moving production to MN where my cousin is taking over day to day production.
The Everything 3D Printer Thread
- Thread starter BoilermakerFan
- Start date
moving production to MN where my cousin is taking over day to day production.
ahh. tinkercad is a good one
Classrooms - Tinkercad
Teaching with Tinkercad has never been easier. Send and receive assignments, monitor student progress, and assign new activities—all in Tinkercad Classrooms.
8 hours each for them. each printer can knock out 3 a day assuming things are running well. Plenty of failures along the way. 7% is my factor currently.
These are part of a bi weekly batch so I spread them out between other jobs to not eat up the entire fleet. really nice jobs to run over night to keep printer rest time to a min.
thats about a weeks worth of filament. 1kg spool for reference on top there.
moab11
Well-known member
50ish KG a week is no small feat!
Always interesting to see how print farms are working, running the longer prints overnight makes complete sense too. Then the smaller prints can be run during the day when there is someone around to reset the printer.
Are you moving the whole farm to MN? or keeping some at home for prototyping?
Always interesting to see how print farms are working, running the longer prints overnight makes complete sense too. Then the smaller prints can be run during the day when there is someone around to reset the printer.
Are you moving the whole farm to MN? or keeping some at home for prototyping?
How much scrap filament do you typically end up with? I'm not thinking about failed prints, rather the left over bits of filament from change overs, purging etc? Are you at a point where you could justify reprocessing the scrap?8 hours each for them. each printer can knock out 3 a day assuming things are running well. Plenty of failures along the way. 7% is my factor currently.
These are part of a bi weekly batch so I spread them out between other jobs to not eat up the entire fleet. really nice jobs to run over night to keep printer rest time to a min.
thats about a weeks worth of filament. 1kg spool for reference on top there.
I think about this a lot these days as my company is really thinking about the long term impact of all the plastic parts we produce. At least when dealing with scrap from molding the material type is well known so it does have value as regrind for uses where they are less concerned about the details of the materials.
The ideal is 2 prints a day. a short one and a long one.
This is an example of what I try to kick off for overnights: give a little lee way in start time but still plate is cold when 8am hits to manage.
very little left on spools. purge lines and poop really isn't much in the grand scheme of things for what we're doing. moving to 5kg spools so each printer might end up with 3 poops a week. purge lines i been meaning to change the start code to reduce the size. mainly cause the robot vacuum doesnt like the long ones.
;===== noozle load line =============================== M975 S1 G90 M83 T1000 G1 X18.0 Y1.0 Z0.8 F18000;Move to start position M109 S{nozzle_temperature_initial_layer[initial_extruder]} G1 Z0.2 G0 E2 F300 G0 X240 E15 F{outer_wall_volumetric_speed/(0.3*0.5) * 60} G0 Y11 E0.700 F{outer_wall_volumetric_speed/(0.3*0.5)/ 4 * 60} G0 X239.5 G0 E0.2 G0 Y1.5 E0.700 G0 X18 E15 F{outer_wall_volumetric_speed/(0.3*0.5) * 60} M400
spools themselves are a giant pain. not sure if shredding and running a recycling line would make sense. I'd rather end up just having my own filament production line and use the spools in a loop.
moab11
Well-known member
Spools do seem to be the biggest waste in 3d printing. Hopefully reusable spools and filament refills start becoming more the norm, not a fan of cardboard spools really.
Of course if you are big enough to justify a filament production line, then that would make good use of old spools.
Of course if you are big enough to justify a filament production line, then that would make good use of old spools.
I wounder if you use enough to justify getting resin in pellet form then processing it into your own filament. A while ago we were discussing where the cross over points on cost were. I think pellet resin, the form we feed into high volume mold machines, is something like 1/10th the price of filament on a spool. At some point it seems like it would be cheaper to buy the machine that forms the filament. Of course, it needs to be a clear advantage to take on the risk of a new machine and learning curve.
I was curious and found this machine (never heard of them prior to my search) for $7500.
Filament Maker - Recycle Filament for Any 3D Printer
3D Filament Extruders, make filament from almost any plastic. Allowing you to 3D Print with the materials you use for production. Recycle plastic into filament creating a closed loop recycling system.
www.filabot.com
Do you know if the big print farms extrude their own filament or perhaps get better prices from sources?
XJSuperman
Well-known member
Better have a hell of a recycling agreement either way. Between the plastic, the spools, and the cardboard boxes, you'll need it. I thought more about the cardboard after your initial post than the plastics, but the above posts have good points. Im interested to see where you go with that.
Meanwhile on my one little measly printer I think about what to do with the dang boxes and some spools from my 1kg stuff. I am finding the boxes are nice for dividing and sorting hardware on active projects. They're disposable and seal up so they can't be dropped and dump out. They soak up oils, and are easy to write on (label). I do like that if one sticks to the Bambu system, you don't have all the extra spools at the end. You just buy the reloads. Its almost worth the shipping wait times in my opinion, for personal use of course. A business can't bother with that obviously.
Meanwhile on my one little measly printer I think about what to do with the dang boxes and some spools from my 1kg stuff. I am finding the boxes are nice for dividing and sorting hardware on active projects. They're disposable and seal up so they can't be dropped and dump out. They soak up oils, and are easy to write on (label). I do like that if one sticks to the Bambu system, you don't have all the extra spools at the end. You just buy the reloads. Its almost worth the shipping wait times in my opinion, for personal use of course. A business can't bother with that obviously.
refills are slowly making their way into market. I'm working with my china supplier to do just that. I hate paying for shipping of spools as its dead weight.
if I got into filament production it would need to be in the order of 20-30kg an hour production to justify.
you end up in the 10-20k range for the line.
plus 2 dryers:
then about a 1.50 a kg for raw PETG pellets in bulk.
But I'd need to sell filament as well which is a highly competitive market with minimal margins. I'd really just be doing it as a nonprofit to get better pricing on my supply to reduce my COG and maintain my own stockpile.
Maybe someday. until then i'm really happy with my under 7 a KG china suppliers.
I wounder if you use enough to justify getting resin in pellet form then processing it into your own filament. A while ago we were discussing where the cross over points on cost were. I think pellet resin, the form we feed into high volume mold machines, is something like 1/10th the price of filament on a spool. At some point it seems like it would be cheaper to buy the machine that forms the filament. Of course, it needs to be a clear advantage to take on the risk of a new machine and learning curve.
I was curious and found this machine (never heard of them prior to my search) for $7500.
It claims it can produce 2lb (~1kg)/hr. Assuming $1 for pellets vs $10 for filament it saves $9 per kg of resin (ignoring operating cost which aren't free). So assume you use 90kg per week, it would save ~$800/week in material. So that would take about 10 weeks to pay for the machine. The machine would also have to run basically non-stop for 4 days to keep up with demand. I could see it paying for itself in a year but I could also see complications that could really hurt that ROI estimate. If you run different filament types, have breakdowns, get lower quality output, if the dies wear out quickly.Filament Maker - Recycle Filament for Any 3D Printer
3D Filament Extruders, make filament from almost any plastic. Allowing you to 3D Print with the materials you use for production. Recycle plastic into filament creating a closed loop recycling system.
Do you know if the big print farms extrude their own filament or perhaps get better prices from sources?
i'd need to deal with it as well time wise. and run it 24/7. labor isnt free. so saving 800 a week in material gets burned by labor and then some.
15 printers. 1.2kg a day burn per printer. so I'd need two of them to maintain.
I'm working out 10kg reloads from china. which means designing my own spools for this style/concept. cardboard tube and strapped together.
Poolshark314
Well-known member
Most filament is not recyclable
Poolshark314
Well-known member
I was assuming he meant just putting it in blue bins on the curb, but that is intriguing
gpiggaz
Well-known member
Oh. yea doubt single stream would have a good time with PETG, PLA, ABS, GFN, etc.
this is something I'm thinking about down the line:
Cruzan80
Well-known member
To be clear, I am happy to send them to anyone who wishes. I also have the same design videos for Solidworks as well.
cycle61
Well-known member
Well, ordered a Bambu X1C this morning. The Prusa Mk3 has had a good run, but we need something that’s more capable and less science experiment.
ArcReactorKC
Well-known member
Somebody who has a Prusa XL with the multi toolheads please chime in.
I have a need for multicolor TPU printing. I need the object to be flexible as it is worn as a hat, however I also need the lettering on said object to be semi-transparent. I have already picked my filaments but due to the bambu ams and the way it's configured theres no way I'm getting anywhere with that.
I'm curious if the multi toolheads on the prusa xl can handle this task. I'm currently working on getting my e3d toolchanger back up and running but trying to decide if it's worth it to buy the XL.
I have a need for multicolor TPU printing. I need the object to be flexible as it is worn as a hat, however I also need the lettering on said object to be semi-transparent. I have already picked my filaments but due to the bambu ams and the way it's configured theres no way I'm getting anywhere with that.
I'm curious if the multi toolheads on the prusa xl can handle this task. I'm currently working on getting my e3d toolchanger back up and running but trying to decide if it's worth it to buy the XL.
sh944
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Take a serious look at Microsoft 3D Builder. Cork sniffers will scoff at it but it’s stupid simple to use, very effective at achieving results and is a great introduction to conceptually understanding what you are trying to do from a design perspective. I have several patents from products I designed with it, and I’d bet if I had used my autodesk programs,I might not have completed those project.
its not the tool that counts, it’s the result.
I just took a look and I think I will try to show it to a few people (and kids). I've been a long time SW user but I've always wondered about a program that would be reasonably easy for people who don't have 3D modeling experience (and aren't used to thinking about how to build a model in parametric CAD). In particular it would be nice to have something that is reasonably easy for kids to use so they can successfully design then print something.
moab11
Well-known member
My Heart loves this, my wallet definitely does not though hahaha
gpiggaz
Well-known member
I know this is the 3D printer thread- but just reporting in on some more success with the Lowrider V3 CNC router that is mostly 3D printed. Attached is a stencil I cut with it this morning, I was able to use Fusion to make the design from the image file that Tesla has as their "Official" logo on their website. I think it worked pretty well. I'm currently struggling with making the machine do some carving, but it's not the machine, it's me and my Fusion abilities. I think I have it figured out, but just need to practice on some scrap.
Attachments
I'd pay 1200 a pop for a true 500x500x500 p1s unit.
moab11
Well-known member
unfortunately even with the first two numbers reversed, I don't think it will be enough.
i dont really wanna spend 5k on printers to gain that size. i'll keep assembling larger parts then at that price point
moab11
Well-known member
Just noticed that Bambu Lab has quietly discontinued the cool plate for their printers. Looks like just PEI plated now, interesting.
XJSuperman
Well-known member
Speaking of PEI plate.....do they all scratch the coating off with the nozzle in a little spot in the very back of the plate before starting a print, or is it just mine?
moab11
Well-known member
I believe that's normal on the little tab at the back, my printer does it on all of the plates. From what I can see online, it's part of the nozzle cleaning process and is completely normal.
PCMusicGuy
Well-known member
For single color prints that just need to work, I think the market will eventually trend towards pellet based 3D printers. I am still looking for an out of the box printer (at least 300x300x400) that can print ABS/ASA without any fuss (warping, lifting, etc.) I still use a CR10s in a hotbox, it's just slow and finicky at times.
cycle61
Well-known member
It's here! 
But I'm out of town for a few more days
But I'm out of town for a few more days
Will you come home to a video of someone stealing it?It's here!
But I'm out of town for a few more days
cycle61
Well-known member
Fortunately no. CycleWife is home and the printer is now safely in the house.
Mr. Wonderful
Well-known member
we have the HSM 425 at my work. It's a top-notch unit if you're considering it.Oh. yea doubt single stream would have a good time with PETG, PLA, ABS, GFN, etc.
this is something I'm thinking about down the line:
moab11
Well-known member
next shipment of filament???