while there may be improvements to be made.
This is what I would like to suggest: we have a number of people who are interested in helping. I think it would be more fun for the group of us to make several printers which are identical and robust.
The X axis motor mount is easily adjustable to get the desired tension.
Printed assemblies use threaded inserts.
The Y axis idle pulley moves along a piece of extrusion for easy tension adjustment.
The X axis home switch is fastened to the Z axis carriage (X axis motor side)
The Y axis home switch is fastened to the motor mount.
The controls case is a three piece assembly for the power supply, raspberry pi, and control board (creality).
I just finished printing the controls case last night. So,I’ll be working on this today. Give me a shout if you’d like to come by. Or, just drop by if you are nearby.
I don’t know that we need five printers. But I threw this concept together and the more I look at it the more I like it.
If we were do do something like this I would donate the extrusion to build the parts. We have an army of people with printers who’d be happy to help make parts. We would then need the Y axis plates made…Tormach? Then we have a list of parts to buy: guide rods and bearings, controls, motors, switches, extruders, and hotends.
Com’on guys…we are makers. We can build these printers.
